Random Access

Sunday – 05 June 2011
I was caught in the middle of a struggle for the past two-and-a-half hours. It’s definitely not a fight that I would have chosen to be part of, but sometimes, we don’t get to choose.

The fight was between sleep and being awake.

It may sound rather silly, but it’s true. I was awake – for no discernable reason – a few minutes after 0600. I tried going back to sleep, but only managed to stare at the walls. And the ceiling. And the window. I did manage to nod off again, though. For about twenty minutes. Then it became “Lather. Rinse. Repeat.” …for the next two hours. I’d finally manage to fall asleep, only to wake up – again, for no reason – and the cycle would repeat. Annoying. Hopefully, it’s not a harbinger of how the rest of the day will go.

There are a couple of bright spots in the day, though:

1. It’s National Cancer Survivors Day

   

2. SaraRules! and I get to hang out with our friend, Ron, today.

Yesterday was a good day. It started off with a trip to one of the local churches for a Boy Scout pancake breakfast and car show. The food was good and there were a lot of nice cars to look at. When we got back, I had some time to kill, so I decided to mow the lawn. When I finished that, it was time to get clean and ready to meet Chris and Alex. We stopped off for (second) breakfast before heading to Dr. Volt’s. There was another good turnout – we had fifteen players. After the game, I came home to get SaraRules! and we headed to Pawit’s Royale Thai Cuisine for dinner. (SaraRules! dropped into Dr. Volt’s to say “Hi” earlier… and informed me that I was taking her out for Thai.) I had a dish whose name I can’t recall, but it reminded me of Pho. And it was VERY good. After dinner, we wound down the night with some TV and a game of Trivial Pursuit. It was a long game; SaraRules! edged me out for the win.

Stray Toasters

• Sixkill is sitting on the kitchen counter. I’m excited – and a little sad – to read it. It’s the last of the Spenser books that Robert B. Parker wrote before passing away last year. The series will continue, with a writer who’s collaborated with Parker on a number of works. I just hope that he doesn’t run the franchise into the ground.
• For the Jobless, Little U.S. Help on Foreclosure
• I finished watching Astonishing X-Men: Gifted, the Marvel motion comic last night, via Netflix.

  

  It was presented in six episodes, each covering the six issues of the “Gifted” storyline, by Joss Whedon. It was… interesting… in a good way. It was well-done and enjoyable. My only complaint was that a couple of the voices didn’t seem “right” for a couple of characters.

• The History of a Cheap Dress
• Focusing on the Social, Minus the Media
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: LeVin gets house arrest after undisclosed setttlement
• Gaming Made Me: Colossal Cave Adventure
• Wow.

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Friday – 03 June 2011
The weekend is mere hours away…

And it’s a sunny day out there. Hopefully, it lasts until I can get outside to enjoy it.

Last night, I achieved a new milestone in the “Hey, we’ve got babies on the way!” event: I felt one of the kids (I’m fairly certain that it was “Baby B”) kick for the first time.  It was neat. A little later in the evening, I felt a little more activity… but not sure which one it was.

After going out and running a few errands – including a walk through/around the local mall for some exercise –  SaraRules! and I stopped at Farr’s Fresh for some ice cream before heading home for the evening. We flipped channels for a bit and wound up finding Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1, 2) on TCM. That’s right a classic Japanese monster movie, featuring Godzilla, Mothra and Rodan. BAM! That’s what we wound up watching for our evening’s entertainment.

This morning, I woke up with Barenaked Ladies’ If I Had $1000000 in my head. I’m good with that.

Stray Toasters

• Judge cancels NFL mediation, says sides engaged in ‘settlement’ talks
• A Double Helix of Art and Science
• Neil Peart to perform drum solo on Late Show with David Letterman
• MI6 attacks Al-Qaeda in ‘Operation Cupcake’
• From today’s Courting Disaster:

  

• Multicultural Celebrations
• Is America’s love affair with kids waning?
• James Arness dies at 88
• From the “SkyNet is now online…” file: Police Robot Burns Down Mobile Home with Gas Grenades
• E-mail Fraud Hides Behind Friendy Face
• There’s a new addition to The Covet List.
• Post-Relaunch “Green Lantern” Titles Details Released
  • The New DCU may be many things, but don’t call it a ‘reboot’
  • Sorry I’m Late
• Guess who’s back…
  More Tomb Raider Videos

• ‘Dr. Death’ Jack Kevorkian dies at age 83
  • Verge Q+A: Dr. Jack Kevorkian
• Moody’s Warns of Downgrade for U.S. Credit
• “Pilot Cam”

Namaste.

Thursday – 02 June 2011
Another “Day of Thor” (look it up) is upon us. I’m hoping that it follows the appropriate “No Bad News” protocol. That would be a “good” thing.

This morning, I woke up with the opening theme from Love, Sidney in my head. I have no idea “why,” as the show hasn’t been on the air in over 20 (nearly 30) years. Granted, I’m a fan of some of Tony Randall’s work, but why not the theme from The Odd Couple?! As Dr. Rosenblatt would say, “It’s so bizarre…!”

Last night, I had forgotten that SaraRules! was going to a presentation of Die Walkure, presented by Fathom Events at the local cinemaplex. As had to postpone our D&D game, this meant that I was left to my own devices to find something to do. I wound up doing the dishes and some laundry. (*shrug* It needed to be done…) I also went to the gym. There was a brief internal struggle about did I really want to go, but it was overruled by the “You need to go” camp. It’s still slow-going, but at least I’m doing something:

• Elliptical: 15 minutes, approx 5.5 MPH pace
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 135 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Shoulder Press (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 35 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 125 lbs
• Reverse Fly: 3 sets/10 reps, 50 lbs

I was quite happy to be done with the workout… while kind of looking forward to getting into the gym again. Go figure.

When I got back home, I treated myself to a little DVR fare while waiting for SaraRules! to get in. I’m almost up to the season finale of Human Target. (And I’m still wishing that USA or some other channel would pick it up next season.)

Stray Toasters

• It’s finally starting to look and feel like we’re actually moving into Summer around here.

• Thanks to for sending the link to A Gallery of Superhero Pictograms
• For SaraRules! and Melissa S.: Gonna Fly Soon: A ‘Rocky’ Musical Is Moving Ahead
• Is sharing a log-in a criminal act?
• 
• NBA center Shaquille O’Neal announces his retirement
• My friend, Joe Tomasone, has started a new technology blog: All That Tech. Go check it out.
• New Green Lantern Featurette Explains Oath, Ring, Lantern
• Comic Book Math: DC to Renumber Series, Starting Again with No. 1
  • DC Unveils Creators and Covers for First Relaunch Wave
  • Let me just say: I like the new-to-be costume for Wonder Woman.  Of course, I like the Jim Lee redesign that’s been running in current issues of the title, too… sans jacket.
• Shuttles, Turning Sedentary, Leave Pieces Behind for Science and Safety
• The Line, It Is Drawn
• Meetings! YAY!

And now… lunch!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 01 June 2011
It’s a new month.
It’s new comics day.
It’s D&D (4.0) game night.
And… it may even be Sushi Wednesday, depending on how my morning shapes up.

For reasons that I have yet to discern, I woke up with Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 running through my head.

Last night, , Chris, Dee and I met at MacCool’s for a guys’ night out. Any evening that ends with Guinness can’t be bad. I opted for the Meat Loaf entree – which is prepared with a barbecue sauce, as opposed to a tomato-based sauce; it was very good. In fact, the beer, the food and the company were all good. If I have my druthers, this will become a regular (or at least semi-regular) occurrence.

Stray Toasters

• Endeavour lands safely in Florida
• Pentagon to Consider Cyberattacks Acts of War
• High-tech medical exam cheating alleged
• 
• Today in Geek History: Robert Heinlein coins the word “grok” when Stranger in a Strange Land is published in 1961, courtesy of Thinkgeek
• City of Heroes has just introduced a Steampunk Pack. This amuses me greatly.
• Improv Everywhere: The Mute Button
• DC Comics dropped a not-so-minor bombshell yesterday: A complete reboot of the entire DCU, coming in September.

  

  • A Note from the DC Comics Co-Publishers: We Hate Secrets
  • Our (First) 13 Questions About the DC Universe Reboot
  • DC Comics unleashes a new universe of superhero titles
  • DC Comics ready for a risky yet relevant publishing change
  • DC’s Number One(s), a commentary from Evil, Inc‘s Brad Guigar
  • DC Comics’ Number One Stunna: The Ballsiest Move of the Decade
• Cousins that are siblings, Identical twin sisters and mothers, Alternative (and parallel) universes
• Reconstruction Lifts Economy After Disasters
• 
• Home prices hit 2002 levels
  • Continuing housing crisis: Ghost suburbs and empty real estate
• In Unusual Move, Apple Previews New Software Plans
• Cellphone Radiation May Cause Cancer, Advisory Panel Says

Namaste.

Tuesday – 31 May 2011
I don’t know if this is Mother Nature’s parting gift or the setup for an incredibly cruel joke, but it’s a lovely morning. It’s sunny and clear, temps are in the 50s, on their way to the mid-70s. Everything about it says “Today’s going to be a great day.” Yet, my inner cynic is still waiting for the other metaphorical meteorological shoe to drop.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet, low-key day. SaraRules! and I did get a little productivity in, though. We added some new items to the baby registry. We looked at tile for the new bathroom. And, we discovered a new place to eat. Well, it’s not really “new,” as much as it’s “new to us:” Mama’s Plantation Restaurant, in the Midvale Family Center (near the Wal-Mart). had mentioned it a while back, but SaraRules! and I never got to visit it at its old location in Taylorsville. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that it wound up in our extended neighborhood. The food and the service were good. The pricing may be a little on the steep side, but it was a nice change of pace and someplace we will revisit.

…and tonight: Guys Night Out.

Stray Toasters

• Today is apparently World No Tobacco Day (1, 2)
  • World No Tobacco Day: Does it really help people quit smoking?
• Arts-Funding Site Gets ‘Kickstart’ from Business Bids
• Sheryl Sandberg: Why We Have Too Few Female Leaders
• 
• Suspended in Space, 103 Stories Above Chicago
• By way of SaraRules! and the “I have had it with these motherfucking snakes on this motherfucking plane train!” file: Vietnam on alert for smugglers after deadly snakes found on train
• Retailers Offer Apps With a Catalog Feel
• 
• Who’s to blame when gas costs $1 than last year?
• Housing Index Is Expected to Show New Low in Prices

On with the show…

Namaste.

Monday – 30 May 2011
Today is Memorial Day.

Please take time to remember those who have fallen in the line of duty to protect the freedoms that we hold dear.

This has been a good weekend. Saturday, I took Ron up to Clearfield to see the O-Gauge layout at Almosta Junction. My friend, Dee, met us there. One of the guys from Almosta offered to fire up a train and let it run. We took him up on it. After hanging around for a while, Ron and I headed back to SLC and over to shockpuppet and ‘s place for their summer kickoff barbecue. Mother Nature, however, had other ideas. The party wound up moving inside… but it was just as much fun. (And far less wet.)

Sunday was a sleeping-in day. I made it to 9:30. It was also a fairly lazy day, which came under the heading of “not a bad thing.” SaraRules! and I picked up Ron and headed up to the in-laws’ for dinner. After we ate, we watched a movie called Wild Target. It was a funny romp about a hit man who’s not-s0-sure he wants to stay in the business… and the problems he has completing his last assignment. While my FIL and MIL had seen it before, none of the rest of us had. It was quite worth a viewing.

Stray Toasters

• How to Observe Memorial Day Weekend
  • Forgetting Why We Remember, courtesy of
• microkosmic, by way of

  

• Painful workarounds from computer novices
• Review: ‘Wonder Woman’ Pilot
• 100,000 People (Including Princess Leia) Still Recieve Electoshock Therapy Each Year?
• Cleaning Up Japan’s Radioactive Mess with Blue Goo

Namaste.

Saturday – 28 May 2011
The sun is up and playing Hide and Seek among the clouds. This is good.

Last night, SaraRules! and I, along with our friends Marie and Josh, had an evening out. We had dinner at Settebello (all of us had variations of the same pizza), dessert at Capo and then attended Utah Symphony’s final concert of the 2010-11 season:

The program consisted of:

• Charles Ives – Three Places in New England
• Richard Strauss – Four Last Songs
• Igor Stravinsky – Le Sacre du printemps

I’d not heard the Ives nor the Strauss pieces before. The Ives was a chaotic and frenetic piece; it was the aural equivalent of a hurricane. Yet, in the midst of the storm, Maestro Fischer did a fantastic job of  coordinating the musicians. If Three Places in New England was the leading edge of the hurricane, Four Last Songs was the calm eye of the storm. The movements were melodic and serene. Soloist Janice Chandler Eteme‘s performance was beautiful and very well-received — very nearly the entire hall gave her a standing ovation, with three curtain calls. The program closed with La Sacre du printemps (“The Rite of Spring”), another hectic and wildly energetic piece. As the symphony played, I realized that this piece is, in my opinion, one of the musical compositions that should be experienced as a live performance.

During and after the performance, I pondered Director Fischer’s choices for the selections used in this concert. I found there to be something of a counterpoint to the selections — the upbeat and chaotic sounds of Three Places and Rite, contrasted against the mellow tones of Four Last Songs. I also came to the conclusion that ending the season with pieces as energetic as Three Places and The Rite of Spring was akin to ending the season with a very emphatic exclamation point. It closed the season on a very strong  note, so to speak — showing that even at the end of a season, Utah Symphony was able to end things with a bang.

All told, the concert was a fine finish to Maestro Fischer’s first season as Music Director and was an excellent end to Utah Symphony’s season.

Stray Toasters

• Gil Scott-Heron, Poet and Musician, Has Died
  • Poet, musician Gil Scott-Heron dies
  • In Memoriam: Gil Scott-Heron, “The People’s Poet”
• Ow. Yesterday’s workout is now having its revenge upon me.
• RSA SecurID breach linked to hacker attack on Lockheed Martin; other US military contractors may be affected
• Too Young for Kindergarten? Tide Turns Against 4-Year-Olds
  With a late October birthday, I was four when I started Kindergarten… and I think I turned out alright. Being the youngest in my class never really bothered me.
• Saudi woman wants to give women the right to drive in her country
• 

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” AND the “Only in Utah…” files comes: Headline of the Week: “Horse herpes outbreak forces rodeo queens to ride stick ponies”
• Anchor from Blackbeard’s ship raised after 293 years off North Carolina coast
  The first thing that came to mind when I read this was, “I wonder if raising the anchor has anything to do with the new Pirates movie coming out…?”
• Blue Angels commander steps down after subpar performance
• 

• A 911 Call That Can Save a Sirloin, and The Griller’s Ego
  • Goodbye Food Pyramid, Hello Dinner Plate
• The Slow, Strange Death of the Demo

Namaste.

Friday – 27 May 2011
It’s my 9/80 day off… and it’s the start of a four-day weekend. I’m good with that. I’m looking forward to a bit of downtime this weekend.

Last night, SaraRules! and I hit the local Noodles & Company for dinner, ran a few errands and then came home for a quiet evening in. I fired up the 360 and tried my hand at the CoD: Black Ops mission that’s been kicking my ass for the past little while. I finally had to look up some hints online. Same result, but I think I finally figured out what I need to do differently. (Aside from the general “not get killed” concept.)

This morning, I slept in… until 8:15. Hey, it’s later than my normal mornings, so it counts as “sleeping in.” After seeing SaraRules! off to work – and puttering around the house for a bit – I dragged my sorry carcass out of the house and into the gym for the first time in [REDACTED]! I have witnesses to prove it — I ran into ‘s dad and former coworker/current co-gamer Josh. Today’s workout consisted of:

• Elliptical: 20 mintues/Level 3/Random, pacing between 5.0 and 5.5 MPH
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 135 lbs.  (Gotta start somewhere…)
• Curls (dumbbell, seated): 3 sets/10 reps, 20 lbs
• Lateral Raises (with Flys): 2 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Shoulder Press (dumbbell): 3 sets/8 reps, 30 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/8 reps, 100 lbs

Not too bad for the first workout in a while. It’s my One Little Victory of the morning.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules! found – and sent – a link to an alternate version of Starfish and Coffee. I like it.
• Union Pacific’s Great Excursion Adventure is under way!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Tiki Barber under fire for outrageous Anne Frank comparison
• 
• 2011 Twilight Concert Series Announced
• I caught this item, Christopher Meloni responds to my SVU comic, by way of Comics Alliance yesterday. What cracked me up was the following:
  

  I got the email at work, and as soon as I read it, I said “HOLY SHIT” pretty loudly (and I then had to explain the whole thing to my boss, because you don’t get to say something like that and then say, “Oh, nothing”). First, I was excited because Christopher Meloni is totally rad (if you somehow have not seen Wet Hot American Summer, what is wrong with you?). Second, I was even more excited that Ice T had seen my comic and apparently liked it; I had assumed that if he ever saw my comic, he’d tell me to eat a hot bowl of dicks. (Thanks, Ice T, for not telling me to do that! Because I would have done it, out of respect. Respect and fear.)

  What made it curious was that the “…eat a hot bowl of dicks” part had a link attached to it. That bore investigation. The link led to was: Ice-T to Aimee Mann: ‘Eat a Hot Bowl of Dicks’, which was apparently the Twitter equivalent of a drive-by. And the account was hilarious. It almost made me want to sign up for a Twitter account. Almost.

• 
• Shore Things: 12 Essentials for Every Man’s Beach Bag
• Passenger coached to fly plane after pilot incapacitated
• When Children’s Scribbles Hide a Prison Drug
• 
• Study Questions Treatment Used in Heart Disease
• Mahna Mahna…
  (do-DO-do-do-do)

Time to find some lunch and get on with the day.

Thursday – 26 May 2011
It’s my “Technical Friday.” And, since we’re going into Memorial Day weekend, that means that this is a four-day weekend. Win.

Last night, SaraRules! and I went to Rodizio Grill for dinner. At least one of us (*raises hand*) decided to indulge in one of the Seven Deadly Sins. When we left, I was quite full. When we got home, I read the day’s four-color haul before calling it a night. (And I was still very full from dinner.)

Stray Toasters

• Roger Goodell: Time coming soon to cancel first NFL game due to lockout
• Studying the Frequency of Redaction Failures in PACER
• I should play DCUO or City tonight…
• 
• NASA to Launch New Science Mission to Asteroid in 2016
• Less Active at Work, Americans Have Packed on Pounds
• Egyptian pyramids found by infrared satellite images
• Sony expects to spend at least $171 million over breach
  • If I ran the zoo…
• Operation Seduction
• 
• Boeing considers replacing the best-selling 737
• Lawsuit claims Cisco bears blame for Falun Gong abuse
• John Edwards to Face Criminal Charges

Namaste.

Wednesday – 25 May 2011
It’s not just midweek. Nor is it just new comics day or D&D 4.0 game night…

Today is also Towel Day. (1, 2)

For those who don’t grok why a towel should have it’s own day, perhaps this will help explain it:

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitch hiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitch hiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitch hiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in “Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood who really knows where his towel is.” (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)¹

That pretty much sums it up.

Last night, SaraRules! and I ran a few errands – including setting up a baby registry at the local Babies ‘R’ Us – and then capped the evening with cups of ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery. We also (finally) got around to watching last season’s finale of NCIS… which, not so oddly, explained a few things about this past season. Go figure.

Stray Toasters

• Given that the sun was out for about seven hours before I got home, I mowed the lawn yesterday. I may have cut it a little shorter than I had originally planned… but it’s cut. And it looks much better. Now, I just need to find some time to do the edging.
• What Will Come After
• The Facts (and Fiction) of Tornadoes
• A New Approach to Railroad Switching
• USA comes up a bit short in global Better Life Index
• 
• Oh, the Stuff Those Lions Guard
• Secret Origins: Firestorm
• Google Expected to Introduce a Wireless Payment System
• This is what happens when we don’t vaccinate
• 
• The Stanford Prison Experiment
• Chrysler Pays Back Rescue Loan

Quote of the Day
“Rebar is not forgiving…”

So long and thanks for all the fish.

¹ — Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Tuesday – 24 May 2011
I think that 10,000 Maniacs said it best:

The color of the sky as far as I can see is coal grey.
Lift my head from the pillow and then fall again.
With a shiver in my bones just thinking about the weather…

“What a cold and rainy day. Where on earth is the sun hid away?”

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

Last night was a lazy night around the household. We noshed on pizza and finished the season of NCIS: Los Angeles. After that, SaraRules! watched Creepshow 2, while I surfed the Interwebs. There was a vignette in the movie, called “The Raft,” that reminded me of the ST: TNG episode “Skin of Evil.” In both, a “killer oil slick” devours/engulfs people. In doing a little – very little – research, I found that both the movie and that episode were released in 1987.

Stray Toasters

• I should listen to Hold Your Fire in its entirety today.

  

• 3 Classic Novels. 22 Minutes. Why Not?
• I like the premise behind Once Upon a Super Hero.
• Treats Without Calories? Imagine That
• Borders loses $132.3 million in second full month of bankruptcy
• 
• Lady Gaga Sales Stall Amazon Servers
• Top Ten Myths About the Brain
• From the “Whoops… my bad” file: Obama’s limo gets stuck on bump in Dublin
  If you can find it, the video is pretty amusing.
• Life’s Little Mysteries
• Gail Simone on comics, characters and Asheville
• 
• Steady Decline in Major Crime Baffles Experts
• The Human Skin Condition
• How spam works, from end to end

Namaste.

Monday – 23 May 2011
Monday. You know it’s going to be “a day” when you come in to four-hundred-sixty-five (yes, that’s “465”) emails. That is not what I consider an auspicious start to the day. Fortunately, I stopped at the local Beans & Brews for a 32-ounce cup of frozen mocha goodness… with a triple shot o’ espresso.

Last night, SaraRules! and I took my friend, Ron, to Cafe Med for dinner. I had the Turkish Yogurt Pasta and dolmas. And they were good. Unfortunately, the restaurant was out of Akbar Mashti. Instead, we hit the local Super Target, picked up a couple of flavors of ice cream and headed home. Ron and I wound up chatted into the wee hours of the morning — hence, this morning’s triple-shot-laden bit of liquid fuel. But, it was a great way to spend the evening.

Stray Toasters

• Mother Nature mocks me. Yet again. She refuses to let my lawn dry out enough to mow. Soon, I’ll need a machete – not to be confused with Machete – to mow my lawn.
• Talk Show Ends, and Oprah Moves On
• Minister not seen after apocalypse fails
• Thanks to Skott for making me think about this song… even though this isn’t the Batman movie that it was taken from:

• What I’ve Learned About Fatherhood
  • What I’ve Learned Archive
• Is Anti-White Bias a Problem?
• Automotive Black Boxes, Minus the Grey Area
• 
• Warner Bros. TV CEO on Wonder Woman’s future: ‘We haven’t given it a lot of thought.’
  • Even if it didn’t fit NBC’s lineup, I think that they could/should have tried shopping it to USA Network (you know, with that whole “Characters Welcome” thing…) or maybe even SyFy.
  • What Might Have Been: A Look at Those Wonder Woman Shorts
  • Podcast Review of the Actual Wonder Woman Pilot
• Police Seek New Ways to Defuse Tension

The show must go on…!

Namaste.

Sunday – 22 May 2011
March winds: Check.
April showers: Check.
May winds, showers, flowers and even more rain: Check.

What started as an overcast day has become a rainy day. Which would ordinarily be (more or less) fine in my book, but I was planning on mowing the yard this morning, before it takes on the aspect of a suburban jungle. (O-E-O-E-O!) So, rather than fire up the mower, SaraRules! and I had breakfast at Millcreek Eggworks and Cafe. We’re pondering a trip to the Living Traditions Festival… assuming that the rain lets up a bit.

Yesterday’s ‘Clix tourney went well. We had fifteen players, at least, we started with fifteen — two had to drop out after the first round. But, all-in-all, it was a good event. Had I checked a calendar beforehand, I would have themed the match to coincide with Armed Forces Day. *shrug* Oh, well. The next event, however, is a themed one that I’m calling “Suffragette City,” in honor of the passing of the 19th Amendment. After the tournament, Chris and I started a Green Lantern Corps/Sinestro Corps game, but didn’t get to finish it.

Last night, SaraRules! and I were invited to a farewell dinner for the Resident Artists from Utah Opera. It was a nice affair and it was good to see the RAs again before they leave for various destinations around the country… and the globe.

Stray Toasters

• As you’ve probably noticed: The world didn’t end yesterday.

  

• Lawn Care Tips from DIY Network
• The Man Who Sees With His Ears
  The first commenter pretty much nailed it on the head when he referred to Kish as a real life Daredevil.
• Women in Comics: A Roundtable about the ‘Geek Girl’ Phenomenon
• Twitter faces legal action by footballer over privacy
• My 360 has been repaired. Hallelujah.  I took it to Precision Gaming Repair, in Murray. They had it back to me in less than 24 hours – they’re local and accept drop-offs – and for what I considered to be a reasonable price. Not only did they fix the “Red Ring of Death” issue; they also stepped up the fans a bit, to keep overheating from becoming a problem again.
• Another Member of the Overpaid
• Want a Good Wonder Woman TV Show?
• Swiss energy minister to back nuclear exit-papers

Namaste.

Saturday – 21 May 2011
It’s the weekend. Amen. The sun has finally decided to put in an appearance, which is a nice change of pace.

Today is supposedly also “Rapture Day.”

Last night, we had coffee and dinner with the usual suspects… plus one. The “plus one” is a friend of mine from my second hometown. We haven’t seen each other in what we figure to be at least ten years. It was a good evening.

I was up early this morning. 7:30 early. Why? Because was kind enough to lend his time – and his Jeep – to our endeavor of getting a new bathtub. So, we were off to the local Home Depot by 8:00. A few minutes and more than “a few” dollars later, SaraRules! and I were the owners of a new bathtub.

Later today, I’m judging another HeroClix tournament for Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection. NECA/WizKids has updated some of their rules, eliminating four (4) sets of ‘Clix from “Modern Age” play. Among the casualties are a few fan-favorite pieces; I’m curious to see what choices players make for teams today.

Stray Toasters

• Ride Out the End of the World in These Bomb Shelter Homes
• Replacing Your Laptop With an iPad
• Yeah… there’s another GL trailer.

  This one can be seen before the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

• I stumbled upon this blog a little while ago. I find her writing style amusing and entertaining.
• The Federal Government Wants to Help You Name Your Kid
  • Utah Baby Namer
• NASA sting nets woman offering moon rock for $1.7M

Okay… time to get ready to face the rest of the day.

Namsaste.

Friday – 20 May 2011
It’s my working Friday. We’ll see just how much monkeydom there is to deal with today. Hopefully, it won’t be too much.

Last night, SaraRules! and I went out for dinner at Pawit’s Royale Thai. As usual, the food was delicious. Pawit came out and chatted with us for a few. After that – and a quick trip to say “Hi” to the in-laws – we headed to one of the local Home Depot stores to look at bathtubs. That’s right, we’re about to kick “Project: Renovate” into gear.

Tonight, I get to hang out with a friend of mine from home whom I haven’t seen in roughly ten years.

Stray Toasters

• After talking about the Edmund Fitzgerald yesterday, Corey sent me this link about Odyssey Marine Exploration: A Bountiful Undersea Find, Sure to Invite Debate
• Make My Bed? But You Say the World’s Ending
• Gas prices could plummet for summer driving
• 
• The Real and Fascinating Origin of the Bikini
• America’s First Monorail
  • 1943 color photo of a Topeka, Kansas train yard
• Implant Allows Paralyzed Man to Move
• I’m getting tired of all of the “event” comics series coming out.  When it was one every few years, that was fine. You had an event and it meant something. Now, it’s just “Hey! You!  Buy this mini-series… and while you’re at it, buy all of these tie-ins!” Blah.
• Deal Reached on Extension of Patriot Act
• 
• Playboy puts all 57 years of its magazines online
  But, you’ll probably just click on it for the articles…
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Yes, a Cat-Food Brand Has Created Three iPad Games for Cats
• I think that I’m going to try and fix my 360’s RRoD.  God help us both.

Namaste.