Random Access

It’s been sunny, with high clouds, so far today.  I’m still waiting to see if there’s any rain in the wings for this evening or tonight; that will make it 10 straight days with rain. Sure, it’s great for the water table and the reservoirs, but I still keep coming back to that whole “high desert plain” thing. *shrug*

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I had to write a brief follow-up to Thursday’s “Here’s how you do things” email, because I apparently confused someone with the language in it. *sigh*
• Rachel pointed this out to me this morning; it made me laugh:

  

• I introduced Julie and Sean to The Utah Baby Namer.
  (And I used to think that Black families had cornered the market on unusual and unique names. Nope!)
• A frayed knot.
• Oklahoma Highway Patrol finally releases video of trooper attack on paramedic
• I had to go back and re-upload the pictures of Pat and Adriana’s wedding. AGAIN! *grblsnrkx*
• Heroes Reborn. Again. Kind of.
  And… AND… there’s talk about Ben Reilly putting in an appearance in the not-too-distant future.
  I’m not sure what they’re smoking/eating/drinking in the Marvel offices, but I really hope that they’re having fun.
• Wednesday Comics feature to be picked up by USA Today

Namaste.

Monday – 15 June 2009
Another work week begins. While I wouldn’t call the day “manic,” it is still a Monday. And, I came into the office to find out that some scheduled maintenance on our email server seems to have been “mostly successful,” it seems that one of the services isn’t playing nicely with the others… and just quit. One of the server guys is working on it now.

Yesterday, I went to Murray Park and threw the Aerobie around with Chris and Mary. We played for about 40 minuutes before the thunderheads rolled in. We thought it in our best interests to stop playing – we didn’t find the prospect of becoming human lightning rods all that enticing. After heading home for a shower, I went to visit Perry and the kids; they were doing well.

I headed to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner. As it was still raining when we finished, there was no Sunday Night Bocce. Instead, we watched Dead Again. Despite owning the movie, I haven’t seen it in a few years. It was good and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Back at home, I took another stab at organizing my legions of HeroClix into storage boxes. For the most part, it looks as though I was successful. I still need to go through a few boxes and verify that the figures in them are extra and/or available for modification.

Stray Toasters

• By way of SaraRules:
  • ‘Imelda’ Strikes Again: Thieving Fox Amasses 120 Shoes
  • Top 10 Worst Wedding Songs
• Kids — They’ll Age You (or “Just how old is Bruce Wayne, anyway?!”)
• and A 400-lb Gorilla are written up in: Midvale couple chalks it up for art and foster care
  Don’t forget to check them out this weekend at the Utah Chalk Art Festival – this Friday and Saturday at The Gateway
• Combating malaria by sterilizing male mosquitos
• Full-sized Gundam Now Complete in Tokyo
• 
• By way of comes: Manvotional: George Washington’s Rules on Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation
• Comic Confrontations: Judge Judy vs. Breeders
• ‘Prodigal’ returns?: The new Batman’s the same as the old new Batman — or is he?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: For Sale: New York property with quietest of tenants
• Cracked and peeling Photoshopping contest

Namaste.

Sunday – 14 June 2009
This weekend, I have (re)discovered something wonderful about saying (or at least “thinking loudly”) “I don’t feel like getting up yet…” on my days off. I’ve managed not to get out of bed as soon as I wake up. This is a good thing as Friday, Saturday and this morning, I was awake between 0630 and 0705. Without an alarm. This comes under the heading of a “good thing.”

I finally got the pictures from Ogden Union Station posted. I’m not entirely sure why iWeb wouldn’t let me post pages with similar – yet different – names, but it didn’t. So, I had to get a little creative. This workaround seems to work. Something that I didn’t consider – mainly because it was almost 0200 when I was trying to get the pictures posted – was to simply publish the pages to folders and upload the folders. (It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep and distance from the problem will do for mental acuity.) If I run into this situation again, I’ll have to keep that in mind.

Stray Toasters

• Seven Civil War Stories your teacher never told you
• It has rained, to some degree, every day for the past eight (8) days. This fact is made even more peculiar/amusing in that we are on a high desert plain. The operative word being: “Desert.” If it keeps up much longer, I’m going to start drafting plans for an ark. My mission: Save two of each kind of toy.
• The Rise and Fall of Motion Control for Games
• Speaking of games: I’ve finally given my XBox 360 a permanent connection to the Interwebs; my gamer tag is: shadorunr. If you’re a XBox Live player, feel free to add me.
• Director Guillermo Del Toro Is a Novelist, Too
• While I’m not a big fan of Twitter, I found this blending of old and new technology amusing: A Twitter Client for the Commodore 64
• Actor Phil Morris Always Seems to Get the Cool Parts
• Vincent Moore raises the question: “Where are the Black Supervillains?” (1, 2)
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Bulletproof “tactical” corset

Methinks it’s time to find something to do in the sunshine. Throwing the Aerobie around  sounds like a good idea.

Namaste.

Friday – 12 June 2009
A 9/80 Friday off begins. Well, that’s not entirely true – it started over ten hours ago. It would be closer to the truth to say that I slept in and that it’s been a lazy day so far.

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away I came home from work, had dinner… and then fell asleep on the couch. For nearly two hours. I thought I’d nap for maybe half an hour. I was mistaken, for the second time this year. After I finished with my Rip Van Winkle impression, we watched Slumdog Millionaire: What is one young man willing to do to chase down a dream? What if that dream isn’t something ethereal and elusive… but the heart of a young lady? This movie answers that question. And it’s an excellent movie. I can see now why it garnered so much attention at the Oscars. AND… it ends with a Bollywood-style dance scene!

Stray Toasters

• The Bureau of Communication – Fill-in-the-Blank Correspondence
• Skipping School? Get a Presidential Excuse
• Mattel has a new Green Lantern 3-figure pack coming out. Covet.
• pointed out GroomGroove.com
• The Least Appropriete Wedding Songs Ever
• Why No Famous Scientists or Engineers?
• Both SaraRules and I are amused by this commercial:

• By way of Rachel: Surviving the World
• Out of Your Life. Their tagline kills me: “It’s time to break up with his jewelry, too.”
• By way of : Fossil Fuels Brewing Co.
• Horror Movie Shower Curtain & Bath Mat
• More Nerd Merit Badges

Time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

Thursday – 11 June 2009
Another NBN Thursday kicks off…

…with meetings. Yay. Looking at my calendar, it looks as though I only have two meetings, rather than the three I thought I had. That’s a nominal win.

::: EDIT :::
One meeting down… and I just found out that I might have a third meeting, after all. It’s not the one I was expecting, however.

Last night, SaraRules and I made our weekly(-ish) trek over to The Perfect Dress to see what they were unleashing upon the world as the new, hot items in bridal and formal wear. There was only one new dress to ridicule look at. After that, we wandered through the neighborhood World Market for a bit, with side trips to Paradise Bakery and Cafe and Red Mango. The night wrapped with a bit of TV and the reading of some Stephen King (for her) and this week’s comics haul (for me).

Stray Toasters

• Buck Rogers #1 – It’s a new take on a classic character. This is your quintessential introduction issue. We meet the titular Captain Rogers, Colonel Wilma Deering… and… Ursinius. If you’re looking for Twiki, all I can say is “Sorry… bidi-bidi-bidi-Buck.” This book looks like it could be a rather fun spin on the tale of Buck Rogers and company.
  
• Fantastic Four #567 – Doctor Doom vs. his Master. Who will pay the price for the backlash from this fight? This storyline has been building nicely for the past few months, I am intrigued to see how it will pan out.
  
• The Flash: Rebirth #3 (of 5) – Can Barry Allen outrun his fate to become the new Black Flash? Would it be Barry Allen if he didn’t try?  One of the best sequences of the story includes a bit of dialogue with Superman:
  

  Superman: Barry. I’m not going to let you do this.
  Flash: You can’t stop me.
  Superman: I’ve raced you before, Barry. I even won some of those races.
  Flash: Those were for charity, Clark.  ::: speeds out of sight with a sonic boom :::

  The Fastest Man Alive, indeed.
  

• Green Lantern Corps #37 – Daxam under a yellow sun. (Never seen that one before, have we…?) GL Arisia rallies the Daxamites who want revenge on Mongul. GLs Ash and Saarek’s paths cross… at the direction of the scarred Guardian. The Alpha Lanterns make an appearance at the Sciencell riots.
  
• JSA vs Kobra #1 (of 6) – DC Comics’ cult Kobra is stepping up its game and looking become “a name” in the DCU. Their opening move: Making an attack on Mr. Terrific, member of the JSA and Checkmate’s White King… in front of the JSA’s brownstone. (“Not smart,” you say? Actually, it was quite shrewd.) What is their endgame and what are they willing to do to achieve it?
  
• R.E.B.E.L.S. #5 – Durlan shapeshifter, Ciji, states her case/mission. Astrild Stormdaughter states her case/mission.  And readers finally see the true face of Starro the Conqueror. (Or at least the updated “true face.”)
  
• Red Robin #1 – Not only are we (re)introduced to Red Robin – and the man behind the mask – but his mission. Also in this issue, we get a glimpse at the “changing of the guard” in the Batcave and of [SPOILER DELETED], who seems to have something of a vested interest in the activities of Red Robin, both in and out of costume. I was impressed with this issue – it contained interesting looks at some familiar characters and pushed at least one of them in a direction that I wasn’t expecting. I’m looking forward to see how the series progresses.
  
• Uncanny X-Men #511 – The X-Men split into two teams to battle the Red Queen and the Sisterhood… and this time, they bring their “A” game. And friends. And they’ve even managed to work up a couple of surprises. The question is: Will it be enough? And, by the end of the fight, a familiar face returns to the pages of UXM.
  

Of the books I picked up this week, there were a few that didn’t make the cut… but one that really didn’t do anything for me was Uncanny X-Men: First Class #1. It was a “behind the scenes” look at the transition from the original X-Men team and the post-Krakoa team. More specifically, it was a collection of stories from each of the new X-Men (minus Sunfire and Thunderbird) about their lives before joining Xavier’s cause. Of the stories, the only one that really struck me as “good” was the Storm story, which recounted one of her adventures as a child thief in Cairo. Other than that, it was a waste of $3.99, in my opinion; if I could give negative bricks for this, I might consider it.

Stray Toasters

• Two bits of coolness, by way of SaraRules’ parents:
  1. Her mother got me a Justice League Unlimited coloring book… and crayons!
  2. Her father gave me a box of HO Scale train stuff!
• By way of :
  • Dance United: Ballet West dancers leap to the aid of Oregon ballet company
  • Charity report: Musicians live on less to help symphony, opera
  • Tyra Banks… as a Jedi.  (Win-Win!)
  • 9,000-year-old brew hitting the shelves this summer
• Make It Work: Writers Talk Models, Inc.
• Letterman fires back at Palin’s comment
• Lucy Knisley’s zombie invasion poster
• Y’all gon’ make me lose my mind
  up in here, up in here
  Y’all gon’ make me go all out
  up in here, up in here
  Y’all gon’ make me act a fool
  up in here, up in here
  Y’all gon’ make me lose my cool
  up in here, up in here(Now why do I have an almost-overwhelming urge to watch Jesus Christ Superstar…?)
• Back to the Future wedding cake
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Dress made from meat
• Buck Up: Life Lessons from Three Young Heroines

Namaste.

Wednesday – 10 June 2009
Today is my kid sister, Kristen’s, birthday:

Last night, Chris called me. We had talked about getting together for a ‘Clix game, but neither of us could remember what day/date we’d agreed on. So… we played last night. I took a couple of boxes of figures to choose from; I wound up using:

• Apocalypse (with Fortitude and Trick Shot)
• Fantomex (with Outsmart)
• Scandal Savage and
• The Joker

Chris, wanting to use his custom “Lamppost Batman” figure, basically built his old tournament team (Flash and Green Lantern)… and brought his custom KC Superman (with Fortitude), to round out the points. He also picked “The Prison,” a map that I don’t like playing on (read: “Hate”).

Then it was game on. I maneuvered Scandal and Apocalypse into position and waited for Chris to move in. He did and put Batman in jeopardy:

1. He didn’t count how far away he was from Apocalypse
2. He forgot that Apocalypse had Trick Shot – which ignores characters, terrain and (most importantly) stealth.

Batman took a quick 5 clicks of damage. I managed not to grin like a fiend; Chris was not grinning at all. There was a lot of jockeying back and forth, and I was able to remove Batman from the game shortly thereafter. I even did some decent damage to Green Arrow and The Flash before Superman came in and saved the day pummeled Apocalypse (and the rest of the team) to death.

I wound up losing, but… I learned that Trick Shot is a good Feat card (Must get more…) for characters other than archers – I will have to try it on Storm… or Professor Xavier.

Stray Toasters

• I found out why Wordbook “wasn’t working” until last night: My host allows users to choose whether they use PHP 4.x or 5.0 and my account was still set at 4.4.7. After I switched it to 5.0, things worked according to plan… or so it seemed.  *grblsnrkx*
• The Ogden Arts Festival is coming up this weekend.
• Shockpuppet sent me a link to 60 Marvelous Superhero Wallpapers
• I just introduced Sean to The Best Page in the Universe and The Alphabet of Manliness.
• NTSB: Pilots ill-trained for water landings
• By way of NPR:
  • Get to Know: The Cole Porter Songbook
  • Vivaldi: A Man for All Seasons
  • From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: $1 Million Hidden in Mattress Gets Thrown Out with the Trash
• 
• Also from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: Cop Tasers 72-Year-Old Granny
• Eddie Bauer may be heading into bankruptcy court
• Do we really need a remake of this?
• Bland New Day

And, it’s Sushi and Comics Day.

Namaste.

I started this a little after 1300. It’s now after 1700, and I’m just getting done with meetings for the day. *sigh* No rest for the wicked, I guess.

Wes and I hit the gym again today:

• Sit-ups (decline bench): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Lower Back Extension: 3 sets/15 reps, 160 lbs
• Reverse Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 80 lbs
• Shoulder Press (machine): 3 sets/10 reps, 70 lbs
• Overhead Tricep Extensions (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 45 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 30 lbs

Post-workout weight: 188.2 lbs

::: MEETINGS :::

And then there were none. It’s always great when you (re)discover that there’s a meeting you’re supposed to attend… twenty minutes before the meeting is scheduled to start. And I wouldn’t even have known that if I hadn’t overheard someone else talking about it.

Stray Toasters

• I’m trying out the Wordbook plugin for WordPress. Ostensibly, my posts should be getting mirrored in my Facebook account. We’ll see how that works out.
• Boy, 11, graduates from college
• , and : I’d be interested in your opinions, if any, of this article: Blacksmiths of Intellectual Property: The Rise of Originality in MMOs; not necessarily limited to MMOs, but to gaming in general.
• By way of – Star Trek: The Wrath of Chaka Khan

• Apple iPhone Users Cry Foul Over AT&T Upgrade Policy
  (or, as showed me earlier in the day: Stupid Apple, You Suck!)
• Top 10 Ways to Provoke a Geek Argument
• By way of :

  

• Also from – Paradise on a Hanger is having a (going out of business?) sale.

That’s all f-f-f-folks!

Namaste.

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

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

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

The Best: Crazy
Seal vs. Alanis Morrisette

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

Seal:

Crazy – Seal

Alanis:

Alanis Morissette Crazy

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

Stray Toasters

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

Namaste.

Monday – 08 June 2009
Happy Birthday to …

…and to my ex-“sister-in-law,” Julie.

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

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

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

He gets right on to
The friction of the day

Namaste.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The twist: Mr. Pinchback is a Negro.

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

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

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

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

  Thanks to for forwarding this to me.

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

Namaste.

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

Time to find some trouble to get into.

Namaste.

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

  

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

Namaste.

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

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

Stray Toasters

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

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

Tuesday – 02 June 2009
I was a little bit slow out of the gate this morning, but not ridiculously so. It was more a case of “Yes, I’m awake… but I’m not really in a rush to get ready.” And, despite the fact that I got ready in a fairly leisurely fashion, I was still in by 8:00.

Last night, we had dinner at SaraRules’ parents’ place. After dinner, she, Logan, Steve and I played bocce (not to be confused with “speaking Bocce“) in the backyard. I’d never played before, but it was rather fun. After the game (Logan won), we watched Taken. It was as good the second time as when we first saw it. Then, we headed home.

Stray Toasters

• Yet another reason I love SaraRules – she sent me a link to this.
• Badda-Bing Indeed
• Last night, a KC-135 and four F-16 escorts were doing circles around the valley. After the third or fourth loop, we decided to look up what was going on. It was to kick of Air Force Week.
• Booker T: A Soul Man Tackles OutKast – this is an interesting instrumental cover of Hey Ya by a legendary soul music artist… and features Neil Young on guitar, as well.
• Jet Cyclist Hits 73MPH and Lives to Tell the Tale
• Playing with the queen of hearts
  Knowing it ain’t really smart
  The joker ain’t the only fool
  Who’ll do anything for you
• Guantanamo files ‘must be public’
• Spirograph business cards… which, in turn, led me to Business cards made from meat
• According to a post on WikiHow, today is National Leave the Office Earlier Day
• Send headshot to get portrait painted

Right on to the friction of the day…

Namaste.

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

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

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

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

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

Small beginner's/teaching board for 'Clix

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

Stray Toasters

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



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

Attack the day
Like birds of prey…

Namaste.