Random Access

Tuesday ; 18 July 2006
Two down, three left.

Today was a quiet day in Monkeyville the office.

Post-work was similarly quiet.

Both of those, added together, make for a good day.

Four-Color Coverage
This weekend, I picked up my shwag.  On the whole, it was a little disappointing, but there were a few highlights:

• Brave New World #1 – DC is introducing a couple of new titles by way of this $1.00 (USD), 80 page offering.  Of the six stories that it presented, my curiosity was really only piqued by The Trials of Shazam, a kind of reboot for DC’s Captain Marvel (PDF file).  Oh, and what was up with the return of [SPOILER DELETED]?!  I thought that we’d seen that last of him/them/whatever years ago.  *sigh*
• Teen Titans #37 – There was good interplay between the Titans (who don’t necessarily seem to like each other), Doom Patrol (who like/love each other… but seem to dislike everyone else) and the Brotherhood of Evil (they just hate everyone).  There was an interesting twist in the origin of one of the Brotherhood villains that I didn’t expect… but in retrospect, it just “fits.”  And the last three pages?  Didn’t exactly see that coming either.
• Supergirl #7 – I’m not sure.  This seems to be losing some of its direction.  And steam.  Hopefully Issue #8 won’t feel like it’s floundering in shallow water.  Although, I will credit them with a surprise on the last page.
• Green Lantern Corps #2 – Another disappointment.  That’s sad because this issue had a story with good potential… but it never transformed into something kinetic.  We’ll have to see about this title.
• Green Lantern #12 – Geoff Johns.  *nod*  His writing is in good form.  A nice recap of who Hank Henshaw, the “cyborg Superman” is, why he hates Hal (and Superman, for that matter) and just about everyone else.  And… why not throw in (more than) a few disgruntled GLs who have a BIG mad on for Hal – he kind of tried to kill them or leave them for dead a few years back (They held a grudge.  Gee, imagine that.).  Shake well.  Serve chilled.
• Fantastic Four #538 and Ultimate Fantastic Four #31 –  Both of these were good reads.  Solid stories, well told.  FF #538 was a “Civil War” tie-in issue… which I have mostly tried to avoid.  This was good, though.  It showed the frustration of a family on opposite sides of the registration issue and how each member’s responses affect the others.  UFF #31 continued the story of the zombie FF and their attempt to take over the world.  No, that’s not quite right.  “Infect the world and eat lots of tasty brains!”  Yeah, that’s more like it.  And it proved that Reed Richards, no matter what Earth he’s from – or the fact that he’s a zombie – is far from stupid.
• OMAC #1 (of 8) – Good concept.  Lots of potential.  Just wasn’t there for me.  I might check out the trade paperback, if they collect the issues, but I don’t think that this will be a monthly pick.
• Firestorm #27  – I’m a long-time Firestorm fan… but this is not your father’s Firestorm.  And that’s not a bad thing.  And who’s… that… other… Firestorm?  This was more of a between story arc filler, but there were enough dangling threads left to make it interesting.
• Action Comics #840 – This was the end of the “Up, Up and Away” storyline that detailed Superman’s return after a year-long absence.  And the issue started off with a fist fight with Lex Luthor.  What?  What’s that you say?  That’s not a fair fight?  You’re right, it wasn’t – Superman had just been exposed to a large amount of Kryptonite… and was effectively powerless… but was still soldiering on.  The human angle helped make this issue good, as well.  From the Daily Planet newsroom to the construction workers in a battle-damaged part of town to the “Strict policy, sorry.  No signing body parts,” the actions, reactions and interactions of the citizens of Metropolis to the Man of Steel were great takes on what I can only assume would pass for day-to-day life in the DCU.
• Superman #654 – This issue took a look at “a day in the life” of Clark Kent: Husband, reporter… and hero.  And, not just “any” day, but an anniversary, of sorts, for the Kents.  You might think “Oh, he’s Superman.  That should be a piece of cake,” but this particular day just wouldn’t relent.  One thing after another.  Or, in the words of the esteemed Mr. Kent:
  

  Mondays.

  You try and you try to get things to go smoothly, but somehow, Mondays always manage to smack you in the face.  No getting around it — it’s just the way that they are. 

  This particular Monday, though —

  It’s sort of an anniversary, for Lois and me, an important day for us.  We try do to something special every year to mark it.  This year, I wanted to surprise her with breakfast in bed.

  But… Mondays.

  How many Mondays – how many “not-Mondays,” for that matter – have you had like that? Who hasn’t had “one of those days?”  Twenty-two pages later, though, just when you think that Tuesday can’t arrive quickly enough, there’s that one ray of light that makes it all worthwhile.  Kurt Busiek has taken a commonplace occurrence and/or feeling, placed a little bit of the fantastic into it, yet made it so that everyone – anyone – could relate to it.

• 52: Weeks Nine and Ten – One hero born… while another hero’s heart breaks.  One woman learning what it means to be human and to trust… learning these lessons from a man with no face.  A reporter whose lost his edge and maybe his job… as a new hero arrives on the scene, much to the chagrin of another hero who’s trying to make a name – a bigger name – for himself.

  Ten weeks in and I can admit that I seem to have been wrong about this series.  It has chops.  The writing is, for the most part, good.  Yes, there were a few choppy parts, but it’s nice to be behind the scenes and fill in some of the gaps between Infinite Crisis and “One Year Later.”  And there are still forty-two weeks to go.  Hopefully, the staff will be able to maintain this momentum.

• Uncanny X-Men #475 – Wow.  Ed Brubaker has done something with the X-Men that hasn’t been done in this title (Joss Whedon has done just fine in Astonishing X-Men, though) since Grant Morrison’s run: He’s turned it into something that makes you want to turn the pages.  You want to see what’s going to happen next.  And, guess what… It’s not always something that you’d expect to see, either.  Nor is it the same old X-Men lineup that has been around since Moses’ time.  Brubaker draws from a number of sources to bring readers a group that is different from “the norm” and who have different motivations for what they think, say and do.  This was not only a fine read, it was fun to read.

Stray Toasters

• I must be coming down with something.  Why?  Because I logged out of City of Heroes early.  12:30 AM.  I think that it was mostly because the team that I was invited to join started off… poorly.  Very poorly.  As in, “We died in the first few minutes” poorly.  After a quick trip to the hospital and the welcome addition of five more players to the team, we finished the mission in fairly short order.  But, I think that by that time, the damage had been done –  I wasn’t enjoying the game as much I as usually do.  Oh well, another night…
• How many songs reference Kathmandu?  I can only think of Going to Kathmandu and a line from A Passage to Bangkok.
• “Don’t you know who I am…?!
• Intrepid should be CoX-ready in the next day or two.
• Dwayne McDuffie Takes Control of the game with Justice League Heroes
• Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes
• I like this cover
• I saw the following picture while at Fazoli’s for lunch.I’m pretty sure that I know what they intended , but my translation was:  Almost the entire menu is free of trans-fats… but we’re not telling you which ones.  Try to stay calm in light of this new information.  Oh, and pick the trans fat-free version.  Good luck!”
• TBMs.

And with that…

Namaste.

Monday : 17 July 2006
It was a Monday.  Despite that, I didn’t have any problems with my fav’rit monkeys today (although MFM2 did catch Jason with a “problem”).  It was like chocolate sprinkles on an ice cream cone.  Yeah, it was that good.  (Great… now I want a double-dip cone from Friendly’s.  *sigh*)

<&lt Rewind <<
It was a pretty low-key – but high-temperature (between 102 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit on Sunday) – weekend.  The main highlight of the weekend was a trip to the Utah Hogle Zoo.  They have done some upgrades to many of the animal pens – the “Asian Highlands” and the new elephant areas were rather nice.  They have also added a few more kid-friendly “attractions,” including an “elephant” that “sneezes” on guests.

> Play >
The post-work day has been pretty quiet.

The Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I went to Founders Falls to speak with a contact.  I needed to follow-up on a mission that I had run on Friday; she had another mission ready for me.  But I wasn’t ready for it.  It was a timed mish… and I didn’t have any back-up.  Well, I had Sparky, but for what she was asking, I would have needed more warm bodies.  Not to put Sparky down, mind you.  He’s the best little ball of lightning a guy could ask for.  If.. he was… so inclined…  to ask for one, that is. 

Then, I bought and sold a few enhancements.

After that, I headed to Talos Island and on to Brickstown.  No sooner had I stepped off the train in Bricks, was I contacted by Emilia Rhetborn, an occasional teammate.  She was getting a group together to go and break some heads in the southern section of Brickstown.  I signed on to help out.  While she was recruiting a few others, I went sightseeing.  And by “sightseeing,” I mean that I wandered through the neighborhoods, looking for citizens in distress… and criminals to beat down.  They weren’t hard to find.  We took on the mission in Brickstown (find some data in a Crey lab), followed by ones in Dark Astoria, Peregrine Island (actually we hopped a Portal to… “somewhere else,” to fight Anti-Matter and his robotic minions) and Independence Port.  By the time we were done, we had fought The Council and Praetorians, along with a few Malta thrown in for good measure.

The missions weren’t cake walks.  The rewards – aside from keeping the citizens of the city safe – made the risks worthwhile.  I started the night about 15% of the way through Security Level 38; by the end of the night, I was about 65% of the way to Level 39.  And that’s a good thing.

Stray Toasters

• I tried Gatorade Lemonade for the first time today.  It’s not bad.
• Mickey Spillane, best known for his Mike Hammer novels, died today.  (Reuters story)
• : While playing CoH, we wound up in a building with a hallway that went nowhere.  Someone asked “What kind of architect builds a hallway that doesn’t go anywhere?!”  I referred them to the Winchester Mystery House.
• Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager
• I sent this Sinfest comic to this morning…
• …she volleyed back with this Home on the Strange comic.
• Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!
• For : How to build an analog watch
• For : Cover art to All-Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder #6
• For : Cover art to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #23
• For : Batman: Through the Ages Box Set
• Ridiculous Lucky Captain Rabbit King… Lucky Captain Rabbit King nuggets are for the youth!  -Blossom, from The Powerpuff Girls
• Hidden City Games has introduced a game system called Clout Fantasy, “the collectible throwing game.”  I don’t know what it is or how it’s played, but there’s an expansion coming in August that made me think of : Redbeard’s Revenge.

That’s close enough for jazz.

Namaste.

Friday : 14 July 2006
It’s been a good day… but I am tapped.

The Adventures of Indigo Bolt
Say it with me: “Security Level 38.”

Stray Toasters
I thought about it – even had some things ready to be put here – but, I’m going to bed.

Namaste.

Thursday : 13 July 2006
All in all, not a bad NBN Thursday.  Work was pretty uneventful; the midday workout was good.

Post-work, I came home and took a nap.  Technically, I took two: I nodded off at my desk for a few before going upstairs to stretch out on my bed.

The Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I was invited to join a team to take on The Circle of Thorns in Skyway City.  Knowing what kinds of trouble they stir up, I joined. 

That was my first mistake. 

The mission was set a couple of levels ahead of the group.  I died.  Many times.  Just for the record:  When you’re going on a high-level mission, make sure – absolutely sure – that the team has a healer of some sort.  We didn’t.  Four Scrappers, a Controller and a Blaster (me). Oh, boy. While it’s true that I have some healing and recovery powers, I am by no means a primary healer.  I’m more like… an EMT.  Or maybe even a school nurse.  I’m not the ER doctor or the hot-shot surgeon.  And, quite frankly, it’s kind of hard to heal others when you’re lying face down in the middle of the street because a Behemoth Overlord decided to test out his flaming breath… on you.  We wound up leaving that mission and taking on a Rikti mission instead.  That went much better.

I think that I wound up losing at least 75,000 points to the Experience Debt Fairy.  By the end of my patrol, I was a little more than 100,000 points away from getting out of the longest-to-clear level EVER Security Level 38.

Stray Toasters

• Today I listened to Issue #9 of the City of Stories podcast.  In it was one of the most creative stories that I’ve heard/read in a long time.  In any genre.  It was “150 Meters to Ground.  Check it out.
• For : Bollywood-infused comics and cartoons launch from Virgin
• Fire artists to light up Bay Area fest
• By way of : Follow that cab…
• 
• From the “We Made Lots of Money (but we’re really cheap-asses)” file: National Semiconductor Wants the iPods Back
• – Comedian Red Buttons dies at 87
• For : The Return of the Rider
• English mistakes that aren’t mistakes
• For Ms. :  “…born on a Monday.”  (click the pic on the page)

Quotes of the Day
I sent the following link to a few people today.

[11:06] : http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1445131&sdm=web&qtw=640&qth=400

These were their responses:

[11:08] Eric: is this for real?
[11:08] : *nod*
[11:09] : http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0479143/
[11:10] Eric: interesting…..Is a has been, still a has been?,      …. didn’t we just see “Cinderella man”
[11:10] : heh

[11:10] : oh lord.
[11:11] : yup. that’s all i have to say about that.

[11:25] : ok um
[11:25] : i hear the theme
[11:25] : this isn’t what i think it is is it
[11:26] : *nod*
[11:26] : oh christ
[11:26] : isn’t he enough of a vegetable yet
[11:26] : Apparently not.
[11:26] : “back for one final round”
[11:26] : wtf
[11:26] : wasn’t it final after ivan drago

Namaste.

Wednesday : 12 July 2006
Three down, two to go.

Work day. Blah. Blah. Blah. MFM – “My favorite monkey” – sent someone to ask me if we had an item in the office. We did and I got it. Just like that. It was a nice day, so I decided to get my iPod and go walking around the business park. In the time it took me to get my iPod and sunglasses, MFM showed up. She asked me for another item, which I promptly handed her and proceeded to go on my afternoon constitutional.

Post-work, I went swimming. No, let me rephrase that: “I went wading and hot tubbing.” ‘s aunt invited us to go to one of the local fitness centers for a dip. Water was… cold-ish. A little while later, I found the hot tub. (No, it wasn’t James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub… but I made do with what was at hand.) Swimming’s not exactly my usual thing, but it was fun.

Stray Toasters

• I was taking a look at Red vs Blue today and decided to stroll over to The Strangerhood, another Rooster Tooth Production. Machinima based on The Sims 2. I watched a couple of episodes; they would have been better without the audience track in my opinion, though.
• I listened to more of Jonathan Coulton‘s stuff today. He has a song called Ikea. How did I miss this?! Another song that amused me was Code Monkey. I fell almost instantly in love with it.
• This strip, from Questionable Content, made me laugh.
• I was sent a link to this blog post by today. Dear Lord…
• How Japanese-style illustration works – from Pingmag

Quote of the Day
From one of the episodes of The Strangerhood:

Tovar: “Starving is like diet. With pain.”

Namaste.

Tuesday : 11 July 2006
It’s been a good day… aside from the exception which is noted in the Quote of the Day section.

Did you remember to get your 7-11 free Slurpee today?  I did.

Tonight was Shadowrun night.  No one died.  No, really.  No one.  Okay… the team did put one guard to sleep, but that was as close as it got.  They found out who’s been pulling their strings – and yanking their chains – and decided to get some closure on the matter.  They did so with their usual style.

Stray Toasters

• Chris and I have (finally) hammered out a day to get together and play HeroClix.
• This (which cracked me up)  and this (which is just… odd) were sent to me by
• I had forgotten how much I enjoy Rachmaninoff – an Allegro came up on my iTunes playlist at work today.
• In Issue #6 of City of Stories, they showcased Skullcrusher Mountain, a song by Jonathon Coulton.  It amused me.
• Probably more info than you ever wanted – or wondered – about A Whiter Shade of Pale
• “Hello.  My name is Greg.  And I’m a casual gamer.”
  

• Sith Light.    All the evil, half the carbs.
• While the Angry Zen Master webcomic is amusing, the “AZM Mini” comic (halfway down the page) really made me laugh.  There are, as of this writing, 19 AZM Minis.  Check them all out.  “Lipstick and Batarangs,” that’s all I’m sayin’.

Quote of the Day
The day started off nicely… but diminished a bit when I had to deal with my least favorite Rikti monkey.  I was chatting with at the time, so she caught the brunt of my ire:

[10:48] : >.< [10:49] : My (least) favorite monkey:  Do you know where the internal printer is?
[10:49] : Me:  Internal printer?
[10:49] : Her:  Yes, the 1320.
[10:49] : Me:  Oh, it’s right there.  *points to the other side of the half-wall of my cubicle*
[10:49] : Her:  That’s a printer?
[10:50] : Me:  *avoids saying ‘No, it’s a dishwasher’*
[10:50] : uuuhhhhh
[10:50] : Me:  Little square, box-looking thing?  Yes.
[10:50] : you really really should have said that
[10:50] : Her:  Oh, it doesn’t look like a printer.
[10:50] : Me:  *internally*  >.<

Yeah.  That’s about all I have to say about that.

Namaste.

It’s 11 July 2006.

Or, more aptly put: It’s 7/11. Also known as “Free Slurpee Day.”

Get your Slurpee on.
Mm-hmm, that’s right.

Monday : 10 July 2006
Not a bad day for the beginning of the week.  The work day was pretty quiet, as was the post-work day.

On Saturday, and I headed to downtown SLC to take in a few acts at the 6th Annual Salt Lake City International Jazz Festival.  It was good.  Crowded, but good.  The venue we visited was on the grounds of the City & County Building.  I wanted to see – and saw – Patty Austin (1, 2), who did a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald and The Rippingtons.  Both musical sets were very good.  It reminded me of going to the jazz club back home… before it closed.  *sigh* 

The best thing about the festival: It was free.  Lots of good music… out in the open air…. FOR FREE.  When we first got there, we had to stand – it was that crowded.  After Ms. Austin’s set was done, Groove Station performed on the second stage.  This was apparently peoples’ cue to move around.  As such, we were able to find a couple of seats a little closer to the stage for The Rippingtons’ set.  This was all well and good… until a little before their set started.  Then, people started closing in a bit.  *shrug*  There were still places for them to stand or sit and not completely obstruct our view.  Then people started sitting/lying on the grass.  The roped-off-so-that-people-wouldn’t-sit-on-it grass.  This was fine until security came along and informed them that they couldn’t sit there.  So they moved.  Right into my line of sight of the stage.  *sigh*  I started to get a little irritated at the lack of courtesy that these people showed.

Then I had an epiphany:

• The festival was free (I covered this above, didn’t I?).
• I still had… something… of a view of the stage, even with the people standing (mostly) in the way.
• I could still hear the music.
• And, did I mention:  “Free?”

At that thought, sat back and enjoyed the music.  It was a good way to spend a summer night in the city.

Sunday, we saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (I keep referring to it as Pirates 2: Electric Boogaloo, though).  It was a fun movie… but it lacked something.  I had a good time, but by the end, it just felt like something was missing.  And that it was a little too long.  The effects were good.  The sets and scenery were good.  The acting was also good.  So, it must have been the (lack of) story.  There wasn’t very much there… other than a convenient way to set up Pirates 3: The Search for Spock.

Four-Color Coverage
I was talking with Matt, a coworker who is also a comics fan, last week.  We were talking about the books that came out a couple of weeks ago.  Specifically, we talked about Captain Atom: Armageddon.  We both felt that the story had a great build-up and some really great potential… until the end.  Then, lo and behold: Here’s the deus ex machina to save the day and make everything all better.  Riiiight.

And then, I realized something:  The whole story, from the way it was set up in Superman-Batman through the final pages of Issue #9, was nothing but a retelling of The Wizard of Oz.  I explained:

• Captain Atom was “Dorothy,” all he wanted – and almost whined about – for the duration of the series was to go home.
• There were heroes – and regular people – whom he met who became friends. (Think “Scarecrow,” “Tin Woodsman,” and/or “Lion” … no flying monkeys, though.)
• There were others, like The Authority, a WSU supergroup,  who decidedly had his worst interests (“Let’s just kill him and get this whole business over with…”) at heart.  These people could be considered as many forms of The Wicked Witch of the West.
• The general populace of the WildStorm Earth were the Munchkins – always in awe (and more than a little scared) of the powerful beings from afar or in Oz (represented by The Authority’s orbiting space station, The Carrier).
• There was even a scene were a building collapsed on someone.  No ruby slippers, though.
• And in the end, it wasn’t the Wizard (Jack Hawksmoor and company) who sent Dorothy Captain Atom home, it was the Glinda the Good Witch figure, represented by the new incarnation of Void.

Once I made my pitch, Matt considered it and agreed.  And we both came to the same thought:  Maybe rereading it not as a Captain Atom story, but as a twist on Oz might make the whole mini-series more palatable, less flat and might actually breathe some life into it.

Stray Toasters

• I’m craving ice cream.  Again.
• I’ve been enjoying the fan-fic from the City of Stories podcast.
• For : Dark Times for Star Wars Line
• Head over heels
  Where should I go?
  Can’t stop myself
  Outta control
  Head over heels
  No time to think
  Looks like
  The whole world’s out of sync

• Who Wants To Be a Superhero?  Um… yeah.
• I also believe that Nox will appreciate this:
• If you live in the SLC Metro area:  Porcupine Pub and Grill.  Two words: Raspberry Wheat.
• “Ladies?  Join you?”
  “Damon, men are from Mars.  Only Venusian is spoken here.”
  “I speak Haagen Daz, I-UNHH!”
  “Have a seat.”
  

Quote of the Day
While driving home after dinner, Troy (‘s six-year-old) came up with a list of things one can and can’t do in a car.  He’s going through the list and out pops this gem:

“We can’t do everything at the same time in the car.  We can rub something…OR we can drive.  But we can’t rub something AND drive.”

Did I mention that he is six?!    As best we can tell, the subject had come up over the weekend, while he was visiting his father.  *shrug*  I was laughing so hard that I almost had to pull the car over.

And that’s a wrap.

Thursday : 06 July 2006
Another NBN Thursday comes to a close.  The day was good: No bad news… but one monkey.  Fortunately, the monkey didn’t present me with an insurmountable “problem.”  I came up with a work-around solution (if it comes to it) and kicked the problem to someone better qualified to deal with that particular issue.

I went to the gym for the first time in far too long (about two weeks) today.  I can tell that I’ve been out of the loop for a while; I had to go down on weight in a few exercises.  Oh well.  Just means that I’ll have to work hard to get back to where I was.

The Shocking Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I hit the streets of Paragon City for a while with .  We took on Council of Thorns, Rikti, The Council (not Thorns this time), and a few Devouring Earth.

I changed a few of my powers last week, so this was a good opportunity to try them in the field.  I gave up the “Fitness” power set which gave me a few health-related buffs/powers and added the “Teleportation” and “Medicine” sets.  The new sets give me access to teleportation (duh) abilities and the ability to heal others or myself… and the resuscitate a fallen teammate.  That’s right: Indigo Bolt, the Human Defibrillator.  Hell, with Teleport I’m like a defibrillator and ambulance all-in-one!

Four-Color Coverage
Last weekend, I picked up my books.  I didn’t get a chance to read anything other than the latest issue of Wizard until last night.  Here’s the quick recap and rundown:

• Ion: Guardian of the Universe #3 – Kyle’s losing his mind.  Or he lost it.  Or something.  Good thing that Hal Jordan’s around to help him find it.  Or something.  I don’t know… I want to like this book, but I’m not sure that I wouldn’t be better served by just waiting until the trade paperback comes out.
• Captain Atom: Armageddon #9 (of 9) – Hey!  Here’s an idea: Let’s take this character who’s always been something of an almost-ran in the DCU and stick him in the Wildstorm Universe… and… and… let’s have something be horribly wrong with him!  Ooh!  Not just “something,” let’s make it so that he’s going to explode… and take the whole WSU with him!  Yeah!  That’s the ticket!  Tick.  Tick.  Tick.  Here’s another series that I wanted to like.  I bought all nine issues.  I read them.  A few of them were actually fine examples of good storytelling.  But in this issue, at least to me, they dropped the ball.  *sigh*  They built up an interesting premise, but like any good sitcom, they “solved” the problem in 22 minutes.  Um, I mean 17 pages.  And there were still six pages left over.  I just felt like it was really anticlimactic.  Oh, well.  It seems as though both DC and their WildStorm division got what they wanted out of the deal.
• New Avengers #21 – This was a Civil War tie-in issue.  Surprise.  I mean, Captain America and Iron Man, two of the main faces on opposite sides of the “war,” are members of the team.  But, this was an all-Cap issue. 

  What happens when Uncle Sam’s favorite star-spangled soldier effectively tells his bosses to take their brand-spankin’ new Superhuman Registration Act, shine it up nicely, turn it sideways and shove it up their collective asses?  They send everyone and everything (including the kitchen sink) after him. 

  How does Cap respond?  Well, let’s just say this:  He is a soldier.  Do the math. 

  Brian Bendis did a great job of not only capturing the hero/legend in Captain America, but also of the turmoil in the heart of Steve Rogers, Cap’s alter ego, a man out of time.  I found a few parallels between Steve Rogers and the character in Jimmy Buffett’s “A Pirate Looks at Forty.”  It was good to see the return of Cap’s old partner, Sam Wilson, The Falcon.  While I’ve avoided most of the hullabaloo associated with Civil War, I found this to be a good and engaging story.

• Young Avengers #12 – I wasn’t too sure about this book when it first started.  “Oh, great… Marvel’s take on the Teen Titans.”  And, while that may be true, to some degree, I have to admit that I was wrong in not giving it a chance when it first hit the stands.  This has been a great book.  And this issue, the last of the first “season,” was no let-down.  The young heroes-not-yet-in-training fighting alongside their role models and namesakes.  Not only fighting along with them – holding their own, too.  Allan Heinberg didn’t make the characters seem like cardboard cut-outs or caricatures.  He gave them voices.  He made them believable.  Not only that, but he told a good story, too.  If you get the chance, pick up the back issues or the trade paperbacks – they’re worth reading.
• Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #19 – A murder story.  Plain and simple.  Not a bad story, per se… but I picked up on the “who” behind the “whodunit” about halfway through the story.  It was a good look at Chameleon, who has not really been featured in a good story since LSHv1 (the first Legion series, for non-fans) when he almost single-handedly sparked a war between the United Planets and the Khundian empire.  (Remember that one, ?)
• The American Way #5 (of 8) – I can’t say enough good things about this mini-series.  John Ridley has woven a tale, set in late 1960s America, that shows us what heroes and villains should be.  Or at least what our government wants us to think that they should be.  The Justice League (or any supergroup) funded/sponsored by their government?  No problems there.  But what if the villains were hired by the same government… to stage fights with the good guys… just to put on a good show for the people?  To keep them happy and safe and warm… and unsuspecting.  This title has consistently provided a solid story with good characterizations.  It’s been a “save this for last” read whenever an issue arrived in the comic shop.  It’s that good.  There are only three issues left in this book, and I’ll be happily waiting for each one.
• 52: Week 8 – This is the one book that I didn’t want to like.  And now, I can’t get enough.  DC is using it to fill in the gaps between their recent Infinite Crisis mini-series and their “One Year Later” titles.  It’s been an interesting read so far, and it’s barely one-sixth of the way through the story.  I like it.  And I didn’t think that I would be able to say that.  Here’s to hoping that DC is able to maintain their momentum over the next 44 weeks.

Stray Toasters

• I came home feeling a little tired this evening.  I took what I had expected would be a thirty to forty-five minute nap.  I woke up an hour-and-a-half later.  But, it was a good – and obviously necessary – nap.
• While there’s something about all of these ads, it’s the one in the lower right that makes me smile the most.  Go figure.
• Demure silk and flowerbot
• – Baseball Coach Teaches Kids More than Catch
• Drawn!
• Slug Magazine‘s cover interview: Maddox
• I really don’t know what to say about this other than “You decide what to make of it.”
• Among the podcasts that I discovered, one of them is “City of Stories,” fan fiction set in the City of Heroes/City of Villains universe.  I listened to “Issue 1” today.  It wasn’t bad.  It was… fun, really.  I’ll be listening to more of them.
• Starz! and Angry Alien Productions present: Superman: the Movie… in 30 seconds (re-enacted with bunnies)
• Scorpion Pale Ale.  (Thanks to !)
• I discovered this morning.
• Invisibilia

Quote of the Day
From a conversation with :

[10:31] : Okay… check this out.
[10:31] : http://wjz.com/bios/local_bio_053095517/
[10:31] : “Just the facts”
[10:31] : 6th bullet point
[10:32] : The reason that this is amusing to me: He used to co-anchor the evening news with her.
[10:33] : Ah.
[10:33] : I’m more amused that a guy of his age likes Destiny’s Child.
[10:33] : She [Oprah] used to be a features reporter on WJZ…. moved up to anchor
[10:33] : Yeah, that made me chuckle, too.

[10:35] : http://www.linquist.net/temp/flashcards1.jpg
[10:35] : What’s wrong with this picture…
[10:35] : BWAHAHAHAHA
[10:35] : They stopped counting.
[10:36] : Hell, I’m surprised that they made it past 21 states.

That’s probably (more than) enough for now.

Namaste.

Tuesday : 04 July 2006
Overcast weather…
Rain…
Overcast weather…
MORE rain…

…but it finally gave way to nominally still, although not clear, skies.

Visited with Land and Catherine at their family pool party/cookout this evening. Then, it was on to see the fireworks at Sugar House Park. Okay, not really “at” the park, as it was chock full o’ people. Instead, I planned on viewing the display from a few blocks east of the park. On the way, I found a parking garage with a good view of the park (or the air above it, at least). Not only were we able to see the park display, but also the one at the University of Utah and Franklin Covey Field… and some other display from a little further east and south of the garage.

In an odd twist, one of the families at the garage was on a cross-country trip. From Maryland. Columbia, to be exact. It was a surreal. (And, unlike Charles Barkley, I do know what that means.)

All-in-all, it was a good way to end the long weekend.

I hope that everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Tomorning, it’s back to the work-a-day grind… for a short work week.

Namaste.

Monday : 03 July 2006
It’s the day before the Fourth, I’ve had a good weekend… and there’s still one more day to it!

<< Rewind <<
Friday’s Clitorati gathering was… modest. The only “problem” was another round of Friday night music in the Borders cafè: A three-piece group from California who played Middle-Eastern influenced music. They were promoting a CD, but they must have only had a few songs on it – said that he heard one song played at least three times over the course of the evening. Post-bookstore, and I headed to Cheers: North for a bite to eat, ESPN and conversation.

Saturday brought errands, comic books, a trip to the park with ‘s boys… and a Superman-themed party. and I hosted a party (at the suggestion/request of ‘s husband). The grill was fired up. Superman: the Movie and Superman II were in the DVD player. Fun was had. After the party, and I headed to Cheers to see Melody.

Sunday, I took to see Superman Returns. On the IMAX screen at Larryland. It was just as much fun the second time. And the IMAX 3D scenes were very good; it would have been interesting to have seen the full feature in 3D. I also thought about the fact that Brandon Routh looked as if he was born to “fly.” He looked comfortable and rather natural in the flying scenes. After the movie, it was off to visit and then on to cover a couple of errands before…

…heading to the airport: My uncle flew into town for the evening, on his way home from a family reunion in California. and I met him at the airport, drove him to his hotel and then joined him for dinner at Spencer’s. Prime Rib and chianti. Excellent. (SIDENOTE: , I had the bartender fix a Pirate’s Tea for my pre-dinner drink. She or he did a good job.) We wound up closing down the restaurant before walking my uncle back up to his room.

> Play >
We picked up ‘s boys and headed to the hotel to meet my uncle for breakfast. After that, we drove up Capitol Hill to Ensign Peak Park to let him look down over the city and the Salt Lake Valley. I hadn’t been up there in a while, but I am always amazed by the view. The inversion haze was very light, so it was easy to see the entire valley. From there, it was on to The Gateway. Mmm. Apple Store. I introduced my uncle to the iPod; he liked it. I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he buys one in the next month or two. Somewhere along the line, Curtis (the younger boy) decided that he really liked my uncle – holding his hand as we walked through Barnes & Noble and on the way to the car. Time was quickly growing short – it always does when you are visiting or are visited by family – so we headed back to the airport. While I was sad to see him go, I was glad for the few hours that I was able to spend with him.

The rest of the evening has been spent with and the boys.

Like I said: It’s been a good weekend.

And, it’s not over yet.

Namaste.

Friday : 30 June 2006
Although the day started off in a less-than-stellar manner, it wound up being a very good day.

I’m tired – very tired, apparently – so I will call it a night.

Namaste.

Thursday : 29 June 2006
Another NBN Thursday comes to a relatively uneventful close.  The workday was good and pretty much monkey-free.  I’ve been reading the SQL book that I picked up last week.  I discovered something in it that I didn’t find in the PHP & MySQL book that I had previously purchased: SQL supports “transactions.”  And from what I gather, so far, it handles them in the same way that ColdFusion did.  That’s something that I can work with.

The Shocking Adventures of Indigo Bolt
I joined a team for a mission tonight… and died twice.  Not because the team was inept.  Rather, it was because we were fighting one of the game’s Arch-villains.  I wasn’t the only one to be caught on the bad side of the Envoy of Shadow; everyone died.  At least once.  But, in the end, we beat it.  Of course, there’s still the little matter of 24,000 points worth of new experience debt to dealt with…

Stray Toasters

• I talked with my uncle and got his travel itinerary for the weekend.  He’ll be in Sunday evening… and leaves Monday afternoon.  Not a long visit, but it’s a visit nonetheless.  And I’m thankful for that.
• By way of comes: 100 Awesome Music Videos
  (: Frontier Psychiatrist is on the list.)

• I should have started laundry an hour ago, not five minutes ago.
• I was a little shocked to find this in the 19 June 2006 issue of Newsweek, but it intrigued me: Popular Comic Book Heroes Faith-by-Faith (You can click on the given hero’s religious affiliation to see how the researchers came to these conclusions.)
• The above ‘Toaster reminded me of An American Pantheon
  

  In every culture there is in it’s past a collection of myths recounting the tales of a pantheon of gods, goddesses, heroes and monsters.

  Tales that stand both as answers to why things are as they are, and as personifications of the `essence´ of that nation, people, and culture.

  The Greek mythos, the Roman mythos, the Chinese mythos, and the detailed listing of angels and demons along with the legends of saints that made up the Christian mythos of the middle-ages are all examples where a culture generated a mythos that stood as the spirit where the people and land were the body and mind.

  But what about America? I don’t mean the rich and varied mythos of the Native Americans. I mean the United States of America.

  Where is the American mythos? Jung said that you need to get in touch with the myths and beliefs of the land where you are.

  That no matter what your religion or belief system (or lack of same) might be the place where you are has a power that can not be denied.

  That being the case, again where is the American mythos?

• “Who watches the watchmen?”  I don’t know.  But I do know Who scams the scammers.
• I have begun to think of as “Queen of the Flash Distractions”  (not that this is a bad thing, per se).  Today’s goodie: attractors_water.swf
• Introducing the Baen Free Library
• H to the izz-O
  V to the izz-A

• Robin Williams.  As The Joker…?  Could be.
• The Blade television series premiere is available.  For iPods.  For free.  I shall have to acquire this.

Time to switch the laundry over… and call it a night.

Namaste.

Wednesday : 28 June 2006
Let’s just cut to the chase: I saw Superman Returns this morning.

And I loved it.

Bryan Singer did a great job of bringing the Man of Steel back to the silver screen. He didn’t linger on backstory. You got a brief glimpse of Krypton before it exploded and then, “faster than a speeding bullet,” you were into the story. And, they set things up nicely for there to be sequels, should the movie prove successful. (I’m pretty sure that’s a lock.) There were also, in true Brian Singer style, nods to the history of Superman: Shots that came directly from the comic books, Noel Neill and Jack Larson (Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen from the 50s Adventures of Superman series) had cameos, and stylistic touches in the sets and background characters.

Brandon Routh did a good job of portraying both Clark Kent and Superman. He is not – nor did he try to be – Christopher Reeve, but he didn’t need to be. The actor did not overshadow the character. He breathed life into a Superman for a new generation… while remaining true to the spirit and essence of the Clark Kent that the late Mr. Reeve brought to the screen.

Kevin Spacey was an excellent choice for Lex Luthor. His performance wasn’t over-the-top. Instead, he was a… human… Lex Luthor. Greedy. Driven. But without being a ham. You knew why Luthor hated Superman. You knew why he wanted to carry out his plan. And you could see that he was determined to let nothing stand in his way to achieve that goal.

I liked Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. To me, you could see that she was conflicted in her feelings about the return of Superman into her life. She had made decisions about her life in his absence and moved on. She did a good job of bringing that emotion to the screen.

All in all, I think that this movie falls in line Superman: the Movie and Superman II very well. I give it a definite thumbs-up with an okay.

And I can’t wait to see it again.

Namaste.

I just got back from seeing Superman Returns… and for two hours and forty-three minutes, I was a seven-year-old kid again. A very happy seven-year-old.

And the thirty-five year old in me was rather happy with the movie, as well.

I’ll do a bigger write-up later, but I should probably get back to work.