Random Access

Someone (and I wish I could remember “who”) posted this yesterday or Wednesday… but I didn’t get a chance to watch it until this morning. That’s a shame because it’s chock full of funny, especially if you’ve ever been in IT.

The Website Is Down

(Some of the audio is NSFW… and one image, about 7 or so minutes in)

Friday – 27 June 2008
Up (relatively) on time.
Dressed and ready to roll in fairly short order, despite an issue with a contact lens.Frozen mocha.
In the office a few ticks past 8:00.
My work week officially has 3½ hours left. (That’s right… three-and-a-half.)

And it’s Friday.

Bring it on.

Today’s sushi was good. Tony even threw in a couple of extra nigiri for us to try; I had albacore. Not bad.

Before lunch, I finally picked up my guitar from Acoustic Music. I’m a bit anxious to play. And, speaking of play, I’ve realized something: I want to play some of my older XBox games. Just because. Like X-Men: Legends and X-Men: The Next Dimension… and even X2: Wolverine’s Revenge and Spider-Man.

Stray Toasters

• For Derek:



• Pop culture + bukkake + macaques = ???
  (And I’m not really sure that we really want to know, either.)
• What Would Barack Obama Do Listen To? Wired took a few guesses… check out how they did.
• The Artist Formerly Known As The Fresh Prince (not to be confused with “just” Prince) backs Barack, too. BBC News has the skinny. Will Smith has been on The Late Show and The Colbert Report over the past couple of days, both interviews were entertaining.
• Mayor Mick’s bike returned
  (Did this kind of thing ever happen to Rocky Anderson? Richard Daley? Ed Koch?)
• 
• Orwell’s 1984 as a pulp novel

*voop*

Thursday – 26 June 2008
Last night was a relaxed night. After work, I headed to Dr. Volt’s to pick up this week’s comics. Home. Dinner. City of Heroes. I was invited to join a team for some Tsoo missions and nearly tacked on two levels before logging off. And, in an unusual turn, I felt tired fairly early – so early that I was showered and in bed a little after 12:30.

When the alarm went off this morning, I wasn’t quite ready to roll out of bed and face the morning, so I laid in bed for a few minutes… which turned into me falling asleep again. I woke up when alarm 2.0 went off. After staring at the ceiling and walls for a few, I got up, got ready and got under way.

Of course, I didn’t notice that I had left The Leash at home until I got to the office. Fortunately, the monitoring/notification software that sends alerts to the pager has a web interface. So, really, I’m just cutting out the middle man, not to be confused with The Middleman.

I need to decide whether today is a sushi day or a workout day. Bah.

Stray Toasters

• I got another package from my father yesterday: The 47 currently released state quarters.
• SaraRules has updated the Aspen section of her site with a couple of recent goings-on.
• Dave Koz: You Make Me Smile

• MarknTyme: Fix your GoogleTalk settings – you keep bouncing on/off.
• By way of : Christopher Titus Apologizes

• The 10 Best Fan-Made Hip-Hop Videos with The Sims
• DNS & BIND == *bleh*
• Brothel bus makes last stop in Miami Beach
• 

It’s a sushi day.
Decision: Rendered.

Namaste.

Wednesday – 25 June 2008
During the work day, I (and usually a coworker or two) take walks around the complex/campus/whatever you’d care to call it. This week, I’ve had a couple of amusing/interesting experiences:

1. There are trees along the south end of the path where we walk. Apparently, there are a couple of new nests in some of those trees. Wes and I were… not quite “dive bombed”… more “strafed”… as we walked along the path. The first time it happened, I felt a little like Tippi Hedren in The Birds. And the second and third times, too. I may suggest altering our walking path for the next couple of weeks.
2. On Monday afternoon’s walk, I was almost done with my walk when I approached a couple of ladies walking in the same direction, but more slowly, than me. I was a few feet behind one of them when I said,”Excuse me, please, ladies.” One froze, the other… yelped (best word for it). Hell, I froze, too. They hadn’t heard me approaching; I had figured that since I was wearing hard-soled shoes and was on a cement walkway, they had heard my footsteps. No go, Flight. It took the yelping lady a few moments to regain her composure.

Yesterday also included a workout with Wes. It’s the first time I’ve been back to the Gold’s on Van Winkle in close to two years. Nice gym… although a couple of the patrons were ass-monkeys. “It takes all kinds,” I guess. The routine was a little short, but good:

• Recumbent Bike: 0.5 miles, 100 rpm
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs.
• Flys (machine): 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs.
• Curls (standing, hammer): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs.
• Lateral Raises (with forward extension): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs.
• Tricep Extensions (rope): 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs.

Last night was lazy. I came home, cooked dinner, sat on the couch and vegged. I also finished off the Superman card I’ve been working on:

I’m pretty happy with it. Once again, finding quotes was a right royal pain, but I wanted to find some from various sources (comics, TV series and movies). I think that the quote I’m most fond of is “Excuse me, sir. Would you care to step outside,” from Superman: The Movie.

Stray Toasters

• I just chatted with ; all’s well with him, Bot and Bit.
• “Can You Hear Me Now?”
  A cellphone. *shakes head*
• You don’t need no finesse or no personality
  You just need two arms and an attitude.
  And everybody sing with me, come on now!
• I found these images in Derek’s blog. I’m liberating them in the name of the people:
  • 
  • 
• , this sounds like something you might want to check out: Sarah Milstein on urban hiking
• By way of Indexed:



• Man in wheelchair charged with drunk driving

Time to hit it.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 24 June 2008
After work, I headed home to figure out what to do with my evening. I decided that I’d watch The Middleman and then head to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. Turned out that the 8:00 episode was a rebroadcast of the pilot. So, I went to the store first. Came home, started dinner and watched The Middleman. I had another thought on how to “define” it. Somewhat. It’s The X-Files meets Men in Black, leaning most heavily towards MiB.

After a little channel surfing (including a 45-second delay on Boomerang – man, Super Friends really did blow), I found the second hour of Beverly Hills Cop on Bravo. And there I sat. I haven’t watched BHC in years… and I have somehow not purchased it yet.

After ‘Cop and The Late Show (featuring a really funny Will Smith interview), I decided to call it an early night.

Stray Toasters

• I am working on a few new ‘Clix cards for Chris. It’s… oddly fun and the “worst” part is trying to come up with some of the quotes – I still need to find something for Superman (Icons, veteran) that works for his “Ranged Combat Expert” ability.
• Thanks to MarknTyme for pointing me in the direction of DC Elseworlds
  

(Click image for site)

• By way of SaraRules: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Part I)

• “whiffy”
• Uptown got its hustlers
  Bowery got its bums
  42nd Street got Big Jim Walker
  He’s a pool-shootin’ son of a gun
• With the disclaimers of: 1) I’m a guy and 2) I don’t have kids, I have a question: Is there something offensive about the cover of the July 2008 issue of GQ?

  

  The reason that I ask is this: I was in Target last night and there were copies of this issue in the news rack next to the candy and gum. Something that I’ve noticed here in Utah – and it may exist in other places, but I haven’t noticed it – is that when a magazine cover is deemed “too racy,” they put an opaque plastic insert in front of the magazine, so that only the title shows. And, lo and behold, this issue was one of them.

• And, since we’re already talking GQ: 2008 Fall Preview: Reinvent Yourself
  

Namaste.

DaveW just shared this with some of us: http://i30.tinypic.com/314sbw5.jpg

It follows part of yesterday’s lunchtime conversation… a little too well.

and DaveW were talking a few minutes ago and the word “colloquialism” came up. Well, it sort of came up – DaveW was having… issues… pronouncing it. After a couple of fumbles, I looked over and said,”Colonic?” After he stopped laughing, he said that wasn’t what he was looking for and actually managed to wrap his tongue around “colloquialism.”

, without missing a beat, asked if I could work “iconoclast” into the word.

It took me a bit, but I managed to do it: Icoloniclasticoquialist (Eye-co-LON-ic-las-tih-COH-kwee-uh-list).

Then came the difficult part: Coming up with a definition for the word.
After pondering it for a few minutes, I figured it out:

“An individual who’s well-known for being full of shit… and incessantly foists¹ it upon others.”

An example would be:

Office Worker 1: Did you go to the team meeting this morning?
Office Worker 2: No, I had a doctor’s appointment. Did I miss anything important?
Office Worker 1: I don’t know about “important,” but you missed Martin being a diarrhetic icoloniclasticoquialist again.
Office Worker 2: Oh, Lord… what did he go off on this time?
Office Worker 1: Well, Virgil was asking for some ideas on how to improve our numbers… and Mr. “Let Me Share My Brilliance With You” spouted off some jargon-filled, market-speak double talk horse shit. He looked so smug, too. I looked around the room to check peoples’ expressions. I was amazed that everyone was able to keep from laughing out loud.
Office Worker 2: Damn… I’m sorry I missed that!

¹ – Thanks to DaveW for coming up with “incessantly foists,” because “…share it with…” just didn’t have the right punch.

Monday – 23 June 2008
Three hours’ sleep? Check.
Frozen caffeine? Check.
In the office just after 8:00? Check.

You would think that with a four-mile commute, my road monkey-to-miles ratio would be slim to nil. This morning proved that to be untrue. I even encountered one of them when I was parked. If my math is correct, I actually had a 1:1 ratio today. Four. Miles. Unglaublich!

Stray Toasters

• Shirley Bassey to miss Mandela concert in London
  And… just in case the name doesn’t ring a bell:
  • Diamonds Are Forever
  • History Repeating
• I find it odd, amusing (and a little scary) that I found these two articles within a couple minutes of each other:
  • Portable Karaoke Machine for Singing on the Fly
  • Brando’s Portable Disco Lights Do It Psychedelically with Lasers
• What do you get when you cross Fargo with snowglobes? Something along the lines of this, I’d guess.
• 750,000-brick Kennedy Space Center Is the Mother of All LEGO Models
• They’re… um… “rebooting” ReBoot. For more info, click here.

Let’s get this show on the road.

Sunday: Coda
Today was a good day in the valley.

I met , , , Carl and Pat for lunch at Jitterbug. Food, good conversation and good company. The veritable Triple Crown for a coffee shop.

Next, I went to visit SaraRules’ folks.

Then, it was on to Chris’ to play Matt and ‘Mano for a rematch of the game where they royally spanked us. We weren’t sure what they were going to bring, but we came loaded for bear. When the dust settled, I had lost three pieces, but they were mostly there to keep my two other pieces from dying. And that’s exactly what they did. Chris and I had won.

Not a bad wrap-up to the day.

Stray Toasters

• How do I know that my mother still worries about me? She called me this afternoon; she called because, knows that SaraRules is out of state for the summer and wanted to make sure that I wasn’t – and I quote – “…just sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.” I love my mother.
• Edgy comic George Carlin dies in L.A., aged 71
• 
• I redid the character card I made for Galactus:
  • Old and busted
  • New hotness
• Matt and ‘Mano showed the following video to Chris and me today. Despite it’s title, it’s quite work-safe:

I should have been in bed long ago. Time to rectify that.

Namaste.

Sunday – 22 June 2008
When I got home from breakfast last night/this morning, my upstairs neighbor had what sounded like a classical music playing. I pretty much ignored it after noticing it… until I noticed that I was hearing the same phrase over and over. For about an hour-and-a-half. I figured that it must be a DVD, replaying the music on the menu screen. I went to bed and thought no more of it.

When I woke up this morning, it was still playing.

And two hours later, it’s still going strong.

Chris bought a Parallax ‘Clix figure last week. He saw the cards I did for Galactus and Phoenix and asked if I’d mind doing one for Parallax. I told him that I didn’t mind; this is what I came up with:

Once again, the hardest part was trying to come up with the quotes to put with each power. But, on the whole, I’m quite happy with the results.

Stray Toaster

Some of the usual suspects are meeting for lunch at Jitterbug… then I’m going to make an effort to get some drawing done.  And then, it’s back to Chris’ to play ‘Clix with the guys from Far West.

I’d better get a move on.

Namaste.

Saturday: Coda
It’s been a rather full day.

I left the apartment a little later than I had planned, but I didn’t let that deter me from stopping to get a cup of caffeinated frozen joy. With that done, I was ready to face the world… or at least my opponents in the HeroClix tournament.

I took Galactus with me. Just because. There was a very slim chance that I would use him in the game (at his “Hungry” level) along with Phoenix (at her rookie level). But that was a VERY slim chance, indeed. I walked in with Galactus in my hands. The looks of “Oh… my… GOD…” from some of the other players were pretty priceless. When Keith (the judge) announced today’s tournament as “1,000 points and unrestricted”, Chris and I both decided to pull some of our big and/or colossal figures out of the mothballs. We expected everyone else to do the same. With one exception – someone brought World’s Finest –

My final decision was to go with an X-Men themed team:

• Bishop
• Gambit
• Phoenix
• Professor X
• Rogue
• Soldier X (Cable) and
• Wolverine

I lost the first match, but won the next two games. I’m not about to complain about those results. I played pretty well, despite some craptacular dice rolls. And, I think that Phoenix presented my opponents with both a “Take that thing out of the game quickly” challenge, while still being something that they didn’t want to get too close to. Either way, I’m not complaining.

After the games, I headed to Larryland: Central to see The Incredible Hulk. It was fun and is an excellent summer movie. It paid homage not only to the comics, but to the TV show. The cameos (Lou Ferrigno, Stan Lee and Robert Downey, Jr.) were fun to watch. There as even an old Bill Bixby clip. Edward Norton did a great job of portraying Bruce Banner as a man trying to control the beast within him. Liv Tyler did a smash-up job as Banner’s love interest, Betty Ross. William Hurt did an excellent job of bringing Betty’s father – and Banner’s main pursuer – Gen. “Thunderbolt” Ross. The turn that they took with Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky/The Abomination was an interesting one: A career special forces operative who is realizing that while he’s still at the top of his game, mentally, his body is eventually going to slow down… something that he doesn’t want to deal with. Roth did a good job of portraying this. People said that Ang Lee’s Hulk was too slow and that it took too long to see Old Jade Jaws. I don’t think that they can make those same complaints about this movie. Louis Leterrier has done a good job of bringing the Hulk, as a property, to destructive live. I give this movie an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

After the movie, I headed back to Chris and Mary’s for this week’s Dark Heresy game. So far, no one on our team has died or done anything to get their character instantly – or even slowly – killed.

Post-game, it was time for breakfast with the usual suspects. Tonight’s people watching was choice, too.

Stray Toasters

• now has a box of Butterscotch Krimpets
• I ran into , Josh and Christine at the theatre this afternoon.
• Annie Lennox’ Diva is a good CD.
• I’m Ivory Soap sure that I wanted to add something here… but I don’t recall “what.”

Quote of the Day
Today’s nugget of joy was heard at breakfast:

Pat: “Swiss Army Dick.”

And with that… bon soir.

Saturday – 21 June 2008
This morning’s title ran – actually, it was more of a “casual stroll” – through my head as I was typing the day/date for this post. I took it as an omen and just went with it. The line was from a commercial bump between Saturday morning cartoons… back when NBC actually showed cartoons, way back in the day.

Yesterday, I rolled out of work at 2:00. I have to say: It was nice to be done for the week that early. I’m going to shoot for it again next week. I left the office and headed to Dr. Volt’s to pick up two weeks’ worth of four-color goodness. Next on the docket: Lunch. I headed to Jitterbug; and her brother joined me.

From there, I headed home for a few before heading back out for coffee and dinner.

This morning, I was up (slightly) before the alarm went off. I think I have a handle on my team for today’s games… but I still want to find a backup. Just in case. Either way, I need to find pieces that I will be happy with for all three rounds.

Stray Toasters

• Today is also Free RPG Day.
• The Violent Femmes (Blister in the Sun) have done a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy… and it’s pretty good. Check it out here.
• 
• Everyone has a little secret he keeps
  I light the fires while the city sleeps

Time to get a move on.

Namaste.

SaraRules just reminded me that today is the first day of Summer.

With that in mind, I give you DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince:

Groove on, brothers and sisters. Groove on.

Friday – 20 June 2008
The end of the work week is at hand. Thanks to putting in a few extra hours, I’m done and gone at 1:30 today. That’s worth skipping lunch for. I’m going to run a few errands and enjoy the early start to the weekend.

Last night, I watched Fear Itself, the new anthology horror/suspense summer series on NBC. Thirteen episodes, each done by different directors. Last night’s episode was “The Family Man.”

Family Man – A likeable family man switches bodies with a serial killer during a near-death experience. Now he must keep his loved ones from being added to the long list of the killer’s victims.

It wasn’t bad; it reminded me of a modern Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. I’m going to have to investigate the previous three episodes.

I also listened to the new Duffy CD, Rockferry. You may remember that I posted the video to Mercy a few weeks back:

The whole CD is good. It has a definite British soul feel, with a number of songs making nods to the 60s style of Brit soul/pop. I give it an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Stray Toasters

• I chatted with a little while ago, he has left Nepal and is currently enjoying a layover in Bangkok. He should be home tomorrow evening. More on his travel adventures below.
• After sending her a link to zombie drawings on DrawerGeeks, I just typed “Zombees!” to SaraRules… which made me think “zombie bees.”
• By way of BBC News: One tonne ‘Baby’ marks its birth
• Drawn! (Which I had once again forgotten about…)
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot” file: The Baby Borrowers
• Sailors fighting in the dance hall
  Oh man! Look at those cavemen go
  It’s the freakiest show
  Take a look at the Lawman
  Beating up the wrong guy
  Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
  He’s in the best selling show
  Is there life ice on Mars?
• I found this by way of DeviantArt:


(click for more work by DarkAngelDTB)

• Auto Test Tracks Revealed From Above
• 
• Puzzle Calendar Is Not LEGO Compatible
• …however, this is pretty cool: LEGO Employees Have Minifigs As Business Card
• I think I’ll treat myself to either The Incredible Hulk or Get Smart after tomorrow’s ‘Clix game.

Quote of the Day

From this morning’s conversation with …
He was telling me about an email that he sent to Bot and a couple of his brothers:

I had to go through multiple roadblocks, burning tires, and brick throwers to get to the airport this morning. Today’s asshole Kathmandu protest is brought to you by students, who are demanding that fuel prices come down. Took us 90 minutes to get to the airport.

Anyway, I’m here, I’m in the Thai Airways lounge, and all is well. See you soon…

Then he added:

I almost went with the sesame street theme and said “today’s asshole kathmandu protest is brought to you by the letters AMF” but i think only andrew would’ve understood it

…where “AMF” stands for “Adios, motherfucker.”

I think that he should have added it.

And that’s a wrap.

Namaste.