Random Access

It’s Monday night.
Dinner is in the oven; it was my night to cook.
There’s football on the TV… even though I’m not really invested in the game.

I got some shopping done today, which is a good thing.  I think that I can cover most of the other Christmas shopping online.

Stray Toasters

• Today, we received what I think is the best wedding mail we’ve received from Washington, D.C.:

  

  

• While I was out shopping, I remembered a Christmas CD that my mother has and that I’ve considered buying… but haven’t: Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration

  

  I checked at Best Buy. Nothing.
  I checked Borders… Nothing again.
  So, when I got home I looked it up. Barnes & Noble had it at one location within 60 miles: The B&N that is a couple of doors down from the Best Buy that I went to.

  ::: braincramp :::

  I just got an email saying that that don’t, in fact, have it there.

  *grblsnrkx*

  I’m still toying with the idea of heading down there to look, just in case it wasn’t where they thought it would/should be.

• T Campbell and John Waltrip have done an amazing – and funny – mashup of Disney-Marvel characters:

  
  (click image for full-sized version)

• Ranking DC Comics’ 2009 DVDs, from Great to Ghastly
• This football game – Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers – has turned into a FAR more interesting game than I expected.

And now, we’re off!

Namaste.

Monday – 14 December 2009
I’m enjoying another extended weekend Monday off. I got up when SaraRules did, to see her off to work, and then proceeded to veg on the sofa. There’s been the typical morning TV (meh) and CSI: is on now. I should get a bite to eat. And then, consider getting around to some errand-running.

Instant Replay: Football
Yesterday was a pretty good day for football action:

Detroit Lions at Baltimore Ravens
3 –48
We didn’t get to see this game, but a game with a “W” for the Ravens always makes me smile. I would have liked to have seen this game, as it appears as though Lions QB Dante Culpepper tried to put up a fight… but both Joe Flacco and Troy Smith did some decent work on the Ravens’ side of the game. Additionally, this win helps to keep the Ravens in the hunt for a Wild Card spot in the AFC playoffs.

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Washington Redskins at Oakland Raiders
34 – 13
The Raiders took one on the chin from the ‘Skins.Early in the game, it looked as though the Raiders were making a game of it, until QB Bruce Gradkowski left the game in the third quarter, after injuring both knees. Sorry, SaraRules and .

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Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars
13 – 23
This is another game I would have liked to have seen, but at least the Dolphins came away with a win.

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Cincinnati Bengals at Minnesota Vikings
10 – 30
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally. Congratulations, . Commisserations, and .

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Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots
10 – 20
The Cats dropped this one to the Pats.  *sigh*

Boilermaker Watch

• • Drew Brees and the Saints fought off the Falcons – led by former Ravens QB Chris Redman, who played one heck of a solid game – to remain undefeated. Too bad Redman was too far down the depth chart to get much playing time when he was in Baltimore; he looked solidly in control yesterday.
  • Denver QB Kyle Orton and the Broncos dropped this one to the undefeated Colts.

Stray Toasters

• Stan Lee Explains Hannukah for Digital Holiday Special
• The Facts About Bottled Water
• The Orient Express Takes Its Final Trip
• posted a link to Zoho International Artforms. Yep, Covet List.
• 
• How electricity became a right, and it that means for broadband
• I need want a new brown hat.
• Southwest thrives on policy of free checked bags
  • Trivia: Southwest trades on the NYSE under the keyword “LUV”
• The Problem With Best-of Lists

…right on to the friction of the day.

Namaste.

Sunday – 13 December 2009
Yesterday was a long and busy day…

After breakfast and a fairly lazy morning, SaraRules and I headed out to do a little Christmas shopping. Next, we stopped in to see Kate, Perry and the kids. From there…

…we went to see The Princess and the Frog (1, 2). The movie marked a return to 2-D animation by Disney Animation Studios. The movie follows Disney’s newest princess, Tiana, in her quest to achieve a dream that was inspired by her father. Tiana also holds a couple of  distinctions in Disney lore:

1. She is Disney’s first African-American princess
2. She is not a “help me, save me” princess, but more of a driven/determined young woman – much in the vein of Pocahantas or Mulan.

Let me start by saying it was a great movie. I enjoyed pretty much everything about it, from the animation to the voice casting (including Oprah?!) to the songs. The movie was set in New Orleans, in the… 20s and 30s. The animators did a good job of capturing the look and feel of the Crescent City in those days. Additionally, the animation used in a couple of Tiana’s dream sequences was also fantastic.

The movie’s dark side – provided by villain Dr. Facilier, a street con/voodoo magician – includes some scenes in which he… works his magic (sorry, couldn’t be helped)… that could be frightening to younger viewers. Dr. Facilier’s methods and motivations are reminiscent of Aladdin‘s Jafar.

The music was a fine combination of jazz, zydeco, and gospel. The different styles were used, quite effectively, to enhance the given atmosphere and attitude of specific scenes.

All-in-all, this was a fine movie and a worthy successor in Disney’s line of “Princess” movies. SaraRules made the comment: “I feel that I could let our children watch this without feeling like I just fed them a bunch of shite.” I concur.

After the movie, we headed home for a bit and then, it was time to head over to OnlyAly and ‘s for their annual “Nightmare Before Christmas” horror movie marathon.

We watched Pitch Black, The Descent and Dawn of the Dead (2004). As always, it was a fun way to spend an evening. Thanks, again, to the hosts for their hospitality.

This morning involved a good bit of sleeping in. And now… there’s football. Unfortunately, the Lions-Ravens game isn’t being aired in this market, so I’m relegated to tracking the game on NFL.com’s Game Center.

Stray Toasters

• It’s snowing. Surprise!



• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Santa Claus banned from visiting locked-up children in UK asylum detention centre
• I just saw this commercial; I like it and the message it conveys: LEGO: Build Together

• Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN adviser
• forwarded a link to My Fortress of Solitude. I think that this belongs on The Covet List. I’d love to do something like this, but I’m not sure that I could pull it off, given the types of desks that we have at work.
• Black Mesa Coffee Mug
• I looked up a little more information about The Super Hero Squad Show, specifically the voice acting talent. I was surprised and amused to note that they got Shawn Ashmore and Ray Stevenson to do the voices for Iceman and The Punisher, respectively… given that the actors portrayed those characters in live-action movies.
• went to see the Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero exhibit yesterday. I’m a tad jealous.

Namaste.

Friday – 11 December 2009
Hello, 9/80 Friday. Today’s been a good day… and it’s barely halfway over. So far, I’ve been able to sleep in (Thanks, SaraRules!); enjoyed a leisurely morning; run a couple of errands; gone shopping – with [SPOILER DELETED] at [SPOILER DELETED]; gotten to finally catch up on a few episodes of Wolverine and the X-Men… and now, it’s time for lunch.

While watching TV earlier, I decided to check out The Super Hero Squad Show (1, 2, 3) – the cartoon based on the Hasbro line of toys based on Marvel Comics characters.

I had seen part of an episode a few weeks ago. It was… entertaining. It’s definitely written with young children (5 – 10, I’d say) in mind, but there are definite nods to other aspects of the Marvel Universe in the writing, as well. Case in point: In this morning’s episode, Iron Man, Thor and the Silver Surfer were fighting Klaw, Screaming Mimi and Toad in the sewers under Superhero City. At one point, Thor hurled a barrage of lightning bolts at Toad. In a reference to X-Men (the first movie), Silver Surfer observed:

Silver Surfer: So that is what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning. What a let down.

I believe that I actually laughed out loud at that.  I may have to add it to my list of ‘toons to watch.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules and I are heading to see The Princess and the Frog tomorrow…
• …in a related note: Still Waiting for Disney’s First Black Prince
• GAP “Cheer Factory” commercials:
  • Kids commercial == cute (Adorable, actually…)
  • Twenty-somethings commercial ==  annoying.  “Hella annoying,” even.

• Artificial Intelligence reborn at MIT
• By way of my friend, Jeff:

  

• Rebuilding an Instrument by Leonardo’s Design
• Wolverine and the X-Men versus… the Age of Apocalypse?  Interesting.
• 10 Video Games to Cross Off Your Child’s Gift List
• In today’s holiday style watch: Hollywood Shop Sells Haute Couture for Santas

Time to figure out what to do with the rest of my afternoon…

Namaste.

Thursday – 10 December 2009
Hello, NBN 9/80 Thursday.  I’m looking forward to the weekend. Why? Because it’s the weekend. Duh. And it’s another extended, four-day weekend… although, I’m trying to decide if I want to flip Monday for next Friday and just extend my Christmas vacation. *shrug* We’ll see.

Last night, SaraRules had her Book Club Holiday Dinner Party; she was this year’s hostess. I’m assuming that things went well – while the ladies enjoyed dinner and chat, I holed up in the office and played City of Heroes… for the first time in nearly two months. I joined a team and ran a few missions. It was fun. I need to do that more often.

Stray Toasters

• Last night, SaraRules told me of a new blog that she’s been following: Style Rookie. In the words of the blog’s author:
  

  Tiny 13 year old dork that sits inside all day wearing awkward jackets and pretty hats. Scatters black petals on Rei Kawakubo’s doorsteps and serenades her in rap. I have no where near 4 million readers. Rather cynical and cute as a drained rat. In a sewer. Farting. And spitting out guts.

  It really is quite cute.

• By way of – the English version of Hispabrick Magazine
• Diamond announces Free Comic Book Day titles
• It’s common knowledge that I am FAR from a Cleveland Browns fan.
  By the same token, I’m not a Pittsburgh Steelers fan, either.
  I am torn as to whom I should back in tonight’s game:

1. After the Ravens’ loss on Monday, they have the same record as the Steelers; a Steelers’ loss would put us a half-game up on them.
2. The Browns are… well… the Browns.

Yeah, not an easy call to make.

• The Art of Ryan Abegglen

  

• From the “Holy cow” file: Calf with a cross on its head
• A 19th Century Mathematician Finally Proves Himself
• Top Ten Archaeology Finds: Most Viewed of 2009

And now it’s time for yet another meeting.  WOOHOO!!!!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 09 December 2009
It’s a cold (but sunny!) Comics and Sushi Wednesday in the valley. It was 9°F – that’s right… NINE degrees – when I got in the car this morning. It’s not a good sign when it is seventy degrees warmer inside your car than outside. That just ain’t right. No way. No how.

We got our wedding photos last night! Twila did an amazing job; she took over 700 pictures… and SaraRules and I think that all of them turned out really well. I posted some of the pictures on Facebook. I was thinking of making a gallery in iWeb, but it’s easier to just post a link to the album, at least for now.

A week or two ago, Paul loaned me Charlie Wilson’s War; SaraRules and I watched it last night. Neither of us really knew what to expect, but we were very entertained. The movie followed Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson and his role in the 1980s war in Afghanistan.  After the movie ended and the credits started, I saw a very familiar name – Aaron Sorkin – and the reason why the movie felt so… familiar… clicked into place: Mr. Sorkin was the creative force behind the first six seasons of The West Wing, one of my favorite shows of the past decade.

Stray Toasters

• This morning, I came to work and hung 30′ of gold Christmas garland over my desk. It amuses me and it’s gotten some favorable comments, too. Minion #1 even said that it “…looked like a little shrine to [me].” I can live with that.
• A couple of items about the upcoming Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog:
  • Do Disney Princesses Make Young Girls Obsessed with Thinness?
  • Talking Race: Disney’s Princess Tiana
• Computing for Dummies: Five Ways that N00bs Annoy Geeks
• School lunch meet doesn’t hold up to fast-food standards
• By way of and the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: U.S. Helps Frequent Fliers Make a Mint
• All Songs Considered Listeners Pick the Best Music of 2009
• 
• Why You Love This Decade’s Movie Villains
• From NPR Music: Lady Gaga: Most Fascinating of the Year?
• Grant Morrison on return of original Batman

Namaste.

Tuesday – 08 December 2009
It snowed last night. You can tell not only by the new blanket of white across the valley and the mountains, but also by how slowly – and, to some degree, courteously – people are driving. For me, this morning’s commute took a few minutes longer than normal, but for other people I know, their commutes doubled, tripled… or worse. In fact, it took on of the guys on my team just shy of two hours to get to the office – a trip that’s roughly twenty minutes for him under normal conditions.

With that in mind, the Council for Better Driving: Utah would like to remind motorists to drive carefully and to please take your time while commuting… or you could end up like this:

Instant Replay: Football

Baltimore Ravens at Green Bay Packers
14 – 24
The Ravens traveled to Green Bay to face the Packers.To call the Ravens’ first half performance “lackluster” would be a gross overstatement. They couldn’t get anything going: The run was contained. Passing lanes were locked down. The offensive line broke down often, causing QB Joe Flacco to hurry passes. On the other side of the ball, the defense had a fair showing, but couldn’t prevent the Packers from going up 17-0, going into halftime. The game turned around, somewhat, in the third quarter. The Ravens capitalized on the field position – GB 26 – after a great kickoff return by rookie CB Lardarius Webb.  Less than a minute later, LB Jarrett Johnson intercepted a pass, setting up the Ravens’ second TD… but after that, it was “All Packers, all the time.” Packers QB Aaron Rodgers led an excellent game on the offense. Rookie OLB Clay Matthews showed some pretty amazing talent – he was a constant presence in the backfield, he was solid in man-to-man coverage and his closing speed was impressive. With this loss, the Ravens drop to 6-6, along with half of the y AFC, making the race for the Wild Card an interesting – and much more muddled – one.

Coach Harbaugh, your boys just got schooled by the Packers. Big time. How does that make you feel?

Yeah, I’m kind of hurt and heart-broken, too.

Stray Toasters

• We’re meeting with our wedding photographer and getting our pictures back – or at least the CD/DVDs of them – tonight!
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: $10 an hour with 2 kids? IRS pounces
• From NPR News in Washington: A Carl Kasell Tribute
• Secret Service report details 91 breaches
• Amanda Conner’s ‘POWER GIRL’ Girl Power
• For those who haven’t heard: Threadless is having a $9 Holiday Sale
• New Execution Method Is Used in Ohio
• From the “Whoops… my bad” file:
  • TSA can’t redact documents properly, releases s00per s33kr1t operations manual
  • TSA Leaks Sensitive Airport Screening Manual
• This decade ‘warmest on record’
• Boo’s Door

Back to the grind.

Namaste.

Monday – 07 December 2009
Another week begins… and this one has snow. Or at least it will in a few hours. That’s fine. I’m indoors and plan on staying that way until evening rush hour.

Today is also the anniversary of the WWII attack on Pearl Harbor.

Yesterday was a rather lazy day. It primarily involved sleeping in, watching football and being lazy. And that was just fine in my book.

Instant Replay: Football
Yesterday was a good day for fans of gridiron action:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
6 –16
We didn’t get to see this game, but a game with a “W” for the Panther is almost always good in my book.

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Oakland Raiders at Pittsburgh Steelers
27 – 24
Yet another game that we didn’t get to see, but the Raiders beat the Steelers. Let’s go over that point again: Oakland beat Pitt. In Pitt. Raiders QB Bruce Gradkowski threw three fourth quarter touchdowns for a come-from-behind win. Congrats, SaraRules.

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Detroit Lions at Cincinnati Bengals
13 – 23
The Lions jumped out to an early lead in this one… but the Bengals came away with the win. Congrats, and .

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New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins
21 – 22
This was another game that wasn’t broadcast locally. I did catch some of the highlights, but all I needed to know is that the Fins got the win… even if only barely.

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San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns
13 – 23
The Bolts broke down the Dog Pound… but Cleveland apparently proved that their bite was almost as bad as their bite, outscoring San Diego 16 – 3 in the Fourth Quarter. Sorry, .

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Minnesota Vikings at Arizona Cardinals
17 – 30
What. Happened. Here? Where was the Brett Favre that we’ve seen in the past twelve weeks of the season? Where was the Adrian Peterson run game? And what happened to the Vikings’ defense?! I don’t have answers to those, but apparently Kurt Warner, Larry Fitzgerald and the Cards did. Sorry, .

Boilermaker Watch

• Drew Brees and the Saints tried just about everything possible to give up the game to the Washington Redskins yesterday. But, thanks to an 18-yard FG in overtime – by K Garrett Hartley, the Saints remain undefeated.
• Denver QB Kyle Orton led the Broncos to a 44- 13 win over the Chiefs.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules did a little digging and came up with a little more information about the “911 vs. 9/11” item that I posted yesterday:
  

  A copy editor changed a reference to “911 Is a Joke,” a song on “Fear of a Black Planet,” the classic 1990 rap album by Public Enemy, to “9/11 Is a Joke.”

  “The error was not the fault of Akeya, the reporter on the story, but was made during the copy-editing process. A correction was printed once the error was discovered,” Kris Coratti, director of communications at the Washington Post, told Journal-isms, referring to reporter Akeya Dickson.

  The correction was picked up on Web sites from Regret the Error to FishBowl LA to Wonkette to Gothamist.

  “Brutal,” wrote Gothamist. “The song ‘911 is a Joke’ was of course released in 1990, on the seminal Fear of a Black Planet album, approximately 11 years before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”

  With no indication of familiarity with the author of the story, Wonkette wrote, “Why WaPo Neocons Should Not Write About Hip Hop.”

  With that, I transfer yesterday’s “Wow… I’m an idiot” comment from Ms. Dickson to whomever her copy-editor is.

• DC Opens Up Earth One
• How does today’s weather make me feel?  I can sum it up in two words: Boat Drinks
• Cool Toys for Nerds, Ages 8 to 80
• 
• Virgin Galactic to Unveil Commercial Spaceship
• …and in a semi-related note: US Air Force Confirms New Stealth Aircraft
• Fox says ‘Avatar’ is costliest film it’s ever made
• Cirque du Soliel preps ‘Viva ELVIS’ show
• How Men and Women Badly Estimate Their Own Intelligence

Quote Pun of the Day
messaged me this morning with the following:

: ‘morning
Me: Howdy.  How goes?
: and…the puns start early…I just thought of the perfect present for : …catholic eclesiasitcal converse all stars…
Me: *snicker*
: nun chucks
Me: ::: rimshot :::

Namaste.

Sunday – 06 December 2009
Yesterday was a good – although cold – day. It also started to snow yesterday morning. There was snow in the forecast… but not until today. So, when I headed out, looked to the west and couldn’t see the Oquirrh Mountains, I knew that it was imminent. Ten minutes later, I was driving into it. Yay. It snowed intermittently throughout the afternoon. Nothing really accumulated, aside from on the grass/fields in some areas.

I hosted a ‘Clix tournament at Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection yesterday.  There was only one other person (besides Chris) who showed up to play. That was fine, because that meant a few things:

1. There was some word of mouth – the other player drove up… from Nephi.
2. Chris had someone to play against.
3. I didn’t have to worry about “Who won what,” as I could hand out both the first place and the Fellowship prizes.

Wayne, the guy from Nephi, wound up winning the tourney. put in an appearance; he’d been curious about both the game and the comic shop, so he thought he’d check them out. (Hopefully he had a good time hanging out.)

After the game, SaraRules and I went out to dinner and ran some errands. After that, we came home and set up the Christmas tree, while Christmas songs played on the 360. After that – and a nap, on my part – we chilled out on the couch, with hot chocolate and biscotti… and MythBusters.

Stray Toasters

• From the “Wow… I’m an idiot” file: I saw a blurb for the following item from The Washington Post:
  

  A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number.

  Wait. What? Really?  I mean…. REALLY??! Come on. They had to be kidding. I looked up the original article.  The correction was in reference to the following paragraph:

  Public Enemy has earned notoriety with more than 20 years of politically charged music about fighting the power, challenging racism and declaring that 911 was a joke. The group has joined forces with Virgin Mobile USA to combat youth homelessness as part of National Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week.

  I shared the item with SaraRules, who was as flabbergasted as I was that someone would make that mistake. Her post-shock comment was: “This is something that… two minutes… of research would have clarified. Did she ever listen to the song?! If nothing else, she could have looked at when the song was written and seen how far before [September 11^th] it was.”

  Not only that, what about an editor?! Someone should have caught it. I did a little searching of my own, to see if I could find a picture of the author; maybe she was an older woman who just had no clue. This is the picture I found:

  

  She is the young lady on the far left.
  And just for the record (and future reference) : 911 != 9/11.

• MarknTyme tossed me a link to a concept trailer for a show called Slingers. Check it out here.
• U.S. hospitals turn to G.E. for surgical cuts
• 
• From NPR Music:
  • Living Colour: Keeping the Music Alive
  • The Jazz Loft Project: Sights and Sounds
  • The 11th Annual Director’s Cuts Music Guide
    
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Custom LEGO model kit leads to tactical police response…
• …and, in a similar vein: Police U-turn on photographers and anti-terror laws
• I watched 1 vs. 100 last night – one of The Mob was an aerospace engineer… who was also a cheerleader for the Houston Texans. Talk about disparate jobs!
• Comic Book Artists Illustrate Sci-Fi Legends
• Apple acquires music service Lala
• This image…

  

  …is available as a card or a print. Click here for more information.

• Woman jailed, charged with felony camcordering after recording 4 minutes of sister’s birthday party in a movie theater

And with that, I think I’ll put on some coffee and watch a little gridiron action.

Namaste.

Friday – 04 December 2009
Another work week draws to a close.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to The Festival of Trees. When we pulled up to the convention center, the parking lot was full. Full full. As in “people looking for non-existent empty parking spaces” full. We opted not to roam around the lot; instead we parked by Kate and Perry’s and just walked over. That worked much better. Once we got in, it was camera time. I took over 150 pictures of trees, wreaths, Nativity scenes and gingerbread houses. This Nativity picture has a story:

I wasn’t really paying a lot of attention as I turned the corner past this Nativity. So when I glimpsed this king, out of the corner of my eye…

…the first thought in my head was:

“Why is he videotaping Baby Jesus?!”

After a moment, there was a brief spark, as two brain cells rubbed together to form a clue:

“Wait. They didn’t have camcorders at Christ’s birth…”

Which led me to go back and look at it more carefully. Things fell into place much better at that point. Apparently, a lady noted that I was taking pictures of Nativity scenes and told Sara and me about a collection of Nativities – from around the world – that are on display at Temple Square. I think that we’re going to try and see them in the next week or so.

And, I thought that I might actually get out of there without my superpower kicking in. No such luck: I ran into a coworker – who was volunteering at the Festival – as we were getting ready to see the quilts and gingerbread houses.

If you’re in the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area, I recommend visiting the Festival of Trees – not only is it a nice family outing, but proceeds go to benefit Primary Children’s Medical Center.  It runs from 10 AM to 10 PM, through tomorrow (Saturday, 05 Dec 09). More details can be found here.

After we got home, SaraRules put on some hot chocolate and we settled in to watch Fringe. It was a nice way to wrap up the evening.

Stray Toasters

• U.S. Veteran, 108, fights for WWI memorial
• A Computer Geek’s Smart Productivity Guide
• Bringing the Disney Magic Back in ‘Princess & the Frog‘

  

• LEGO Guitars
• Ancient Morocco adds modern amenities for tourism
• Comcast Eats NBC (infographic)

  

• Metropolis in the Old Days
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Smile Like You’re Dead Inside
• Dams Could Alter Local Weather, Cause More Rain
• Visit to the home of a steampunk houser-restorer
• Chainmail Tetris blocks

Namaste.

Thursday – 03 December 2009
Thirteen.

That’s the answer to “How many degrees (Fahrenheit) was it when I left home this morning?” Low relative humidity or not, that’s just cold.

Last night, SaraRules and I went out to do a little Christmas shopping and errand-running.  Our first stop was at Gardner Village; we picked out our 2009 Christmas ornament. From there, we headed to The Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks for dinner – SaraRules had the Philly Bleu, I had the Mushroom Pepper. Next stop: Hobby Lobby. And after that, a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden.

After we returned home, we watched Shade, a movie that SaraRules got from Netflix; excerpted from their synopsis:

A trio of grifters (Thandie Newton, Gabriel Byrne and Stuart Townsend) plots the con of a lifetime when they scheme to hustle a notorious card shark known as “The Dean.”  Jamie Foxx and Melanie Griffith co-star in this twisting tale of deception, danger and double cross.

It was a good movie, better than we expected actually. It made for a good evening’s movie watching and I’d definitely recommend it.

Workout
Wes and I made it to the gym today. The fact that I’m still sore from Tuesday’s workout didn’t help… at all:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets – 10/20/10*
• Bench Press: 3 sets/8 reps, 205 lbs/195 lbs/185 lbs
• Lat Pulldowns: 3 sets/10 reps, 100 lbs
• Side Bends (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps per side, 25 lbs
• Lateral Raises (w/ fly): 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps

Post-workout weight: 190.1 lbs

Stray Toasters

• The Council for Better Driving: Utah suggests reading this article: ‘Road Rage’ Case Highlights Cyclist vs. Driver Tension
• Malware Alert: Zeus faked as H1N1 alert
• 365DayGirl posted a link to Tabloach Productions – Barbie (et al.) doll customizations
• Steampunk assemblage glasses
• Monkeys! >.<
  
• Look Out Below! Wingsuits Pushed for Airborne Assaults
• 
• : Sorry to hear about this, no one should have to go out like this – Lewis’ career likely over after he suffers post-concussion symptoms
• NBC Universal + Comcast = NBC CEO Jeff Zucker’s Statement to Staff
• Vladamir Put ‘to think about’ presidential bid
• My Hilarious Warner Bros. Royalty Statement
• The PlayStation Turns 15: What did it mean for you?

Back to the grind…

Namaste.

Wednesday – 02 December 2009
One down, one in the chamber and two to go. Yesterday was a decent enough day, workwise. There wasn’t really any monkeydom to deal with – that always makes the day good.

Today is Sushi and No Comics Wednesday – shipments were delayed due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Maybe I’ll buy a box or two of ‘Clix to compensate for the delay.

After work (and dinner), Chris came over and we played HeroClix. Since we’re running a tournament this weekend, we decided to try a few of the new pieces in a 300-point game. After setting up the “Fountain of Asgard” map, we noted that it is not for tournament play; we went with the “Arkham Asylum” map. Chris’ team consisted of:

• Captain America
• Daredevil and
• Moondragon

I asked SaraRules to pick ten figures at random, so that I could simulate pulling a couple of sealed boosters. Of the pieces she chose, I went with:

• Moonstone
• Penance
• Star-Lord and
• Valkyrie (#012, not #055)

We maneuvered our pieces into position and started throwing punches.  There were a lot of “swings and misses” before Chris changed his dice (oddly enough, his new dice “worked”); I think that my dice got scared and decided to get on the job when they saw that. I took out Daredevil with Valkyrie… and Moondragon scored a critical hit on Penance, not only doing four points of damage to him, but also slamming him backwards – into a wall – to finish him off. After that, we traded bad dice rolls until I was finally able to pick off Cap and Moondragon. So, for the first time in months… I beat Chris.

It was good to see the new figures in action. I’ve become a big fan of the Star-Lord ‘Clix and Chris pointed out something about both the new Captain America and Daredevil figures that would make them truly painful to face in unrestricted play.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym yesterday at lunch.  We were joined by Eric, who was up in the north office for a while:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Tricep “Kickbacks”: 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs
• Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 130 lbs
• Push-ups: 3 sets/15 reps
• Core (plank): 2 sets, 30 seconds

Post-workout weight: 188.1 lbs

It’s amazing – but not entirely unexpected – how painful working out can be… after a nearly three-week absence from the gym.

Stray Toasters

• SaraRules bought a couple of boxes of Honeycomb for me a couple of months ago… right around the time I started eating Honey Nut Cheerios fairly regularly. I had something of an epiphany last night: I could take one of the boxes to work – where I keep a spoon and bowl, anyway – pick up some organic milk (which stays good for up to a month), and just have breakfast at work. I put that plan into motion this morning. So far, so good.
• Utah Symphony-Utah Opera is having a Holiday Sale.  Check it out!
• By way of Rachel: LEGO Movie Posters
• Reboot This! 10 Sci-Fi Shows Ready for Upgrade
• 
• A short while ago, I was talking with Minion #2 about the mistranslation of the “number of The Beast.” We have long been taught that the number is “666.” That’s not correct; the number is supposed to be “616.” (Sources: 1, 2, 3)

  Amusing side note: The Area Code for Grand Rapids Michigan is 616.

  Another amusing side note: Marvel Comics’ main universe is “Universe 616.”

• Madagascar unveils ‘cartoon constitution’
• sent along a picture of these shoes: Armani velvet pinstripes. I don’t think that I could swing ’em, but I’m sure that someone out there could hook them up nicely.
• From NPR: The Best Five Books to Share with Your Friends

Namaste.

Tuesday – 01 December 2009
Today is World Aids Day.

Otherwise, it’s just another “back in the grind, workin’ for The Man” kind of day. So far, it’s been a surprisingly quiet morning around here, which is far from a bad thing.

Last night was my night to make dinner. After running some errands, I finally decided on one thing I wanted to try: Homemade macaroni and cheese, based on a recipe my father used. I called him up, got the info on what I needed and headed to Whole Foods to get the fixin’s. While there, I also picked up a couple of Chicken Cordon Bleu breasts from the meat department and some salad greens. I got home, started clanging pots and pans around and a short while later, dinner was ready. The macaroni turned out well; I was glad of that, especially since I made a slight modification to the recipe. Not only that, but I think that I stumbled upon something else that I want to try the next time I make it.

Instant Replay: Football

New England Patriots at New Orleans Saints
17 – 38
The Patriots headed to the Big Easy to take on the undeafeated Saints…… and got whooped. Seriously. It was a straight up beatdown. The Saints took complete control of the game on offense and defense. Saints QB Drew Brees went 18/23, 371 yards, 5 TDs… and 0 interceptions. At one point, SaraRules asked what happened to the Saints to turn them into such a powerhouse team; I told her that I had no idea, but it made for very interesting and entertaining football-watching. On the flip side of the game, it just looked like the Patriots couldn’t get it together. The offense couldn’t pull together solid drives, after their opening run to the end zone – the Saints’ defense had their number. Solid and decisive win for the Saints and a great viewing experience for the fans… unless, of course, you were a Pats fan.

Coach Belichick, why not go over and congratulate Coach Payton and his team for their well-played game?

Come on, man… I know you wanted to take down a giant, but it just didn’t happen. You could at least try to muster a decent “Good job” face. Fake it if you have to. To quote Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook: “Bad form, Peter. Bad form.”

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to Juggling is good for you in lots of ways
• By way of comes The great iPhone death watch
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Reality show wannabes deny crashing White House dinner
• Microsoft investigates Windows 7 ‘screen of death’
• Washington State to Microsoft: Why aren’t you paying your taxes?
• By way of : ‘Predator’ Helmer Goes Retro

It’s just about time to go pick up and put down heavy things, so I’ll wrap this up.

Namaste.

Monday – 30 November 2009
“Thirty days has September, April, June and November…”

…and November’s thirty days are hours away from being up. The long weekend has been a good one… and is also hours away from being over. I didn’t really “need” to take today off, but the idea of back-to-back four-day work weeks was appealing, especially as I needed to burn some PTO. Win-Win.

Yesterday, we made it up to Park City for brunch at Cisero’s. As usual, the food was very good… as was the company. After we got back to the valley, SaraRules and I went to visit Kate, Perry and the kids – they were celebrating their second-youngest’s birthday. After that, we headed back over to SaraRules’ parents’ for dinner and football.

Instant Replay: Football

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens
17 – 20
The Ravens hosted the Steelers in their first match-up of the season. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as both QB Ben Roethlisberger and SS Troy Polamalu were out for Pitt. On one hand, I was hopeful that the Ravens could capitalize on their absence, but on the other hand, I would have liked to have seen the Steelers play at full-strength. The Steelers started third-string QB Dennis Dixon… who, prior to this game, had only thrown one pass in an NFL game. Everyone expected him to be cowed at starting in a big rivalry game. He wasn’t. He went out there and showed an amazing amount of poise and ability. The threw a TD and ran for one himself. (Did I mention that this was his second NFL game… ever?!) I’m far from a Steelers fan, but I really enjoyed watching Dixon play. The Steelers would be insane to let this kid get away. On the other side of the ball, the Steelers were as tenacious as ever. The defense played smart and solid football, not giving the Ravens a lot of opportunities to make big plays. In fact, the game went into overtime when Ravens’ K Billy Cundiff missed a 56 yard field goal that would have put the game away. (The kick was on the mark, but fell about three yards short.) The game turned when Ravens rookie LB Paul Kruger intercepted a pass and ran it back 26 yards, setting up the game-winning field goal. All-in-all, it was an excellent game, despite some sloppy play on the Ravens’ part.

Coach Harbaugh, you just beat the Steelers at home! Does that make you happy?

Um, Coach… the saying is “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” not “…look like a total spaz.” That’s okay, I think we all know what you meant.  (But you might want to work on that clapping thing, for future reference.)

Stray Toasters

• Open Letter to Hollywood: Stop Ruining Our Childhood Memories
• I recently discovered the show Build It Bigger. I like it.
• From the “Would…You…Like…To…Play…A…Game?” file: Department of Defense orders 2200 PS3s
• Thor and Avengers News Leaked?
• Interesting read: Zambia’s celebrity couple reveal wife-beating past
• Evolution of Storage
• Surprised Kitten Is Surprised

• Rusting space-marine robot toys
• everything has a season
  and only time will last
  feel the leaves falling fast behind us
  men expend their little lives so fast
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: BBC photographer prevented from shooting St. Paul’s because he might be “Al-Qaeda operative”
• Amazon.com is an evil, evil place…
• Steampunk Tales

Namaste.

Sunday – 29 November 2009

Friday afternoon, SaraRules and I went shopping. As I mentioned, I had expected most of the early-birds to be back in their respective aeries. That wasn’t the case as of the early afternoon, when we headed over to JoAnn Fabrics. I was amazed at the number of people in line to get fabric cut! If I remember correctly, there were literally about EIGHTY (80) people ahead of us! Unglaublich! Fortunately, SaraRules had the presence of mind to take a number before she started looking for fabric; I’d hate to think how much longer we would have waited had she not done that. And, we also picked up a wreath while we were there. The rest of the day and evening were rather low-key. We went to coffee and – aside from Carilyn (former coworker of mine) – were the only ones there.

SaraRules, Logan and I went to see The Blind Side yesterday. It was good. Very good, in fact. And… I have something of a confession: I’ve never really been a huge Sandra Bullock fan. I don’t mean that I dislike her – I’ve enjoyed her in other films – it’s just that she’s never really done anything that’s made me go, “Wow!” Until this movie. I actually thought,”Whoa… she can pull of depth and range beyond ‘comic actress.'” I enjoyed her portrayal of Leanne Tuohy. And, while I’m not a modern country fan, I have to give Tim McGraw props for both cleaning up nicely and doing a fine job in front of the camera, too. It was definitely “an inspirational sports movie,” but it was quite good in the way it told its story… and the fact that Michael Oher is the Ravens’ Left Tackle didn’t hurt, either.

We came back from the movie and I finished a project that I started Friday afternoon: Cleaning the office. It had been “far too long” since I had any verification that there was actually a floor in there. I set about proving that there was… and I was right! It looks about 300% better in there now.

For my final amazing feat of the day, I decided to do HeroClix mod. Like many people I wasn’t thrilled with the sculpt of the Spider-Man figure that came out in WizKids’ Secret Invasion set: The figure’s proportions weren’t right and it just looked… well… cheap. I had been toying around with some ideas and put them to work:

• Old and busted:

  

• New hotness:

While this wasn’t as much of a mod as either Winter Soldier/Captain America or Sodam Yat, it was as much fun to do as either of the others, including doing a complete repainting of the wall (including a covered-over zombie poster on the back). For a better look at what I did to make a better-looking Wall-Crawler out of Spidey, you can take a look at the before and after shots. I’m rather happy with how he turned out.

Stray Toasters

• posted a link to Super Emo Super Friends.
  (Consider the whole set as having been added to The Covet List.)
• Okay. I lied. Only one ‘Toaster, so far.  Maybe I’ll post more later.

And now, brunch at Cisero’s with SaraRules and the family!

Namaste.