Random Access

I was chatting with Liz when Coupling came up. Specifically, she mentioned something and I countered with “The Melty Man.” She, never having seen the show, had no idea what I was talking about, so I forwarded her a link to the episode synopsis and this quote from Jeff Murdock:

All of us in our time are visited by the Melty Man… Don’t say his name, Patrick. Don’t even think his name, or he will rise from the shadow dimensions to do his evil work inside your terrified pants.

That reminded me of other Jeff-isms… which, not so oddly, have been collected in a Wikipedia entry.

EDIT:
I just got a call from Land, which included a line that not only ties into the above, but also pretty much qualifies as Quote of the Day-worthy:

Oh, the perspective Ohio gave me… I just went to a Singles’ Ward and I now understand why men masturbate to porn here!

*shakes head and chuckles*

Monday – 21 July 2008
A new week begins.

Last night, Perry and I spent a few hours in Paragon City – I played Corvus Nox, he played his Reforming Demon character. We joined a team that was running a few missions in the low to mid-20s. The team was “top heavy” with Tankers. This was a good and bad thing:

• Good: We had people who could hold aggro (keep the bad guys’ attention).
• Bad: They had to be elbow-up in bad guys… which meant that as the de facto healer, so did I.

I’ve mentioned before that Corvus Nox can heal, but that he’s not a primary healer. I tried making this point more that abundantly clear to my teammates. I think that the multiple deaths helped to underscore my point. Nevertheless, thanks to Double XP weekend, I put three-and-a-half levels on ‘Nox.

In an amusing side note, I ran into another character on the server named “CincinnatiJen,” who was a Bengals fan. In fact, the character concept was that of a super-powered Bengals fan. I commented to the player that, as a Ravens’ fan, I found it amusing. I’m not sure whether he/she knew enough Latin to know that “Corvus Nox” (roughly) translates to “Night Raven.” Oh, well.

And… I got my Rikti Monkey last night!

I’m not sure what to name him.. er.. her… um… it… though.

I wasn’t tired when I went to bed, so I used a crossword puzzle to help induce sleep. It worked… about 20 minutes later. I should have just stayed awake – I had one of the most disconcerting dreams I’ve had in a long time. It not only woke me up, but rattled me enough to make getting back to sleep difficult. *grblsnrkx* Thus, when the alarms went off this morning, I turned them off – with gusto – and returned to The Dreaming for a bit.

It’s Monday, but I’m hoping that wasn’t a harbinger of things to come.
On the plus side, Take Me There, by Blackstreet and Mya, greeted me on the morning commute and I have sauteed spaghetti for breakfast.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules made it back to Aspen in good time.
• I finally found the link to the Heroclix Batman: Alpha site.
• Speaking of Mr. Wayne, The Dark Knight made $155 million in its opening weekend, setting a number of records.
• S’mores brownies.
• Band Geek Hero
• A couple weeks ago, I picked up four packs of NYTTJA frames from the Garden of Sweden, in red, green, yellow and blue. Yesterday afternoon, I pulled a number of comics out of my collection. Once I figure out which covers and frames will compliment each other best, I’m going to hang copies of cover art on the walls in my office. (Oddly enough, the green frames were easy to find cover are to match.)
• Comcast. *shakes fist*
• I picked up A Show of Hands (DVD) at Best Buy yesterday. It shall be included in today’s musical oleo.
• just had to deal with an issue – which should have never been an issue – that someone in the office created… all because that person wanted to have things his way. Apparently, he forgot that we do NOT, in fact, work for Burger King.
• Wow… and Mr. just did a little jig. Welcome to Monday.

Attack the day…

Namaste.

Sunday – 20 July 2008
It’s been a great weekend.

SaraRules got into town Friday night, a little after 10:00. I skipped post-coffee dinner with the Clitorati crew to come home and hang out with her. I also discovered the joys of screw-top (as opposed to cork-topped) wine bottles. Same great taste, less hassle.

Saturday morning, we got up and ran errands before getting on to the fun parts of the day. I stopped at Dr. Volt’s to pick up my copy of the new Fantastic Four HeroClix Starter Set… and a box of Batman: Alpha HeroClix. I wanted an Oracle figure so, I figured that I’d pick up a box a go for broke. Not only did the box have an Oracle, but I got an Alfred figure – which I’d also wanted – as well. Win-Win. We also popped next door to C.K. Cummings for chocolate (…and Swedish fish!). Talk about confection overload.

After leaving Dr. V’s we headed up to see SaraRules’ family. They were doing well.

Next stop: Larryland for a trip to Gotham City. And… I saw the Watchmen trailer in big screen glory. Wow. That was nice. Most of the other trailers were rather forgettable, though. Then… The Dark Knight. The movie was well done and a lot of fun to watch. For a movie that was two hours and forty-two minutes long, it certainly didn’t feel like it. The script was solid. The cinematography was top notch. The whole thing was a joy to watch.

The leads seemed comfortable in their roles, even the newcomers:

• Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne/Batman was believable both as a man with a secret and a man whose inner demons drive his unrelenting passion.
• Michael Caine’s Alfred was equal parts confidante, assistant… and protector – exactly what you would expect from Bruce Wayne’s manservant and best friend.
• Morgan Freeman, once again, did an excellent turn as Lucius Fox. I appreciate the fact that the script portrays him as a man who is willing to push the envelope, in the name of the greater good, but not push it so far as to compromise his principles and morals.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal’s performance as Rachel Dawes actually made me wonder “WHO did this role in the first movie?” She was solid as the flickering light at the end of Bruce Wayne’s tunnel.
• Gary Oldman. ‘Nuff said.
• Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent/Two-Face was an interesting character. I didn’t mind the twist that they put in his origin. But, his descent into madness, while seemingly fast, was believable.
• And Heath Ledger’s Joker was spot-on. I know that there were many questions as to whether or not he would be up to the performance or if he could stand up to the Jokers of the past. To that, I counter with a paraphrase of a repeated line from the movie: “He was the Joker that the film needed.” This isn’t to diminish the performances of other actors in the role. To the contrary, I think that each person who has become The Joker has been exactly what the role demanded: Cesar Romero. Jack Nicholson. Mark Hamill. And when the torch was passed to the late Mr. Ledger, he bore the mantle admirably. It’s a shame that we won’t get a chance to see him reprise the role.

All-in-all, I give the movie an enthusiastic thumbs-up with a couple of batarangs on the side.

After the movie, SaraRules and I split up: She headed to her folks’ place, while I went to Chris and Mary’s for our Dark Heresy game. We didn’t get very far (at least, not while I was there – I left early), but it was fun. I headed up to meet SaraRules and visit with her family again… and then back home.

This morning was a lazy, lie about kind of morning. Then came breakfast (sauteed spaghetti!) and coffee. I’m not entirely sure what, if anything, we’re up to before Ms. SaraRules heads back to Aspen, but I’m heading over to Perry and Kate’s later to enjoy the last of the Double XP Weekend… and get my Rikti Monkey!

Namaste.

Friday – 18 July 2008
Welcome to the weekend.

This morning’s goal was to sleep in. Apparently, my body had other ideas: Despite turning off the alarm, I was up a little after 7:00. And 8:15. And somewhere around 9. I got a call from Perry at 9:15 and decided to finally take the hint that I wasn ‘t really going to get much/any more sleep. He asked something that made me laugh though: “Did you take the day off because of [City of Heroes‘] Double XP Weekend?”

I’ll try the sleeping in thing again tomorrow.

Assuming I get in gear and out the door in short order, I’ll probably head up for a cup o’ Joe with Perry before heading to lunch with and Steph (former coworker of his). Maybe I’ll just go post-lunch.

This afternoon’s agenda includes (but is not limited to) some cleaning… although, I may sneak in a little game time, too. And the idea of hitting some balls at the driving range isn’t entirely off the table, either.

To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson, I’ve got “nothing but air and opportunity.”

Stray Toasters

• 12
• Just Put a Walkie Talkie in His Hand!
• Watchmen Trailer-to-Comic comparison
• I just chatted with ; she’s having a good time in The Big Easy.
• Keeping His Eye on the Ball
• It’s been a while since I’ve linked to this: Best of Craigslist
• Imposter
• 
• YouTomb: Where copyright-clobbered YouTubes go to die
• From The Brothers Brick: Darth Vader has a tough go of it in Gotham City

Quote of the Day
From a conversation with SaraRules about Mamma Mia!, a movie that she wants to see… and that I’ve agreed to sit through:

SaraRules: Entertainment Weekly called Mamma Mia! “exuberantly vapid”
Me: Yeah…
Me: I saw something along those lines online last night
SaraRules: Awesome. I can’t wait.
Me: hahaha
SaraRules: Dude, I’m sorry, but it’s a hollywood move musical based around the music of ABBA. How can anyone expect it to be art?
Me: High hopes?
Me: Wishful thinking?
Me: Miracle?
SaraRules: Pshaw. Delusions
SaraRules: Pshaw, now i have ABBA running through my brain.
Me: I’m sorry.
SaraRules: Hell, I’m not. Finding it on iTunes right now. 
Me: I love you… but sometimes, you scare me.
SaraRules: Because I like ABBA?
Me: No.
Me: Because you’re actively seeking ABBA out on iTunes. 😉

Time to start/finish getting ready to jet.

Stray Toasters

• Act II of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog went live today.
• Tonight’s episode of Fear Itself was directed by Darren Bousman (Saw 2, Saw 3, Saw 4)… and it has post-apocalyptic zombies.
  (Check local listings for times)
• The Watchmen trailer hits the web, a day early.
• I forgot to mention something this morning: I also had Everybody to the Limit running through my head shortly after I woke up.



• It’s apparently too much to expect for people to check their (work) email more than once a day? Good thing that I’m not planning on doing anything with their responses before Monday.

While at lunch, asked:

So, there’s no way to get a fistful of fish without getting all goopy, is there?

Ah, the joys of sushi.

Thursday – 17 July 2008
4th and 1, so to speak.
I’m good with that.
AND… it’s NBN Sushi Thursday.
Bang.

Last night, I picked up an anemic number of books from Dr. Volt’s. I supplemented it by picking up one box, each, of Justice League and Avengers HeroClix. The JL box was nothing but duplicates; the Avengers box had a Rare Bucky figure.

I stopped in to hang with SaraRules’ family for a bit before heading home. When I got home I plopped down on the couch, unpacked Defiant, turned on the TV… and proceeded to nod off. I’m still not sure exactly how long I was out, but it was a little odd to awaken and not be really sure “what just happened…?”

I got up, got mobile and fixed a bite to eat. Then, it was time to hit the mean streets of Paragon City. I logged in and was invited to join a team almost immediately. I did. We fought The Freakshow. Level 30+…. which meant that I got sidekicked up to 29. And the XP started rolling in. By the time I logged off, I had tacked on a level-and-a-half. As an added bonus, an old server-mate from when I first started playing logged on and joined the team.

And I got to watch The Sisko Show and Seven Days, to boot!

I had a few (more) odd dreams this morning…

…and woke up with Here He Comes, by Will Smith, running through my head.

Workout
Mark, Wes and I hit the gym at lunch yesterday. Wes wanted to do some triceps exercises, so we worked back and triceps:

• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps – 205 lbs
• Pull-downs: 3 sets/10 reps – 120 lbs
• Reverse Deltoid Flys: 3 sets/10 reps – 1 set @ 60 lbs, 2 sets @ 70 lbs
• Tricep Press (rotating flat bar): 3 sets/10 reps – 80 lbs
• Tricep Press (rope extensions): 3 sets/10 reps – 60 lbs
• Push-ups (diamond): 1 set/15 reps

It was a good workout… and tiring. My shoulders are a little stiff/sore this morning, but I’m otherwise rather pain-free. But, I forgot to check my post-workout weight. Bah.

Stray Toasters

• Happy Anniversary to OnlyAly and !



• Ravens agree to deal with first-round QB Joe Flacco
• From the “Can’t Win for Losing” file: Rev. Jackson allegedly used ‘n-word’ on Fox News
• 
• Gaping hole in Gmail privacy
• Raspberry or not-Raspberry? You make the call.
• “Okay, son… we’ll go camping right after I stop at the bank.”

• The Bicknell International Film Festival
• I [heart] CoH/CoV… but I may have to give this some consideration:

• Sega Says the iPhone Is As powerful As the Dreamcast

Namaste.

I don’t know how I missed out on this before, but… here it is:

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

It comes from Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Astonishing X-Men) and features Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D., How I Met Your Mother) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Serenity).

Enjoy!

Wednesday – 16 July 2008
Last night’s Scion game was good. We met a sphinx… were asked a riddle… and didn’t die. Helluva combination. We wrapped up the adventure that we’ve been on for the past couple of months and will start in on something new next week.

I had a couple of errands to run after the game, which took me in the opposite direction of the gym, so I went home without working out. I must have been far more tired than I thought, because shortly after talking with SaraRules, I nodded off while surfing the ‘tubes. When I regained nominal coherence, I decided that calling it a night was a good decision. I wish I knew what triggered them, but I had some BIZARRE dreams. I woke up from a couple of them trying to piece together what was real from what was heard/seen while dreaming.

I may be picking up a new (to me) iMac from SaraRules’ father this evening. At SaraRules’ suggestion, I’m getting the Graphite colored one. The reason behind that choice of color:

Hmmm. I have a pink macbook and a pink iMac. Since Rob has a black macbook I humbly request the graphite iMac for him. Just so that we can continue to match. 🙂

Works for me. I think that it may replace ‘Nine as my desktop/server, as it has never really recovered from its last OS installation.

I haven’t decided whether or not I want to pick up comics today or wait until tomorrow…

Stray Toasters

• By way of and CNN: Black in America
• July 16, 1945: Trinity Blast Opens Atomic Age
  
• Take the last train to Clarksville
  And I’ll meet you at the station
• Natalie Cole say she has hepatitis C
  When I read this, it reminded me of a story from either freshman or sophomore year at Purdue:

Jim, one of the guys in our group of then-usual suspects, was from a small town in Indiana. One Saturday, while some of the other guys were working on a project, we were hanging out watching MuchMusic (think “Canadian MTV”) when a Natalie Cole video came on. We watched it for a couple of minutes before Jim blurted out the following gem: “She’s pretty good looking for a black woman.”

I couldn’t have heard what I thought I heard: “What..?!”

“Natalie Cole. She’s pretty good looking… for a black woman.”

I now had confirmation that he had just said what I thought he said. *sigh* Jim, while rather intelligent, wasn’t the smartest guy. Had he been, he would have (possibly) remembered that it had taken Herculean self-control (and three of our friends) to keep me from trying to cave his head in a few months before when he had carelessly tossed a “less than socially acceptable” racial epithet in my direction. Before choosing to belatedly follow-up on that instinct, I decided that it might be prudent to find out what he meant with this new nugget of wisdom. So, I asked him.

His response: “Well, with white women, you get blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes…. blonde hair or brunette… or red. With black women, you just get dark hair and dark eyes.”

In his mind, his logic was flawless.
In my mind, I was trying to figure out places where I could hide his body that would take campus police weeks, if not months, to find.

Instead, I just got up and walked out of the room.
We never really talked much after that… for some reason.

• , if you happen to have a spare $25k lying around: Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s typewriter for sale
• Pope Benedict. Koalas. Eco-Disco.
  We shall not speak of these things, in conjuction, again.
• Hall and Oates. Yep, I like ’em.
• The art blog of Lauren Montgomery

Namaste.

I had to survey 15 servers today. For the most part it went without any hitches… aside from taking down two servers out from people who were working on them: I felt bad about one of them; the other was Chimpy.

Human of the Day
Today’s Human is for the reasons posted below.

Stray Toasters

• had to help me recall the proper syntax for using Web Sharing to find something on Defiant. I felt like a complete n00b when I finally remembered it. To make me feel better, showed this to me:

  

  …and all was better with the world.

• For : Wizard Magazine’s Greatest Bond Villain Poll
• How would you pronounce “ghoti?” (Answer below)
• In the words of Jude: Rick James was the original Superfreak.
• Thanks to for pointing this out:

  

• By way of Drew: Pickens Plan – Boone Pickens’ idea for weaning ourselves of our dependence on foreign oil.
• Science of becoming Batman

And the answer to “How do you pronounce ‘ghoti'” is “fish.”

::: vapor trail :::

Tuesday – 15 July 2008
“Sleeping in” is what occurs when one decides to ignore alarms in order to spend more time in The Dreaming
“Oversleeping” is what occurs when one fails to awaken at or by a certain time to begin the day.

Three guesses as to which one I did this morning.
Hint: I was up until 2:00 this morning watching The Middleman and stumble-dragged myself into bed when it was over and alarms were deemed “evil” in my sleep-addled brain.

After work yesterday, I headed home changed clothes and waited for Chris to show up… and then we headed over to play HeroClix with Perry. We played a 2-on-1 game – Chris versus Perry and me; 300 points, unrestricted. I played with the team I used in Saturday’s tourney and Perry used the Abomination and the Super-Adaptoid. Chris used Magneto and an assortment of mutants (with a couple of human Paramedics). And, as an added bonus: We played on a map that I have learned to hate. With a passion. And Chris beat us down. Soundly. We did manage to take out Wolverine… and nearly defeated Cyclops. But, it was fun.

Stray Toasters

• I have to keep reminding myself that today is “Tuesday” and not “Wednesday.”
• Cyberbullying grows bigger and meaner with photos, video
• I think I’m going to get a Rikti Monkey for my Veteran Rewards pet:



• By way of ThinkGeek: Under Construction t-shirt
• Chicago is seeing the dearth of the blues
• 
• From the “Grace Under Pressure” file: ‘It was like I was on rollerblades,’ says Miss USA
• From ‘untouchable’ to role model
• Vegan Zombie t-shirt



• Server room: Day 2
• Wes just bowed out of today’s workout. *sigh* Maybe I’ll hit the gym on the way home from tonight’s Scion game.
• I need to pare down some of the music in my iTunes. I have far too many duplicate entries…

Ka-POW!

Here’s another selection from The Thin White Duke – Thursday’s Child:

Monday – 14 July 2008
It’s Bastille Day.

I don’t remember “what” they were, but I recall having a couple of odd dreams last night.

It’s 7:30 and I’m not exactly feeling rushed about getting to work. I should still be there between 8:00 and 8:30, but I’m really not pressed about it.

Stray Toasters

• Add something new to the Covet List: Aluminum LEGO brick keychains.
• For your Monday morning amusement, from In Living Color: The Wrath of Farrakhan:

• SciFi has information about 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails
• ‘Drunk’ referee shown red card
• The trailer for the upcoming NickToons Iron Man: Armored Adventures is online

Up, up and away!

Sunday – 13 July 2008
And on the first day, Rob worked.
Amen.

That’s right: I made like Kool Moe Dee and went to work. loonybin88 and I did a server upgrade today – we had to unrack, swap memory and hard drives and re-rack 18 servers. And like Big Daddy Kane, we got the job done.

After that, we headed to Olive Garden to have dinner.

And, when it’s all said and done, my work week is officially 20% done already.

Booyah.

Stray Toasters

• I found the following as the signature line to someone’s forum post:
  

  In Ulthar, no man may kill a cat. In Utah, no man may marry a cat. These rules were made because of the ramifications of them happening before.

  It amused me greatly.

• Steampunk Wallpaper. ‘Nuff said.
• By way of Wired: Is Sunday Morning the Best Wake-Up Tune Ever?
• By way of YouTube: Sunday Morning

• I need a steampunk icon.
  I don’t really need one, but I think that I want one.
• Microsoft cuts XBox price by $50, plans 60GB model
• 
• David Bowie: Underground

  I don’t know how much Aha’s Take On Me influenced Mr. Bowie’s decision to take the video for Underground in this direction, but take a look at the similarities:

• I’m a little… weirded out by the fact that I JUST noticed how similar Cool World and Take On Me are.
• The Cosby Show can still make me laugh.
• The classic Jonny Quest is on (not the 80s or 90s remakes). I think that if done properly (operative words: “if done properly”), it could make an interesting live-action TV show and/or movie. It could be done in the vein of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Or, it could even be told from the point of view of an older man recounting his globe-trotting adventures to his kids, grandkids or protege.
• d

Saturday – 12 July 2008 (and coda)
Wow.
It’s been a long day. And I have been on-the-go for most of it.

I woke up this morning around 8:30… with a raging headache. I just wish that I had done something worthy of such a beast. But, I didn’t stay out late last night. I didn’t even have anything to drink. So, I’m not sure what would have triggered it.

I picked up Chris and we went to the Taylorsvile V.I. for breakfast. After that, we headed to Far West for today’s ‘Clix tournament. I constructed my team Friday night (I know…! I actually did it in advance!) My original plan was to try a themed team based on something I read earlier in the week: Archers. I would have had a lot of them, too! As I was putting that team together I noticed something else: Three of the figures were related:

• Green Arrow
• Red Arrow (Roy Harper, former ward and sidekick of Green Arrow)
• Green Arrow (Connor Hawke, son of Green Arrow)

With that in mind, I decided to take a slightly different approach to the team and, rather than “Archers,” go with a “Green Arrow family” themed team. The only piece that I had to add was Black Canary. And, I did. And, I just realized that – if we had been playing for higher points – I could have added the new Speedy (new sidekick to the older Green Arrow) to the mix.

And the team did well for me. I went 2-0 for the first two rounds. And then it happened: I had to play Chris in the third round. He was 2-0, as well. He was planning on playing a “new” team but, because of the rules under which the tournament was run, at least one of his figures wasn’t legal. So, he wound up pulling out his old standby team:

• Batman
• Green Arrow
• The Flash

So it was my ranged team versus Chris’ stealth (and speed) team. The problem being: Characters with stealth can’t be seen from a distance. *sigh* And so, Chris proceeded to pick me apart, systematically. And, thus he went 3-0 and I went 2-1. But, I came in 2nd Place for the day.

After the game, I dropped Chris off at home, came back to my place for a bit and then headed downtown to catch Hellboy II: The Golden Army with Mr. and Mrs. . The movie was fun.

When the movie was done, I hopped on I-15 and headed to the Sandy Amphitheater to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. I got to the venue and stood in line behind a guy looking for something in the seated section. The ticket attendant told him that she could get him one seat, but that everything else was sold out. He opted to sit on the lawn. When I got to the booth, I asked the attendant about the lone seat; she showed me where it was: 5th row, stage left. I bought the ticket and headed inside.

The opening act was a young man named Parker. He was a one-man band, using a laptop and digital looping to do the other tracks of the songs he sang. His main instrument was a guitar… which he used to do “drum” tracks (hitting the body of the guitar), bass lines, rhythm and lead parts. He played four songs, the first of which was The Jackson 5’s I Want You Back, which he nicely segued into a little bit of ABC. He started with the percussion and laid down a couple of other tracks on top of it. When he started the bass line, I knew what the song was going to be. And it he did a good job of it. You could tell that he was having fun, too. He said that this was the largest crowd he had performed in front of and took a Polaroid snapshot of the crowd to commemorate it.

Shortly after he was done, BBVD took the stage. I missed out on seeing them in Vegas last year and I waffled between seeing them tonight or heading to the Salt Lake Jazz Festival to see Sheila E. and the E Family. I think that I made the right choice in going to the BBVD show. They played for an hour-and-a-half and covered songs from their first CD up to their upcoming Cab Calloway tribute CD. And it was great time. During one of the featured musician spotlights, Dirk (the upright bass player) broke into the theme from The Munsters – I wonder how many people knew what it actually was and/or why so many people started chuckling/laughing at it. Once again, when they closed the show with So Long, Farewell, Goodbye, they broke into a few lines from Sweet Home Alabama… and, once again, the crowd ate it up. Yep, I definitely made the right decision.

After the concert, it was on to breakfast with the usual suspects and, after calling it a somewhat early night, I came home. Jiggety-jig.

I need to move from the “theory” of going to bed to the “practical application.”

Namaste.