Random Access

Tuesday – 29 September 2009
Thank God it’s “Thursday.”
I wonder if I should impose standard NBN rules…?  I shall have to ponder this.

Happy Birthday to loonybin88:

Last night, I did a little more work on my Cyclops ‘Clix. I broke out the modeling putty and went to work. It’s not my best work, but as SaraRules pointed out: I haven’t really tried sculpting anything before, so I can’t expect it to be “perfect” the first time out of the gate. True enough. As it is, I managed to Dremel/file/sculpt the “X” off of his costume and (most of) the cuffs from his boots and gloves.

(Pre-Dremel/file and sculpting image)

I’ve put a rough coat of paint on, to see how it will look. So far, not “hellish.” Again, not perfect, but it’s going to be alright. I’m still on the fence about whether or not I’m going to try and sculpt his belt an straps or just paint them on. We shall see. And, should I choose to do a “better-looking” figure in the future, well… in the words of Kool Moe Dee:

And if it’s weak when I’m done
Renovate and build another one
I go to work

‘Nuff said.

We just got back from lunch for loonybin88’s birthday. Famous Dave’s. Almost as food coma-inducing as Rodizio. Mmm…

Stray Toasters

• Flu shot: Check.
• SaraRules posted something on the wedding blog.  *jawdrop*
• Utah is about to have a lovely cold snap: We’re going to drop 30-40°F… effectively overnight.
• Atari Represent t-shirt
• 
• FREE CAKE!!!
• Stalin’s Scientist Sees First Light
• One small step for a clown, one giant step for clownkind.

Namaste.

Friday – 25 September 2009
Another weekend draws to a close. It’s my “on” Friday.

The background image on my secondary monitor (the 42″ one at work) is this one:

I occasionally watch videos – usually concert video or Fantasia on it, as it’s off my normal workspace. A couple of days ago, someone made a comment about the image and I quipped back that I was just waiting for Christopher Reeve to fly by and smile at the camera. (It hasn’t happened yet.) And that got me thinking…

I haven’t watched Superman: The Animated Series in a long time. That’s doubly sad, considering that I own the DVDs. So, this morning, I went about righting that wrong: I have a small window set in the starfield of Desktop 2… playing Superman: TAS.  Current episode: “The Last Son of Krypton.”

Last night, I joined SaraRules and Melissa for a workout:

• Calf Raises: 2 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Leg Curls: 2 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 2 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Squats: 3 sets/10 sfdreps, 50 lbs (two 25 lbs weights, per hand)
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Reverse Punches: 2 sets/15 reps, 15 lbs
• Sit-ups: 3 sets/20 reps
• Tricep Extensions: 3 sets/15 reps, 70 lbs

Post-workout weight: 185.0 lbs

Stray Toasters

• This weekend, the Ravens take on the Cleveland Browns.
  

  Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens

  Unfortunately, I can’t do quite as many penalty shots as I normally would, because we’re watching Kate and Perry’s kids for them later that afternoon.

• Top 10 Unanswered Questions in Geeky Movies
• Up to 9% of a Company’s Machines Are Bot-Infected
• Smarter Travel had a couple of interesting articles this morning:
  • Get Me Off This Plane, Now!
  • Would You Pay More for Fee-Free Travel?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: British Airways adds a “fly next to your children” fee
• 
• Al Franken Reads 4th Amendment to Department of Justice Official
• Storm sewer-dwellers of Las Vegas
• Idaho Tops America’s Most-Spammed States
• PGP… GPG… grr.

Namaste.

Wow.

Just… plain… “Wow.”

This article, Love to Love You Bradys: The Bizarre Story of The Brady Bunch Variety Hour, was in the RSS feed from Boing Boing. I vaguely remembered the show from the late 70s… and this article piqued my curiosity. So, I clicked the link. It was innocuous enough. I passed the link along to some friends in chat:

[15:48] : This somewhat scares me… primarily because I vaguely remember the show: [the link]

As far as I was concerned, that was the end of the game. But, I was mistaken. (Second time this year…) took the ball and ran with it:

[16:05]  : http://www.bradyhour.com/media.html
[16:09]  : jesus
[16:09]  : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_XKUENgKPk

I clicked on the links. The first one wasn’t so bad; as the saying goes: “The first one is always free…” Then I clicked on the second one. That’s when the downward spiral began. After that, suggested that we (loonybin88 had been sucked into the morass, by this time) take a look at this link. Not even the combined might of the Six Million Dollar Man and one of Charlie’s Angels would be enough to save this one. I only made it about halfway through.

In a manner worthy of The Ring, I passed the link trail to shockpuppet:

[16:13] :  I’m sorry… but others must suffer too.  [links]
[16:14]  shockpuppet: Whoa.
[16:14]  : Yeah
[16:18]  shockpuppet: Really?
[16:18]  shockpuppet You get paid for this.
[16:22]  : Among other things, yes.

Um… yeah. I’d be happy not to have this part of my childhood back, thank you very much.

Thursday – 24 September 2009
Another NBN Thursday is under way.  This one has the added bonus of starting with frozen mocha goodness.

Last night, I picked up my four-color shwag and headed home to decide what to do about dinner, as SaraRules had a post-work meeting. I was thinking “ramen” about the time that she called to say that she was on the way home. Win-Win. So, rather than artificially-flavored Japanese noodles, we had soft tacos. After dinner, she headed out to meet Melissa at the gym; I went to Target – I needed some boxes so that I could ship some eBay auction items. Before heading home, I stopped in to visit .

Back at home, before watching The Late Show, SaraRules and I practiced our first dance. There have been a couple of modifications. Nothing too major, fortunately. And, our… mastery (?)… of the dance is coming along.

Stray Toasters

• Nine days and counting…
  • Groomsmens’ gifts: Check.
  • Best Man rearrangement: Check.
• Last week, I received a new 22″ monitor at work. Yesterday, I unpacked and set it up. After getting rid of two other monitors, I now/still have three (3) on my desk: 42″, 22″ and 19″.
• pointed me in the direction of this: Tiny, Easy-to-Build Weapons Annihilate Office Boredom
• Comics in the Classroom
• …speaking of comics, yesterday’s books were good.
• By way of Prelate Derek:

  

• Damn you, Word Twist!
• For :

  

• posted a link to Ugliest Tattoos: The Gallery of Regrets and all I can say is, “Wow…” Some of these (read: “Almost ALL of them…”) are straight out of the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file.
• London cops finally apologize for mugging geek — four years later
• From the “Curiouser and curiouser…” file: Lamp that runs on human blood
• Meetings != YAY!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 23 September 2009
Midweek and all’s well.

Today is… well… I’m not sure that it’s going to be Comics and Sushi Wednesday, as we have a coworker whose last day is tomorrow; I was invited to his going-away lunch, which will conflict with going to sushi. Of course, since SaraRules has a work-related function right after business hours, I am on my own for dinner. Maybe I’ll just go get sushi and comics a little later than usual.

For the first time in weeks, I felt like working on a couple of custom HeroClix figures. I’m still a little torn about what to do for Cyclops. I want to do a figure of him in his black Astonishing X-Men outfit – the original one, not what it’s morphed into in the past year or so. I’m not sure which figure I want to use for it – I ordered a couple of the ones from the Danger Room set, but they will require some surgery and modeling putty to make them look “just right.” Of course, I may just borrow the arms and torso from a spare Booster Gold, since his cuffs are right… then I’d have to find legs and add a little putty in the torso, again. We’ll see how this goes.

Stray Toasters

• Thanks to everyone who responded to this post. If you haven’t responded – or if you have something else to add – please feel free to add comments.
• Working cigarette lighter cufflinks
• I’ve been a Superman fan for… well, let’s just say “a long time.” The 1978 Superman, starring the late Christopher Reeve, is still my #1 movie – a combination of it being a good movie and the memories attached to seeing it. I even enjoyed Superman Returns, warts and all. That being said, I was quite scared – and more than “a little” leery – when I heard that Tim Burton, hot off the successes of his Batman movies, was possibly being tapped to direct a reboot of the Superman franchise, based on a Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats) treatment, called Superman Lives (1, 2).
  

  *blink blink*

  Tim Burton. Superman. No, they do not go together like chocolate and peanut butter. His choice for Clark Kent was even more left-of-center: Nicolas Cage. Yes, THAT Nicolas Cage:

  Nicolas Cage, a comic book fan, signed on as Superman with a $20 million pay or play contract, feeling he could “re-conceive the character.” Peters felt Cage could “convince audiences he [Superman] came from outer space.” Burton stated it would be “the first time you would believe that nobody could recognize Clark Kent as Superman, he [Cage] could physically change his persona.”

  Yeah. Granted, after seeing a (relatively) slightly more serious Cage in The Rock, I was willing to give him a shot.. but I was still leery. Don’t get me wrong, I do like Mr. Cage’s work in some things (Ghost Rider!!!), but yeah.

  All of that to say this: Yesterday, a picture surfaced of Mr. Cage’s costume test. Not the Clark Kent costume, but the Superman costume. Click here to see it, if you dare.

• FDA OKs First Human Trial of Neural Stem Cell Therapy
• James May’s LEGO house is demolished
• Photos of Edward Gorey’s house
• Improv Everywhere strikes again: Subway Yearbook Photos
• Utah Tackles Texting and Driving Problem Head-On
• The next X-film: X4 or New Mutants
  (Personally, I’d go New Mutants.)
• Church converted into magnificent bookstore
• Two things that you probably never thought of putting together: Left4Dead Teletubbies mod
• Andrei Condrescu: Growing Up the iPod Way

Namaste.

This morning, I actually got up when the alarm went off. The first one. That was an odd change of pace, considering that I haven’t been able to pull off that feat – on a weekday – in a few weeks. I was up, ready and out in relatively short order, too.

Once I got to the office, I hung some red and gold streamers around Julie’s desk and pinned my Florida State University sweatshirt to the wall above our dry-erase board. When she came down the hall and around the corner, the first thing I heard was,”You are such a nerd.” I took that as a compliment. (I’ve also managed to… not quite “offend”… other BYU fans around the office with the sweatshirt, as the streamers have already been taken down. Win-Win.)

Yesterday’s excursion to the State Fair was fun. SaraRules got to see quilts; I got to people-watch. We also checked out some really nice photography and crafts. It was a good way to spend the afternoon. Then it was off to the in-laws’ for football. We got there just before the last play of the Ravens-Chargers game.

Hey, Ray… Darren Sproles said the he could not only outrun you, but that he was going up the gut on 4th and 2 for the go-ahead touchdown and the win. What do you think about that?

Ray!  You got him and saved the win for the Ravens!  How does that make you feel?!

Yeah, me too!

Football Update

Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers
31 – 26
The Ravens headed into Qualcomm Stadium and took the spark out of the Chargers. Phillip Rivers, being… well… Phillip Rivers, had yet another amazing outing, though: 436 passing yards. That’s just not right.

.

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Hawks
10 – 28
Didn’t see it, but heard that it wasn’t a great showing for Carolina.

.

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs
13 – 10
Congrats, SaraRules!

.

Cleveland Browns at Denver Broncos
6 – 27
Sorry, . Maybe your team will show up next Sunday when they head to Baltimore… maybe.

.

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions
34 – 20
Brett Favre and the Vikes gave the Lions yet another loss. You know that’s gotta sting. Congrats,

.

Cincinnati Bengals at Green Bay Packers
31 – 24
Congrats, and .

Stray Toasters

• Twelve days.
• Shattering the Ruby Quartz Ceiling: Why Cyclops Is Finally Cool
  (I’ve always thought Scott was just fine, but I do like the changes in attitude of late…)
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Jedi says Tesco discriminated against him
• Philadelphia Free Library System saved
• Tim Gunn Interview about ‘Models, Inc.’ and Superhero Fashion
• Die, Sweet Road Runner, Die (not for kids)

• Zombies vs. villagers chess set
• The 5 Creepiest Sex Scenes in Comics
  • As a corollary: The 10 Worst Moments in Superman History
• Bobby Brown: Speaking about Whitney and Going ‘Behind the Music’
• Whole Foods’ 365 Garlic and Herb Pita Chips == Awesome!

Back to it…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 September 2009
Comics and Sushi Wednesday is upon us once again.  Amen.

Last night was kind of… lax. Not saying that’s a “bad” thing, mind you. SaraRules and her mom went shopping last night, leaving me at home to… well… pretty much do whatever I wanted. I actually made a few wedding-related calls – I talked with my ‘rents.  All’s well in their respective worlds.  Then I made calls to my Godparents, who won’t be able to make it out for the event. It was nice talking with them.  Then, I watched TV and cut some 6″x3″ pieces for use with a new WWG map and surfed the Interwebs.

Workout
Yesterday, Marci and I got in a short lunchtime workout:

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
• Side Bends: 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Pre-workout weight (morning): 184.0 lbs

Stray Toasters

• …not to be confused with “Starry Toasters”
• The Next DC Animated Film Is a CRISIS Story
• For some reason, I woke up with Swing Low, Sweet Chariot running through my head. Not just any version, either. It was the Dizzy Gillespie version that he performed on The Muppet Show. It segued into the Eric Clapton version for a moment, but went back to the Dizzy one.
• … I mis-remembered – it was apparently Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac:

• Taking Showers Can Be Harmful to Your Health
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: WWE’s Linda McMahon resigns to run for Senate against Dodd
• Carter: Racism plays major role in opposition to Obama
• With the season premiere of NCIS – and series premiere of NCIS: Los Angeles – less than a week away, TVGuide.com offers this up: Check out LL Cool J’s new NCIS:LA-inspired Song

• Best of Broadway: Bernstein’s ‘West Side Story’
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is now out…

  

• iPhone as a PC Game Controller
• Top 5 WTF Comic Book Character Origins

Namaste.

Tuesday – 15 September 2009
We’re halfway through the month already. Wow. Where does the time go…?

Last night, I headed over to help and her ‘rents do some painting at her new place. I took my portable SoundDock, so that we’d have something to listen to. What I didn’t take was the remote control. I was under the mistaken impression that I needed the remote to change the volume on it as, unlike my primary SoundDock, the volume controls are not on the face of the unit.

Operative word: “Mistaken.”

I noticed, after I had gotten back home later in the evening, that the portable ‘Dock does have sound controls on it – they’re on the side of the unit. D’oh!

Football
Last night, there was a double-header on Monday Night Football:

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
24 – 25

I missed a good portion of this game, as I was helping paint. But, I caught a little of the first quarter and the last five or ten minutes of the fourth quarter. And, I was surprised and impressed with the last couple of drives: The Patriots’ two-minute drill to get the go-ahead score and the Bills’ hook-and-ladder play to try and answer it.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders
24 – 20

This was a solid game, top to bottom. I was especially impressed with the way the Raiders played – on both sides of the ball. The defense looked reminiscent of the Raiders of the 70s and 80s; the offense was… well… GOOD! They moved the ball, they didn’t make a lot of stupid errors. They played solid football, but in the end, Sandy Eggo took the “Win.”

Stray Toasters

• In honor of the title of this post, I give you Mr. Miyagi
  Once again, Julie (our IT admin… sorry, “Distinguished IT Admin,” as we refer to her) and I dressed alike. Today, we’re both in navy tops and khaki pants. And, once again, we did not plan this.
• It’s official: NECA Acquires WizKids; HeroClix to Continue
  (Hopefully, the legendary – and highly-elusive – “Smoky-Foot” Captain America ‘Clix will see the light of day…)

  

• The greatest papercraft model you’ll ever see
• Groomsmens’ gifts: Check.
• What happened to civility?
• Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option
• I don’t remember how I stumbled across Geek Orthodox, but I found some amusing stuff there:
  • Darth Bat
  • Gamer Shirts
  • 10 Reasons Why Roleplaying Games Are a Positive Force for Kids and Adults Alike
• 
• Wells Fargo fires exec over Malibu house scandal
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: When Getting Beaten by Your Husband Is a Pre-existing Condition

Namaste.

Monday – 14 September 2009
Nothing like having The Leash start going off at 0800… just as you’re getting ready to head to the office. It was alerting me to a problem with an off-site server. Yay. We contacted the appropriate people – who seemed to be having issues of their own – and they handled it. Eventually. Welcome to Monday.

Yesterday was a good day. It was also chock full o’ stuff. Mark and Alex – a member of the SUU Ballroom Dance Team who came up to assist in the dance lessons – came up about 2:30. First, they worked with SaraRules and Steve for the Father/Daughter dance, then it they spent time with SaraRules and me for our first dance. It was more fun and less fearsome than I had expected. (And, we fortunately we have three weeks to practice…)

After that, SaraRules, Alex, Mark and I headed over to the in-laws-to-be for dinner: Bratwurst and football. Excellent combination. More on football in a minute. After dinner, Steve transferred the video of our dance practice to DVD for us – we need to have some kind of reference for practice, after all.

Football Update
Yesterday was the Ravens’ season opener at home.

Kansas City Chiefs at Baltimore Ravens
24 – 38

They tried to give me heart failure in the second and third quarters… and I wasn’t even watching the game, per se. In this market, CBS broadcast the Minnesota-Cleveland game, so I had to “watch” the GameCenter on NFL.com.  Granted, it was nice to see the Vikings hand the Browns a beatdown, but I would have rather seen the Ravens play. Because, let’s face it: Who wouldn’t want to see Ray Lewis break a little something off like this in real time…

…or watch as QB Joe Flacco goes and dials in 303 yards passing and 4 yards rushing, as the Ravens put up a total of 501 yards of total offense!? Crazy. How does that make you feel, Ray?

Yeah, I thought so.

Elsewhere around the league:

Miami Dolphins at Atlanta Falcons
7 – 19
Oh, well.. at least there are 16 more games in the season.

.

Philadelphia Eagles at Carolina Panthers
38 – 10
Ditto.

.

Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
12 – 7
Sorry, and .

.

Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns
34 – 20
Congrats, … and Congrats Commiserations, .

Stray Toasters

• I’m going to help sling some paint tonight before the Sandy Eggo – Oakland game.
• 10 sure-fire ways to derail your career in IT
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot..?!” file: Philadelphia Free Library System is shutting down
• Get results by social networking with airlines
• Top 50 User-Created Soul Calibur 4 Characters
• Scientists Find Master Gene to Switch on Immune Cells
• Want your own dinosaur? Place your bids

Namaste.

Sunday – 13 September 2009
I was up later than I had planned to be last night/this morning; I was preparing and posting my auctions on eBay. They’ll kick off this evening and hopefully, by the end of the week, I’ll be a few ‘Clix lighter. (One can hope, can’t they…?)

This morning, we’re up and getting ready to meet our…. BUM BUM BUMMMM… dance instructor for our wedding dances. Mark Baker, SaraRules’ former classmate at SUU and the Director of Ballroom Dance at SUU, is choreographing our first dance and the father-daughter dance as our wedding present. (It’s nice to be able to “open” presents before the event!)

And then, there’s football! The Raven’s take on the Chiefs today. I doubt that the game will be broadcast here and we don’t have DirecTV and Sunday Ticket, but I can track the stats on NFL.com, if nothing else.

Stray Toasters

• Norman Borlaug, scientist who ‘saved 245m lives,’ dies aged 95
• From the “Huh… Who knew!?” file: Parallel Processing for Cardiac Simulations Using an Xbox 360
• Short People Got No Reason Not To Be America’s Next Top Models
• 
• How does her U.S. Open implosion affect Serena’s legacy?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Super Mario fingernails
• 18 Foot Multitouch Wall and New Multitouch Tech Hit the Streets

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Saturday – 12 September 2009
It’s almost 2:30 (at least it was when I started writing this…) and I’ve already gone out to have coffee with Perry, helped move (counts as today’s workout!) and run errands. And now, I’m stuck with something of a conundrum: What in the world am I going to do with the rest of my afternoon?!  SaraRules has to attend An Evening of Beethoven again – this time as an employee of US/UO – so I get to figure out what I’m doing tonight, too. There could be a lot of CoH and or WWG-building time involved…

Last night, we went to the aforementioned “An Evening of Beethoven”

The symphony performed:

• Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, op. 43
• Concerto for Violin in D Major, op. 61 (featuring guest artist Jennifer Frautschi on violin)
• Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op. 67

And they were very well done. It was a lovely evening out.

After the symphony, we caught up with the Clitorati crew for dinner. As an added bonus, Chris and Mary showed up. And, as a… hm… “bonus bonus,” I guess… Chris brought the Bishop HeroClix figure that he customized for me.

He did a great job on it. More pictures of it can be seen here.

Stray Toasters

• Rings: Check.
• I finally took pictures of the Mac pony that Stephanie made for me… to match my MacBook.
• Personal space is mostly in your head
  That may be true, but I adhere to this idea:

  

  Of course, I tend to think of my personal space as being the size of Mongolia. *shrug*
  Okay, that’s not entirely true; although, I do prefer a buffer of two to three feet.

• I’ve been working on setting up some eBay auctions to clear out some of my extra ‘Clix.
• A dozen Warhol paintings worth millions stolen from Los Angeles home
• 300 is on TNT. Nice…
• …of course, that reminded me of this:

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Six-year-old girl chauffeured stoned mom

That’s good for now.  I’m off to go enjoy some lazy time.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 September 09
That’s right, it’s 09/09/09.
Today is also Sushi and Comics Wednesday, but due to the holiday, comic book shipments will not be in until tomorrow.

Last night, Chris came over for another round of our GLC/SC Heroclix battle. (Pictures here) As usual, it was a good fight. In a manner that pretty much mirrored the comics, the first big fight was between Superbrat-Prime Superboy-Prime (sorry… “SuperMAN-Prime”) and Sodam Yat (Ion). Just like that battle, Prime hit Ion and cleaned his clock – six (6) clicks of damage, right off the bat — in the comic, Prime shoved a lead rod into Sodam’s torso.

Fortunately, Yat is a Daxamite and could take the hit, but it took him way off his game. We danced around the table for a while – both our sets of dice ran hot and cold – but, in the end, Chris went home with a “Win.” I believe that the Sinestro Corps is now 3-0 in our match-ups.

While Chris and I were playing, SaraRules went off to see a movie, Julie and Julia, I think… When she came home, she brought me flowers. (Coolest. Fiancee. Ever.) It was very sweet of her.

Stray Toasters

• This morning started off with a fun chat with sister-in-law-t0-be Meliko.
• 10 NFL questions: Do the Steelers have the stuff for a repeat title?
• …and in a related item, Don’t Throw It to Ed Reed:

• Courtesy of The Masters of the Obvious Slashdot: Geeks Prefer Competence to Niceness
• From and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot..?!” file: Bizarre Tongue-Eating Parasite Discovered off the Jersey Coast
  (Of course, it would be New Jersey…)
• Superman vs. Green Lantern: The Debate Continues
• For decades (mostly in the 50s and 60s), Lois Lane tried to prove that Clark Kent was really Superman. Preposterous, I know. After all, with all that power, why masquerade as “a mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper?” Super. Man. Not “Wheat-growing Farmboy from Kansas Man.”But, I digress…Superman would go to great lengths to conceal his identity. “How far,” you ask? Far enough to get his friend Batman in on the job. There’s been super-dickery. Now here’s proof of… um… super-bat-dickery, too.
• The Beatles Remastered, Not Just for Audiophiles
• Microsoft arranges spontaneous house parties for Windows 7 launch
• Liposuction Leftovers Make Easy Stem Cells

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 September 2009
A new (and short) work week begins. And there’s already been “an issue” with another of our cooling systems.  Hopefully, the maintenance work that is scheduled for tomorrow will take care of it.

Happy Birthday, to Sib-4: !

Last night wound up being rather low-key. I finished cutting out the last of the 6″x6″ tiles that I had – I’m down to a hair over five minutes per tile, with all of the necessary cutting. I still need to cut some 6″x3″ and 3″x3″ tiles.

Tonight, Chris is coming over for a knockdown, drag-out Green Lantern Corps vs. Sinestro Corps ‘Clix game. We’re also using our respective Corps’ heralds: I’m using Ion (Sodam Yat) and he’s playing with Parallax (Kyle Rayner), based on figures that we made and custom dials that we’ve found.

(And, hopefully, we’ll be able to settle on a decent/respectable TA for the Sinestro Corps…)

Workout
Today’s workout was brief, but fulfilling:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 140 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps

Weight (post-workout): 188.4 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Astronauts pack Buzz Lightyear for ride home
• Getting a superhero education in Oregon
• Commentary: Where are the “Good Guys?”
• 
• Photographer Leibovitz could lose portfolio due to debt
• IGN Presents: The History of the Dreamcast
• Speculation ramps up as Apple event nears
• 
• From the “You don’t hear things like this everyday” file: Parents honor dead son’s wish, wed at end of his funeral

Back to it.

Namaste.

Friday – 04 September 2009
It’s my 9/80 Friday off. Can you say “four-day weekend,” boys and girls?

I knew you could!

I fell asleep on the couch last night… watching football. That’s a sentence that I never thought I’d write. SaraRules was kind enough to wake me up and suggest that I call it a night. I did. And I slept in this morning. That was nice, considering that I won’t be sleeping in tomorning: We’re doing an early breakfast at Ruth’s Diner and then making a trip to the zoo. (I just realized that tomorrow’s trip will be almost two years to the day that we made our first trip to the zoo together.)

Today, I have a couple of errands to run, but other than that, it’s a wide open day.

Football Update
Last night, the Ravens played the Hawks, in Atlanta.  And won. Meaning they went 4-0 in preseason.

Baltimore Ravens at Altanta Hawks
20 – 3

The Raiders also took on the Seahawks in Seattle. They didn’t fare as well. Their preseason record: 1 – 3.

Oakland Raiders at Seattle Seahawks
21 – 31

Stray Toasters

• I was watching a rerun of The West Wing earlier. The episode featured Vice-President John Hoynes, portrayed by Tim Matheson. I still find it amusing that the original (voice of) Jonny Quest wound up as VP of the United States.
• The next installment of Four-Color Coverage is going to be a little different: I’m going to be splitting duties with MarknTyme.
• 6 Tech-History Zombies We’d Throw Down a Black Hole
• Umm… Pears grown in the shape of the Buddha
• 
• Here are a couple of interesting articles about the role of museums in the DC and Marvel Universes, including the purpose of the Batcave:
  • On the role of museums in superhero fiction…
  • Heroic Hype: The Batcave
• I’ve been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender… and enjoying it. It tells a very good story.
• Why the Mt. Wilson Observatory was worth saving
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Speed-trap-happy cops shoot complaing fire chief in court

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 Sep 2009
Tis the day before 9/80 Friday. Amen.

Last night, I started printing off a few things from Himmelveil: Streets. Nothing major, just some LinxTabs and a few street tiles. There’s going to be a lot of cutting involved with getting stuff set up, but I think that the flexibility will make it worth the work.

Workout
Wes and I got in a late workout today… but that’s still better than no workout at all!

• Calf Raises: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Leg Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Leg Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Sit-ups: 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps each, 225 lbs/205 lbs/185 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 120 lbs
• Fly: 3 sets/10 reps – 2 sets @ 100 lbs, 1 set @ 120 lbs

Weight (morning): 185.5 lbs

Then, I rushed back to the office for the… 13:30 meeting… that got cancelled… at 13:25.  *blink blink*

Stray Toasters

• sent a few pics of the family to me last night.  The cutest of the bunch:

  
  (She’s asleep, but it looks as though Pixel’s saying “No, really, talk to the hand…”)

• Outlook poor for Great Barrier Reef
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Japan’s new first lady says [she] rode UFO to Venus
• Smash and grab robbers clean out Apple Store in 31 seconds
• 
• The Art of Manliness, by way of
• From the “Ewww, gross!” file: FDA says residue is frog or toad, how did it get in Pepsi can? Worst pun/quote of the article:
  

  But the DeNegris say they’re hopping mad over Pepsi’s handling of the matter.

• YouTube may stream movie rentals

Quote of the Day
Today’s QotD also has the added (dubious) distinction of being “Unintentional Porn Overheard at Work.”

I was talking with Coworker Andrew about a salad that he was making. Not seeing any meaty bits in his salad (they were at the bottom of the bowl, apparently), I asked if he was a vegetarian. He told me that he was not.

A couple of minutes later, on his way out of the break room, he stopped by my desk to note that while he is not a vegetarian, he prefers not to eat “animal-shaped” meats – he’ll eat chunked, sliced, diced or other not-on-the-bone meats, but other than that it’s “No Go, Flight.” He summed it up this way:

I don’t put anything in my mouth that I don’t have the intention of swallowing.

I immediately told that I owed a dollar to the swear jar. (Which will use my last “banked” buck in there… but it was worth it.)

Namaste.