Wednesday – 29 July 2009
Midweek.
It’s also Comics and Sushi Wednesday.
I got a call back from the dealership about my car late yesterday afternoon. They found the reason that the “Check Engine” light came on (a faulty Cam Shaft Position Sensor), which is a good thing. They also (FINALLY) found the source of the leak that I went in and asked about two weeks ago – you know, the one they said was the water pump – which, oddly enough wasn’t the water pump. *sigh* It was the Oil Filter Adapter. Ian, the service rep, told me how much the sensor would be… and, surprisingly, there was no sphincter tightening. Nice! Then he told me how much the adapter was. Tightening. Then I remembered how much the radiator hoses – custom parts! – were and realized that, as Freddie Mercury and Queen said:
There’s nothing you can
Nothing you can
Nothing you can do about it…
I asked SaraRules to pick me up a little early from work. I was “done.” We headed to the local Best Buy, so I could pick up the new Green Lantern: First Flight DVD. They had the single-disc version in the front display, but not the two-disc version… and there were absolutely none of the two-disc with figurine versions to be found, either.
*grblsnrkx*
Just put another nail in the coffin, why dont’cha? At that point, I was truly done. And all I wanted was to just go home. And we did. Rather than sit and fester over the state of things, IÂ turned my attention and energy to cleaning out more things from the office. Using a couple of “creative location management” techniques, I was able to get rid of two large boxes from under the office table, completely clean out one of the sections in the closet bookcase and throw away some old/unnecessary things; thus bringing order (or a semblance of it) from the chaos (of my mood).
At least it wasn’t a Thursday.
Later in the evening, SaraRules and I went to the gym:
On the way to work yesterday, we were passed by a blue VW Beetle. The first thing that occurred to me was how amusing – and thoroughly geeky – it would be if its license plate had said “KORD.” I mentioned this to MarknTyme; he said that it would have been equally good (or bad) had the plate said “REYES.”
If you got that, you know why I found it amusing.
If you didn’t get it, you’re probably better off for it.
Tuesday – 28 July 2009
Another day kicks off… with me taking my car to the dealership. The “Check Engine” light came on last night, so I figured that getting it looked at would be a good thing.
Yesterday, SaraRules and I headed to Utah County to get our engagement photos taken. I finally had the opportunity to meet Twila, our photographer; SaraRules had told me nothing but good things about her – from their first meeting and from her bridal photos. She was right. Twila was fun to work with and I’m looking forward to seeing how our shoot turned out.
Question for the movie fans out there: When you know that [BIG NEW MOVIE] is coming out, how much would you like to know about it beforehand? Do you prefer to know as little as possible, aside from a few sketchy details, or would you prefer to have a decent overview/synopsis – up to, but not necessarily including spoilers – before going in?
Last night, after dinner (and Bocce) with SaraRules’ family, we headed home to wind down the weekend. SaraRules quilted; I worked on the second story of my ‘Clix building. I think that I’ve finally determined the best way to get the top to stay in place when the first story interior isn’t being used. I’ve also discovered that I’m looking forward to making a building using the Shellendrak Manor set, which allows for less unusable/unplayable space in building interiors. While we were working away at our respective crafts, we watched I Am Legend.
Today is SysAdminDay. Â (At least, we’re celebrating it today, as people will be off on Friday – and we need something to make Monday less suck-tacular.)
Show your SysAdmin some love. Julie, our “Distinguished IT Admin,” came in with a box this morning. The box contained this:
Aww, yeah…
Stray Toasters
We’re taking our engagement photos this evening. Given our ideas for them, they will hopefully be as much fun as we are anticipating.
Sunday – 26 July 2009 SaraRules and I did a little shopping yesterday. I picked up some new gym gear and a few pairs of shorts. Later in the evening, we hung out with shockpuppet, and others for Rib Fest last night. It was a lot of fun.
This morning was a lazy sleep-in day. I woke up and picked up American Psycho again. Unfortunately, I’d forgotten where I stopped reading, so I had to go back and cover about 10 pages again. Then, it was time for breakfast and the first three eps of Wolverine and the X-Men. And then…
Workout
…SaraRules and I went to the gym for a workout:
Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
Upright Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
Sit-ups (decline): 3 sets/20 reps
Compound Row: 3 sets/12 reps, 125 lbs
Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/10 reps
Curls (dumbell, with shoulder press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
Tricep Press (T-bar): 3 sets/15 reps, 80 lbs
Lunges: 3 sets/10 reps
Core (plank, side): 3 sets/30 seconds
Weight: 184.5 lbs
Stray Toasters
Rebecca, Joe or Jim (can’t remember who pondered this with me): It does not seem as though glow sticks have made it onto the “Stuff White People Like” website or book. Yet.
In a related note, Stuff Mormons Like is my favorite parody site of the SWPL site.
I haven’t been G4‘s biggest fan since they became “G4” – I miss the… intelligence and variety, I guess… of TechTV. However, I have to give them props for their coverage of Comic-Con 2009.
After a few days with Safari, I’ve found the transition hasn’t been too bad. There are still a couple of relatively minor things that I miss from Firefox, but nothing yet to make me go kicking and screaming back to it. Yet.
First, Geoff Johns did a Legion episode of Smallville… and now he’s writing a JSA episode? Hmm…
Saturday – 25 July 2009 For some reason, it feels like a Sunday morning. I can’t really put my finger on “why,” though. It might have to do with the abbreviated work week, but I don’t think that’s it. *shrug* Oh, well… I’m not going to spend too many cycles trying to figure it out. Â Instead, I’ll enjoy the “extra” day of relaxation.
Rachel made it to town yesterday; she was stopping over on her way home to California. The s’mores brownies she’d requested were ready shortly after she arrived. Later, she, SaraRules and I went to dinner at Red Iguana; despite living in SLC for over 10 years, I had never eaten there before.  I had the Chimichanga Original with a side of Spanish Rice, both of which were very good.
After dinner, we met up with the usual suspects for Clitorati. Fortunately, sent out a message letting us know that Borders was closing early for Pioneer Day… because SaraRules and I went by Thursday evening to investigate any signs of an early closure and there were none. *shakes fist* So, when Borders closed for the evening, we headed to Barnes and Noble, instead. It was a good change of pace. It’s also a change that we might make a more regular occurrence.
This morning, SaraRules, Rachel and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of pancakes and eggs (fixed by Ms. ‘Rules). After breakfast, Rachel got back on her westward trek.
Stray Toasters
NECA Gets Wizkids (and we’re awaiting more news about the deal and what it means for the game)
Friday – 24 July 2009 It’s my 9/80 Friday.
It’s not even 8:30.
So, why am I wide awake? (written when it was still “morning” in Utah.)
Oh, well.
Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with OnlyAly, , Stephanie and Jason at MacCool’s, an Irish(-style) pub, in Foothill Village. I had been there once before, but not for dinner. I ordered the Finn’s Fries (think “nachos,” then take a left – it’s made with potatoes, rather than tortillas) for an appetizer. Holy cow… They were incredible. I had the Pub Steak for my entree. I was a bit more disappointed here: I asked for it “medium-well,” it came out “medium-rare,” or as might say: “They threatened it with the flame.” They took it back and recooked it; while it did cook through, it made the outer layers a tad tougher. All-in-all, it was a good experience and I’d definitely go back again.
The evening was spent lazily lounging around. Nothing wrong with that.
Today is also Pioneer Day in Utah. (And Missouri and California, according to one joke I’ve heard.)
Stray Toasters Stray Toasters are preceding Four-Color Coverage today. Why? Because I think that FCC may get to be “a bit” lengthy and I’m going to try using the never-seen-in-this-blog “MORE” tag. Or, for a shorter answer: “Because I can.” So, without further ado:
I received my Mac pony pegasus from Stephanie last night. It looks great. I’ll take (and post) some pictures of it later.
iGoogle now has a “Comics” themes category; a tip of the hat to for point this out to me. My home page is now decked out with a snazzy Green Lantern theme.
I stumbled across this yesterday afternoon: This wedding party entrance had the potential to be disastrous. Instead, I think it was rather cool and looked like everyone had a fun time with it:
Four-Color Coverage It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these; hopefully, I remember how it goes. Since it’s been so long, I’m also going to cover some of the highlights from the past weeks, as well. With that in mind, I’m going to use the “MORE” tag to cut the bulk of the text. Hopefully, it will work as expected…
Thursday – 23 July 2009 Welcome to NBN Thursday/Technical Friday.
Last night, SaraRules and I watched High Noon. Both of us enjoy Westerns, but neither of us had seen it. (My father was even surprised when I mentioned that I hadn’t seen it.) After dinner, we settled in to watch it. The story revolved around Will Kane, Marshall of a small town named Hadleyville. On his last day as Marshall – and the day of his wedding – he learns that Frank Miller, the man who ruined The Spirit he sent to prison five years earlier, has been freed… and is coming back to town for vengeance. Marshall Kane has to decide between leaving town with his bride or staying to take on Miller and his cronies. Both SaraRules and I agree that it was an excellent film.
I also picked up yesterday’s four-color shwag. I’m planning on writing up a comprehensive Four-Color Coverage tomorrow – it will cover the last four or five weeks – but let me just synopsize as follows:
Green Lantern #44 – Wow.
Legion of 3 Worlds #5 (of 5) – Also “wow.” I’m looking forward to the restart of Adventure Comics next month.
Power Girl #3 – Fun.
Stray Toasters
I don’t think that I mentioned that my JLU: Legion figures showed up a couple of days ago. This, of course, means that I need to rearrange shelves in the display cases.
I’ll be getting my Mac pony from Stephanie tonight.
Speaking of Stephanie, she has mentioned that she thinks that making ponies for other Corps sounds interesting. I told her that if she were to make them, I’d find them a good home.
Think about the reasons you’re here now
Think about the choices you can’t explain
Think about the reasons you’re here now
Think about the reasons you like the rain…
Wednesday – 22 July 2009 Last night, after dinner, I crashed on the sofa for about an hour. Crashed. And the fact that I made it through dinner was a feat of willpower in itself. I was that tired. After waking up, I felt better and then proceeded to just lounge around for the rest of the evening.
Chew on This: Food for Thought
In a rare – but not unprecedented – instance, Craig Ferguson had a bit of a rant last night in his… pre-monologue:
Intersting… and rather insightful, too.
Stray Toasters
I’m giving Firefox a break and taking Safari on an extended test drive. So far, so good.
SaraRules, Marci, Wes and I met at the gym for a lunchtime workout. On the way to the gym, we passed a car in which a young woman and her baby were passengers. Wes made a comment that I think is perfect for a Council for Better Driving slogan:
Tuesday – 21 July 2009
Apparently, the seventeenth fourth time is the charm. The water pump is in and things seem to be as expected.
After getting the car, SaraRules and I went out to Hobby Lobby and IKEA. Our trip to the Garden of Sweden came after learning that a sofa we were considering, Varnamo, had been discontinued; we went in search of a suitable alternative. We think that we found it in the KARLSTAD series.
Back at home, I finished up the first floor of my ‘Clix house… only to discover that the plan we’d come up with for the second floor wasn’t going to work. *sigh* Back to the literal drawing board. After moving a staircase here and a wall there, I think that things will pan out pretty well.
I just had an apostrophe epiphany. Julie and I were discussing shows we watched while growing up and (for whatever reason) Gilligan’s Island came up. We were talking about it for a minute or two when I realized: Gilligan’s Island was the Lost of the 1960s.
…and, somehow, remembering that reminded me of Gilligan’s Planet. *shiver*
Nathan just posed the question of where former NFL QB Michael Vick should go, if reinstated into the league. From there, people started tossing around suggestions of what teams he should try out for.
I tossed the Patriots name into the ring… which garnered a crusty look from Julie.
Nathan countered and said that it might actually make them a better team.
He got a crusty look, too.
James suggested that Vick and on-the-fence Brett Favre try out for the same team. (Don’t call it a comeback…)
I said that would be like the MC Hammer/Vanilla Ice tour.
Then Nathan asked if there were any teams who were based on or themed around dogs.
Julie replied, “What about the Cleveland Browns ?”
Monday – 20 July 2009
I was up far later than I should have been last night. Hopefully, the caffeine will save me. On the other hand, I managed to modify a few interior wall textures for my ‘Clix city that will give me a little more variety in my buildings.
Last night, Logan came over for dinner; SaraRules fixed chicken mole – it was good with a bit of a spicy kick. After dinner, we walked over to Target to find some updated cards for Trivial Pursuit. There were none to be found, but they had the “25th Anniversary Edition” for $30. We decided to walk to the Wal-Mart to see what they had to offer; if nothing else, we had to walk back past Target to get home, so we could always pick it up on the way back. While the Wal-Mart didn’t have 25AE, they did have the “Best of Genus” edition. And it was only $20. Win. We headed back home and played – I won, SaraRules came in 2nd, and Logan brought up the rear.
So far, the morning has been pretty quiet. Let’s hope the rest of the day follows suit.
Sunday – 19 July 2009
SaraRules and I opted for a lazy, quiet evening after our excursions. With that in mind, I did a little work on my new ‘Clix building (the ground floor now has all its walls in place) and SaraRules did some reading and did a couple of Sudoku puzzles.
After that, we watched Push, starring Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning and Djimon Hounsou. It was pretty good, actually – unfortunately, it’s being packaged with Knowing on a 2-for-1 disc… The movie follows Nick (a telekinetic) and Cassie (a precog) as they attempt to stay one step ahead of the mysterious U.S. Government agency, known only as “The Division,” in a race to find a missing telepath and the case she’s carrying. There are plenty of twists and turns in the movie and there are a couple of times when you’re not entirely sure who’s on which side. The effects are good – one of my favorites was how objects that Movers (the TKers) were manipulating would shake and waver when the person was stressed or indecisive about something. And, at least according to IMDb, there wasn’t a lot of green screen used in creating the film’s effects. All things considered, the movie was fun and wasn’t a waste of an hour-and-a-half.
Today started with sleeping in. After breakfast, we hit the gym:
On the way to the gym, my superpower kicked in: As we approached the light at 6200 South and Highland Drive, we pulled up next to ‘s father. Very random.
We also went to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. It’s been so long since I have read or listened to this book that I had forgotten a number of details about it. Fortunately, the movie did a good job of exercising my memory. The actors, comfortable in their roles, turned in excellent performances and the adaptation of the story moved the plot along nicely, while still leaving enough time to show nice bits of character development.
Saturday – 18 July 2009
After work yesterday, I headed up to hang out with the in-laws-to-be. SaraRules’ cousins (first cousin and her kids) were visiting for a few days and were there when I arrived. We all had dinner and then SaraRules and I headed off to Clitorati. When we got there Jim, Sandi and company were already waiting for us; that was a pleasant surprise.
I took my car to the dealership to get a leak looked at. I had taken it to the local Firestone last week and they said that at least part of the problem was the water pump – which I’ll get back to in a minute – but that there seemed to be something else leaking, as well – something not related to the water pump. They recommended taking it to the dealership and let the certified GM mechanics look at it. Made sense to me, so that’s what I did. I told them that there was “a leak” and asked them to check it out. While they did that, SaraRules and I went to have lunch with Perry. I got a call a short while later. Their answer: Water pump. Nothing else, just the water pump. They could install a new pump, this afternoon, for something in the $550 (USD) range.
*facepalm*
I told the rep that I’d come get the car and bring it back next week. *sigh*
<< REWIND << Back to the water pump. I’ve now taken my car to Firestone three times in the past six weeks. A lot of people might just write off the shop at that point, but I’m not. My rationale:
Trip 1: They replaced my old water pump.
Trip 2: After still seeing some leakage, they replaced a couple of bad hoses… which they missed the first time around. But, they did this on their dime… because they missed it the first time.
Trip 3: I took it back a week later. Turns out that the replacement water pump was defective. That’s when they found “Possible Leak #2” and suggested taking the car to the dealer to get fixed. Scott, the manager at the Firestone, said that they would replace the pump – even if they had to order a new one directly from Cadillac – under their warranty, because it should have been fixed the first time and because he wanted to make things right.
> PLAY >
That brings us back to today. I went back to Firestone to schedule the water pump replacement. I talked with Scott again and he said that they’ll take care of it on Monday. It looks like they may also cover the cost of having the GM dealership look at the car. On top of that, I discovered that Scott also lived in Baltimore. Not only that, not too far from where I grew up. We had a mini-homecoming right there in the store. SaraRules just laughed at us.
On a serious note: In my dealings with Firestone over the past few weeks, Scott and his team have, in my opinion, demonstrated that they want to foster good relations with their customers – They want to do the right thing and they want to be fair. I don’t think that you can really ask for much more than that from a business. So, with that in mind, I’m naming Scott and his crew at Firestone #595179as today’s Humans of the Day.
After that, SaraRules and I went to the Utah Museum of Fine Art. One exhibit features art from Southeast Asia; there are some amazing pieces in there, including some elaborately detailed ivory carvings from China. It was a nice way to spend part of the afternoon. On the way home, we stopped for a bite to eat at Dask’s.
Friday – 17 July 2009
It’s kind of odd to be at work on a Friday. Well, not entirely odd, as I do it every other Friday, but this is the first Friday that I’ve worked in a month, thanks to harmonic convergence the way that my 9/80 Fridays and the Fourth of July worked out. Fortunately, it’s most coworkers’ 9/80 day off, so it should be rather quiet around here.
Reeling by on Celluloid
I chatted with MarknTyme this morning about the Cool World/Long Kiss Goodnight Scale. I was looking for an icon to represent that scale in the same way that I use the red LEGO brick for thigns that I like. Both he and had suggested using Mega Blox, since they are a LEGO knock0ff. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a picture of a single Mega Blox (Blok?), so that became a moot point. MarknTyme then suggested a Lawn Dart. That seemed to fit better – “Aiming for the target… but just missing the mark.” So, I give you the official icon for the CW/LKG Scale: The Lawn Dart.
We also hammered out a few other points about the scale:
The standard, as put by MarknTyme, is: “…the worst movie I paid full price to see.”
It’s a “mirror” of the normal scale, with Cool World as the -10 and Long Kiss Goodnight at -1
The worse a movie is, the more darts it gets.
Regardless of whether some other movie rates a -10, Cool World will retain it’s spot as the “name” at the bottom end of the scale. It’s tradition, after all.
Allowances can/will be made to add rented movies to the scale. (I’m looking at you, The Spirit…)
And, with that out of the way…
Last night, Logan came over for dinner. While eating, we watched Krull, a movie that I’d never seen before, but that SaraRules and Logan watched – fairly often, I took it – while growing up. It was a bit dated, in terms of special effects and it didn’t have the greatest acting or dialogue, but it was still amusing and entertaining. Even more of a shock to me – no, lj user=”applevenus” , not a shocker – was to discover that the lead actor, Kenneth Marshall, later went on to portray Lt. Cmdr. Michael Eddington, an antagonist of Capt. Benjamin Sisko, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Also in the movie were a younger Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane. While this was a “fun” movie, it wasn’t a “great” movie. Thus, it gets the dubious honor of being the first movie to get darts from the CW/LKG Scale:
After Krull, we watched The Day the Earth Stood Still. No, not the Keanu “Whoa… I know alien invasions” Reeves version; we watched the 1951 classic version. It was definitely a movie of its era: Full of Cold War suspicion and platitudes about the power – and danger – of using atomic energy. It was also amusing to note the way the military “protected” the general public from the enigmatic visitor, as well: Klaatu’s spaceship landed in President’s Park, in Washington, D.C. The public, after the Army established a cordon around the ship, stood right behind the firing line. Let’s look at why this is funny to me:
Spaceship in the park. (Okay, this one isn’t funny by itself, but bear with me.)
Army forms a circle around the spaceship. (Now we’re getting somewhere…)
All weapons (small arms and heavy artillery) are pointed towards the center of the circle
The general public was standing – between 25 and 50 feet – around the perimeter of the circle.
Apparently, no one was worried about ricochets or “collateral damage.” *shrug*
All-in-all, I can see why this movie is considered a staple of “classic science fiction.” It was a good movie and kept me both entertained and engaged.
Stray Toasters
Yep. I’m a Legion fan. And, a freely-acknowledged overgrown kid. Need proof? I just ordered this.
DC Comics’ summer event, Blackest Night, kicked off on Wednesday. If it maintains the pace set by its first issue, this is going to be very good.
In a related note, a couple of months ago, asked me why I’m such a big Green Lantern fan and how I came to be one. It took me a few moments to formulate a fully-realized answer, but I came up with one:
I had read comics with Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) in them as a kid and I also remembered watching him in various incarnations of Super Friends on Saturday mornings. His power: He had a ring that could create anything that he could imagine. He had the ultimate answer in “wish fulfillment,” almost literally in the palm of his hand. Years later, I bought issues of Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, because I liked the character and the space-faring adventures.
Fast forward to 2001… Cartoon Network brought the Justice League back to the screen in animated form. The show focused on DC’s seven “big guns”: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Hawkgirl and Green Lantern. This time, however, they didn’t use Hal Jordan; they went with another Earth-based Lantern, John Stewart. As Bruce Timm put it:
He’s the most controversial character so far from what we’ve been gathering on the Internet. When the show’s lineup was first announced, there were a lot of people saying, “Why aren’t they using Hal Jordan? No, it’s got to be Guy Gardner. No, it’s got to be Kyle Rayner.†Obviously, we picked the wrong one, but the reason we did choose John Stewart are various—I think they’re all valid. Right off the bat, I’ll just say it: you know we did need ethnic diversity in the Justice League. We felt that the show is going to be seen worldwide and I think having a member of the Justice League who is not just “Mr. White Bread†is a good thing.Another reason why we chose him: literally, out of all the Green Lanterns we could have chosen, we all kind of liked the John Stewart character from the comics, especially the Denny O’Neil / Neal Adams version. When they first introduced him he was like the angry young black guy…you know, in 1969 and 1970. Even though that’s not really relevant today—like the whole Black Power movement and everything—we still wanted to keep that kind of edge and attitude with him.
And so, just in banging around ideas of what to do with him, going back to the original idea of the Green Lantern Corps—where they’re basically Lensmen [the pulp characters created by E.E. “Doc†Smith]—they’re space cops, they’re space marines. We’re like, “Okay, he’s a military guy.†And then somebody said, “Louis Gossett Jr.—An Officer and a Gentlemen.†I said, “Yeah,†and I went, “Wait a minute—Samuel L. Jackson,†and everyone went, “Yeah!†So that’s kind of who he is. He’s a real rugged, no-nonsense, barking orders kind of Green Lantern—and we love him to pieces. We love him so much [that] he’s like in almost every episode. I predict that you guys are going to love him too.
And he was right. I did… and still do. It was great to not only have a Green Lantern on the team, but to have one who was Black brought something else to the table: A role model, of sorts, for kids (and at least one or two adults I know). It was good to see someone of color portrayed on-screen with a positive influence and not just “guy on the street” or “thug of the week.” That – and the way that the character was developed in both the animated series and in comics – only helps to cement John Stewart as a favorite character of mine.
