This morning’s commute was made bearable – the road monkeys were in rare form today – with the help of:
How does your day sound?
Sunday – 08 April 2007
Happy Easter to all.
I just got back from Mass. That’s right Mass. And, no, I haven’t converted to Catholicism. Yet. It was my way of keeping a tradition with my uncle… kind of. When both of us are home for the holidays, I usually go to Mass with him. Well, neither of us is home, so that was Strike One. I’ve been toying with the idea of going to the Cathedral of the Madeline for a while now. Going today just seemed to fit on many levels.
So, I went.
It was my first time there. It’s a beautiful building, inside and out (…even if the paintings creep out
I called the progenitors, the sibko and my uncle to wish them all a Happy Easter. I batted the cycle with the sibs; I was amazed, I even got to speak with Carmen!
I’m not sure what I’m doing with the rest of my day. But, it’s a great day outside and, as Tom Petty said: “The future was wide open…”
So there you have it.
Have a wonderful1 day.
Be good to each other.
Namaste.
1 – Many moons ago, when I was working retail, I had a customer who said something that has stuck with me:
I approached him and asked how he was doing. He responded, “I’m wonderful! Do you know what that means?”I looked at him and said that I wasn’t sure how he meant it, but I took it to mean that he was doing well.
A twinkle in his eye, he smiled and said, “No. It means I’m full of wonder. Isn’t that awesome?”
I thought about it for a moment. And I had to agree… it was.
Saturday (coda)
Today was a very good day. After being far too lazy with my morning and early afternoon, I made it out to get a frozen mocha. Then I thought about the fact that I hadn’t eaten anything, either. So, I stopped at Barbacoa. I came home and devoured the burrito and slaked my thirst with mocha.
Stray Toasters
…and… 
Namaste.
This kicks about eleventy-seven kinds of ass.
Saturday – 07 April 2007
Trying out Axis & Allies: War at Sea yesterday was fun. I played an Allied fleet, comprised of:
Chris used a mixed Axis fleet, with four ships and a squadron of planes. We didn’t fight a historical battle, instead we fought for three objective points. I took out his planes, which happened to be bombers, in my first attack. He retaliated by taking out the Baltimore and Javelin in his next couple attacks. That’s not what one would consider a very auspicious start… even for a beginner. I was left with the Rodney and the planes. Against a battleship, a cruiser, an aircraft carrier, and a destroyer (I think). The carrier couldn’t really do any damage to me, so it was a bit of a non-factor. The rest of the fleet could be… troublesome. Fortunately, I the Luck Lords of Ventura were apparently with me: I wound up destroying the three main ships while his carrier hid behind an island.
Clitorati was good. I couldn’t get my head into drawing last night, so it was all about the socializing. Both
Last night, after Clitorati and trying to play a little CoH (detailed below), I hit the rack around… 1:30 or 2:00. And was awake at 4-something. And 7:00. Sharp. And a little after 8:00. And a little before 9:00. I hope that’s not an augury of how the rest of the day is going to be.
This morning, I watched the rebroadcast of “Lightning Storm” on today’s Legion of Super Heroes. I noticed something in the Legion tryouts that I had missed the first time: Fire Lad, Polar Boy and Night Girl – all members of the Legion of Substitute Heroes – were there.
And in a couple of other Legion-related items,
The Scales of Justice
After getting home last night, I decided to go on patrol in Paragon City. I joined a team with a couple members of my Super Group and we took on The Freakshow. It was a little tough, we could have used some backup… but we did alright.
Until we got to the second floor of the building.
Then, two things happened:
That’s not exactly a good combination. So, we scrubbed the mission. And I went to bed.
Stray Toasters
Time to go play in the sunshine for a bit. Or something like that.
Namaste.
Friday – 06 April 2007
Today’s been good. A cup of frozen mocha goodness in hand, I raced the monkeys to A.F. They weren’t too badly behaved, either. Of course, I had the help of a good driving soundtrack to distract me. The morning was low-key and quiet… just right for a Friday morning.
We just finished a team-building exercise. Quake III. Eight players. Lots of weaponry. Lots of (virtual) running around. It was fun. This may have to become an irregular regular Friday lunchtime feature.
After work, I’m heading over to Chris’ to check out Axis & Allies: War at Sea before heading to Clitorati.
Stray Toasters
Namaste.
Thursday – 05 April 2007
Another bright, sunny day in the valleys of the Land of Zion. I actually got more than a couple hours’ sleep last night, which definitely comes under the heading of “a good thing.” Getting up and out the door wasn’t too much of an ordeal, either. The road monkeys weren’t flinging poo. And, the path to caffeination zen has been a smooth one. Not a bad way to kick off a Thursday, I must say.
On the way home, last night, I picked up my weekly dose of four-color crack – more on that below. Then, I headed home to decide how best to spend the evening. Apparently, that translated into “Take a forty-minute nap.” I can’t say that it wasn’t needed. I also needed to eat. Post-nap,
Someone sent me a box of them many, many rains ago… but I haven’t seen them since. I seem to recall that they arrived somewhere around Easter, or at least in Spring. If anyone remembers this candy and/or knows what they were called, I’d appreciate any information on it. Thanks.
After the mall, it was off to Borders. I really wanted to finish the drawing that I’ve been working on. And I did. Finally. It’s not necessarily a masterpiece, but I’m happy with the way it turned out. I was going to scan a picture of it last night… but that didn’t happen. I’ll try to get to it tonight.
Four-Color Coverage
As I mentioned above, I picked up this week’s offerings from my local comics emporium. I don’t know what happened or who kicked people in the pants, but the books this week were all pretty good… even the one title that I wasn’t planning getting – Avengers: The Initiative, a Civil Bore aftermath title – was good. Here’s this week’s breakdown:
Scales of Justice
The Hand of Nefer-Tem took to the streets – and sewers – of Paragon City last night. The objectives: Follow-up on the missing Kheldians… and hit Level 20. Both objectives were accomplished. It also turned out that the Kheldian mission was the last of that storyline.
I trained up to Level 20 and got my new power: Black Dwarf. This means a new form and six new powers. I didn’t test them out; I’ll do that this evening.
Stray Toasters
Namaste.
Wednesday – 04 April 2007
Mittwoch!
Today marked Day 2 of “The Lack of Good Sleep Chronicles.” I slept in until a little after 8:00, to try and offset the lack of pre-alarm sleep. It helped. To a degree.
Today has been quiet; I’ve been playing with … I mean “testing!”… kubuntu Linux.  And reading. And, despite an utter lack of caffeination, trying to avoid in-depth studies of my inner eyelids. I’m trying to decide if I should go home and nap after work or find a quiet spot – with coffee – and do some drawing. Despite the lack of sleep, I’m leaning towards coffee and drawing.
Last night’s Shadowrun game went pretty well – the group is set for their next mission. In setting up the run, I managed to have an NPC piss off Chris’ character. That was one of three outcomes that I had predicted would result from the situation… and it was the most “neutral” of them. But, everyone survived the encounter and I think that the NPC’s explanation of “Why” was sufficient enough to get the ball rolling. For now, at least.
Stray Toasters
Lunch: Done.
Linux: Resumes.
Namaste.
Brought to you by
His Chocolate Holiness, Pope Groovalicious
Groove on, brothers and sisters…. Groove on.
Tuesday – 03 April 2007
Another bright, shiny morning in the Land Behind the Zion Curtain. The morning begins – as all mornings should – with a cup of frozen mocha goodness. Two shots. Selah. The race with the road monkeys wasn’t bad, but it was amusing: As I was getting onto I-15 from the I-215 interchange, I watched as four monkeys attempted the impossible (at least according to modern physics) – They tried to put themselves into the same space at the same time. I noted this to coworker John and we came up with what I think would make good copy for an UCBD ad campaign on “How To Be an Ass-Monkey to Your Fellow Drivers”:
Drive offensively among others before they drive offensively unto you.
Of course, there would be ads for “How To Be a Sensible Driver,” as well. Or we could just take it on faith that people have a modicum of common sense. Or would that be giving them too much credit?
There was no game last night. Instead, I hung out with Frankie and watched 24, an episode of Homicide and Hustle & Flow. I hadn’t seen Hustle & Flow before… and I can’t figure out why I waited. It was a good movie. Very good. Terrence Howard – and the rest of the cast – did an excellent job. This is the second Craig Brewer movie that I’ve seen in the past month or so… and I have enjoyed them both.
The Scales of Justice
Last night, The Hand of Nefer-Tem led a small team into The Hollows for a couple of missions against The Council and some Trolls. Beatings were dispensed. Justice was served. The missions also advanced the missing Kheldians storyline.
…and I’m a short way from Level 20. Which means that I need to start thinking about Costume #2, which will again be civilian clothes. I haven’t settled on a look yet, but I think that I might go with something more casual and possibly a little more ethnic, in keeping with Nefer-Tem’s background.
Stray Toasters
Back to it.
Namaste.
In light of the upcoming Live Free or Die Hard,a new poll on IMDb which asks who is better at taking down terrorists: 24‘s Jack Bauer or Die Hard’s John McClane. I am a bit torn because both of them are damned good at what they do… but I lean towards Jack Bauer.
Opposing arguments:
I’m interested in seeing what the rest of you think, though. So…
To use the phrasing from the IMDb poll: “Who is the more bad ass for taking down terrorists?”
Have at it.
Sunday – 01 April 2007
Okay, let’s go ahead and get this out of the way: It was April Fools’ Day! And, with that in mind: Top 100 April Fools’ Day Hoaxes of All Time. There. Now, we’re done. Let’s continue…
Today was sunny and bright (for the most part). I spent the first part of the morning/afternoon creating a giant mess of comics in the middle of my office floor. I was boxing/reboxing some of my more recent acquisitions. After that, I decided to get out and play in the sunshine for a bit. First stop: REI. Thanks, to the
Back home for a bit before heading to catch a movie with
…based on one of my favorite books, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman. Being an adaptation, there were a number of things that the movie had to omit, but they left the heart of the book in it. Scott Mechlowicz seemed to portray Dan Millman well and I felt that Nick Nolte was an excellent choice to play Socrates. I recommend the movie almost as highly as I recommend the book; I plan to purchase the DVD when it is released.
 Four-Color Coverage
Yesterday, I mentioned the Legion of Substitute Heroes. This afternoon, I came across the following while going through my collection:
Yesterday’s Legion toon episode did not include Fire Lad (on the left) or Polar Boy (second from the right), but it had the rest. And they were played to just about the same amount of comic effect as they were in the books.
And now, for something not-so-different, let’s take a look at some of the highlights from the four-color press for the past couple weeks:
Stray Toasters
I was amused.
And that’s good for now.
Namaste.
Saturday – 31 March 2007
Today was nice. Sunny. Warm-ish. Blue skies with a few high clouds.
I woke up… and proceeded to find a comfy spot on the couch. I watched today’s episode of Legion of Super-Heroes. After that, I headed out to meet nyx hemsut for coffee, chat and drawing. I got more done on the latest drawing… but it still needs some work. However, I’m pleased with the progress. I’m not sure how detailed it’s going to wind up being, because one of the things I thought of would make part of the picture as (relatively) detailed as the brickwork and balustrade on this drawing. After a couple of quick stops, I came home to get a change of clothes and then headed to everydave‘s house to get ready for…
…asdf_cat‘s bachelor party shindig. Which included paintball. It was the first time that I’ve played paintball. It was more fun than should be allowed. During one of the games, I got tagged in the back of the head – thankfully, I was wearing a cap, but it still stung a bit – and in the lower back. That one still stings a little. Post-paintball, we headed back to everydave‘s for food, drinks, Wii gaming and poker. We played two games of poker: A free-for-all game and a “tournament.” I was the second or third person out of the free-for-all, but I hung in for third place in the tourny.
All-in-all, it was a rather good day.
Four-Color Coverage
As I’ve mentioned before: I am enjoying the Legion cartoon. Today’s episode, “The Substitutes,” introduced the Legion of Substitute Heroes. And the villain du jour was Starfinger, although I didn’t care for the spin they put on him; he came off as… much more of a buffon than he was in the comics. But, there was still a lot to like about the episode.
However, I was reminded of something that has bothered me about the cartoon since I started watching it: The show is called “Legion of Super-Heroes.” This is the logo for the show:
The “problem” I have is with the S-shield in the logo. That’s Superman’s logo/insignia, not the Legion’s. The Legion insignia is this (slightly stylized, but you get the idea):
I am fairly certain that I understand “why” they did it: Superman has greater name recognition in the general public than the Legion does. And as he, as Superboy, was a member of the Legion, they are hoping to use said public awareness to draw Superman fans to the Legion. It makes sense. But, the Legion is a team. A big team. It’s not “Team Superman,” however. Nor do I think that it should be treated as such. But, Superman – as he’s called in the series, due to a legal conflict over the rights to the name “Superboy” – features rather prominently in each of the three episodes that I’ve seen. He’s not the team leader, which is good, in my opinion… but he’s pretty much always there/around.
On the positive side: They are doing a good job of blending different versions of the Legion in the show. Case in point: Today’s episode featured the results of the Legion tryouts. The new inductees were Star Boy and Matter-Eater Lad (hey, I didn’t name them). The Star Boy they are using is the one from the v5 Legion, as opposed to the Bronze/Silver Age Star Boy. The episode also featured Blok, Sun Boy and Tyroc, who hasn’t been seen in costume since the 80s, if I remember correctly.
All-in-all, I shouldn’t complain too much. After all, there finally is a Legion cartoon. And, it’s not bad.
Namaste.
Friday – 30 March 2007
Four down and roughly five hours to go.
I have frozen mocha goodness, it’s Friday and we’re about to have a team-building, no… make that “team-fragging”… exercise. HALO/HALO 2. Selah. Yeah, that’s the making for a good end-of-the-week.
Stray Toasters
I was about to list a few here… but it looks like we’re about to go shoot people. So Toasters, just like Heaven, can wait.
