Friday
The weekend has officially commenced. Amen.

Work wasn’t bad today. In fact, I’d even say that it was pretty good. And, for the first time in far too long: I went to Mallday. We ate at a Russian restaurant. I had stroganoff; it was pretty good. Ambush Makeover was playing on the TV there. The premise of this show (apparently) is: The host walks up to random people on the street and gives them a makeover. O_o !?! I could be wrong about this, but isn’t that just a little presumptuous?

After work, , , , , and and I did our traditional Friday night coffee. showed up a little later. As usual, we chatted, drank coffee-based beverages and talked about the other patrons. Following that, , , and I went to get a bite to eat; Ghela joined us for liquid refreshment. And, we actually got to see/talk with Vivi. Zach, our waiter, came over and chatted with us for a bit… and we learned that he had no idea who Keith Richards is. *jawdrop* There was much laughter at the table. It’s good to spend the evening in the company of friends with whom (and in some cases: “at whom”) you can laugh.

NPR and PRI Stories
Talk of the Nation – Science Friday: Preventing a Flu Pandemic/AIDS
Talk of the Nation – Science Friday: High-Tech Gifts
All Things Considered: Putting an R Rating on Smoking in Movies
All Things Considered: Preserving the Sacred Harp Singing Tradition
All Things Considered: Adopting a Family: Remembering Joe Smarzik
All Things Considered: Winner of the ‘Bad Sex in Fiction’ Award

Stray Toasters

  • To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Space Invaders, Taito has commissioned Namco to remake the game. And…. they are making it a two-for-one console, with Qix as the other available game.
  • Brian Singer is in talks to helm X-Men 3.
  • Cats are funny. Still.
  • So are Lego monkeys.
  • While sitting at dinner tonight, I made a comment to the effect of: “If we have to listen to Christmas music, I want to hear Eartha Kitt’s version of Santa Baby.” A few minutes later, it came on. Now, all I need is to hear Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth by Bing Crosby and David Bowie.
  • Thanks to for sharing this.
  • This month’s Esquire features “Things I’ve Learned…” by Christopher Reeve, Lynda Carter and Adam West. Or… Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. The comic book and Justice League fan in me was amused and happy.


Rant of the Day
On this morning’s Talk of the City (local program on KCPW), the guest was Tim Campbell, Executive Director of the Salt Lake City International Airport. He took comments and questions from callers. One caller complained about the inconvenience of having his flight grounded because a passenger made a comment that the flight crew took as potentially threatening. The caller added that he had dealt with a similar scenario when trying to fly through Atlanta, GA… and how it made him miss his daughter’s first game on the high school basketball team.

I was very impressed with the way that Mr. Campbell responded: He apologized for the inconvenience and then asked if the caller thought that it would have been better for the flight to proceed as scheduled with the possibility that the other passenger’s comments were more than idle chatter. He also reminded the caller that he wasn’t the only one who was inconvenienced, but he understood the frustration of planning a trip and having something go awry at the last minute.

Okay, let’s get something straight: If I am on a flight and someone makes a comment that could easily be construed as a threat to the safety/security of the plane, its crew, the passengers and myself, you’re damn right that I want them to cancel the flight and pore over every nut, bolt, panel and wire of that plane. To Hell with the inconvenience. I would rather know that I can travel safely than hope or guess that I could. Yes, I might miss “Activity A” or “Meeting Person B,” but things can be rescheduled and people (usually) understand that circumstances are not always under our control.

::: gets down from soapbox :::

Namaste.