An interesting evening

Last night I met up with a couple of my high school buddies and hit the town.

Ow.

No hitting.

Seriously, though. It was fun. We met at 21st Amendment and, for possibly the first time in history, I was the last to arrive. Given the mob that was at the bar, I was not at a disadvantage for beer consumption.

Instead, we migrated to other watering holes for a pint here and a pint there. Some delicious Guinness stew at a pub helped line the stomach and fortify us for the walk in the breezy evening to the real eye-opener for the evening: Bourbon & Branch.

I'd read about the speakeasy bars in the City, but until last night I'd never been to one.

It's a trip. A knock and a press of the buzzer at an unmarked door prompted a rather lovely young lady to ask us for the password (we didn't have one). It was early still, so she let us enter anyway.

The staff were all done up like a scene from a gangster flick. It was awesome. Nice lighting and tasteful decor matched the exquisite drinks and extremely able staff. Watching the bartenders make the drinks was like watching artists at work. I tried a "blackberry bramble" which was damn tasty but probably a bad mix with the beers I'd had earlier.

The menus had wood-carved motifs on the covers and their drink list was unbelievable. They had within the establishment's rules, which included certain rules of expected behavior (no standing at the bar... you sit or you're not there, no photos, show patience when ordering your drinks, etc.).

It was quite impressive. I'd like to go back, but I think I need to upgrade my wardrobe a bit first.

To go or not to go

I'm feeling the need to see Indy IV again, just to get an uninterrupted view and a second impression.

Do I want to take a Saturday, hit a theater, shell out an outrageous admission price, and suffer through the usual buffoons in order to scratch this itch?

I dunno. I asked one of my friends but no luck.

I can think about this over beers tonight.

I had Mongolian beef for lunch today. It's settling poorly.

Add a dash of strange

Got an email from one of my friends overseas this morning. The weird thing: the timestamp of the mail is April 4.

I've since gotten other mail from her to bring me up to speed on events. So what the hell is up with Hotmail (or my ISP) that it took nearly two months for the email to get to me?

It's just really damn weird.

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Got "The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle" #1 in the mail yesterday. Geeky joy abounded. Everything Jim Butcher touches turns to gold. "Midas" Butcher should be his name. Sounds odd, but that's how life is.
---
The "Lost" finale was last night. I haven't had time to watch much of my tape beyond confirming I got the whole two hours recorded. It will be fun viewing as I kill time between end-of-work today and drinks tonight.
---

So the next game my group has is coming up in June and I'm back in the GM's seat. What a lovely time to get hit with writer's block.

I had an outline. I really did. Then I read it and realized that I hadn't planned beyond one point that's probably going to get resolved awfully-quickly.

And I need to write this so it seques into Erik taking over for the subsequent session.

Yes, I'm whining about how complicated it is to play a role-playing game. No, wait. That's not it. I'm whining about my obsessive-compulsive disorder and my anal-retentive need to have continuity that flows properly.

Does coffee count as meds?
----
So in current news, the toilet on the International Space Station broke.

First off, why is there only one toilet on the ISS? Seriously. One? All those billions of dollars invested and they have one friggin' toilet???

Secondly, what the hell do they do in the meantime? I mean, they have to wait for a replacement to be shipped up via a Russian rocket ('cause God forbid the U.S. has a working replacement for the Space Shuttles). Bare-minimum, that's going to be a bit of a wait...
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This is kind of cool. I'd buy this.
---
I'm filled with payday joy, but May is pretty much over.

What the hell happened to this year? 2008 is almost half-gone! WTF???

Televisionaryism

Yes, I know that's not a word. I just wanted to see how it looked in print.

Looks pretty scary.

So tonight is the two-hour finale for "Lost". I feel like I'm on the far end of a yo-yo with this show. They go from utter shit to completely awesome so fast that I get dizzy. The finale is supposed to be pretty intense and off some regulars. io9 claims Emilie de Ravan is "confused" about what's up with her character, Claire. She ain't alone.

The producers are on record as saying the next two seasons will be "slower". More proof that TV execs are actually more stupid than politicans. And that's saying something.

BSG spoilers also made it on to io9. Since I'm addicted to spoilers, I read them.

If they're true, then BSG has stopped circling the toilet bowl and gotten into that handbasket. What the hell happened to that show? BSG was one of the best things on television and then it's like it suddenly melted. The show started to collapse under their mystical crap. It's a goddamn science-fiction show! What's with the portents, visions, and superstition?

Or is it that I always assumed it was a science-fiction show and I've just been wrong all this time? Alas, that's probably more-likely. It seems American sci-fi just can't get away from the superstitious bullshit.

At least on television, anyway.

Indiana Jones trivia

I discovered this by mistake:

10 Awesome Indiana Jones Facts

Indiana Jones and the Monkey King would have been awesome. Can you imagine Harrison Ford vs. Jet Li?

That would've been good times.

Short fight, but still.

JOY!!!!!

io9 has delivered fantastic news!!!

I'm so very excited!

Perhaps this is an indication of how badly I need a life? Eh. Whatever. I'm still pretty thrilled by this.

Pics 'n stuff

I finally uploaded my pics from the Carnivale parade to my Flickr account.

I managed to get a movie too:

Monkeys writing Shakespeare

Wired: Since then, have you written yourselves into any corners?

Moore: Some of that is happening right now as we wrap up the show. It's like, OK, what did that mean, exactly? How do we get out of this?

---
It's really disappointing to have Moore admit that they're making it up as they're going along with BSG.

It's not like it wasn't obvious, but still... I liked the illusion that they didn't have their heads up their collective rears.

Oh well.

Gah!

"The Wise Man's Fear", the second Patrick Rothfuss novel about Kvothe is due out April 7, 2009.

2009????

AAAH!!!!

GodDAMN it!!!!!

Lazy yawn

That was a relaxing three days.

I'm a bit surprised how relaxing it was.

Beer in Oakland with Tim on Friday, then dinner with Tim and Kaori on Saturday (followed by another wee pint or two at E.J. Phair). Carnivale parade on Sunday (followed by lunch and more beer).

There was a bit of a beer theme, overall.

In-between all this, I managed to get some grocery shopping done and cook up another batch of pasta sauce. Turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

I also finished "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. That book was utterly fantastic. I can't wait for the next book and I can't find out an ETA for it. DAMNIT!!!

Yesterday was surprisingly overcast and cool. Good jogging weather. And jogging was pretty much required with all the beer over the weekend.

Best of all? I got a lot of sleep. I think I've managed to overcome my sleep deficit. This morning wasn't nearly as brutal as I thought it would be.

It's a four-day work week, which could mean anything. Typically, short work weeks are just the same amount of work squeezed into less time, but I can hope that it's reasonably even in pace.

Friday I'll get together with Tim and Steve for a pint or two. June's looking pretty insane after this weekend.

Carnivale

So I met up with Steve and hit the Carnivale parade in the Mission this morning.

While it was almost inhumanly-difficult to get up before 9am, I managed and hit the city in a reasonable amount of time. We caught the parade with some time to spare and got to see his friends in the parade.

I took a ridiculous amount of pics. Some are okay. Some... not so much, even with the awesome camera. Such is life.

A burger, garlic fries, and beer followed. I've become a serious lightweight when two "proper pints" can make my head spin, and it has. Ah well, this is the last misbehaving I do for a while. Time to get back into the exercise-and-eat-right habit.

I'm glad tomorrow is a holiday. Sleeping in! Yay!

Smokey

Smoky?

Whatever. There's a haze in the air outside that's making me even more grateful that I drove today.

I'm re-thinking the option of running after work. Perhaps I shall slack instead.

Just picked up "Hellboy" on DVD (damn Borders and their coupons anyway). This should make up for the lack of quality TV tonight.

Pending movies

These intrigue me:

- "Babylon A.D." (Vin Diesel vs. Michelle Yeoh in a parkour fight scene? SOLD!)
- "Batman: The Dark Knight" (I mean... wow)
- "Get Smart" (the TV series was gold)
- "Hancock" (the trailer converted me)
- "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (just so surreal)
- "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" (Jet Li as a Chinese mummy? Gold)
- "Wall-E" (Pixar!)
- "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" (I feel guilty for wanting to see this)

Crimes against humanity:
- "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (George! Please stop! PLEASE!!!)
- "Step Brothers" (seriously... the trailer made my brain try to flee my skull. Will Ferrel needs to be put away)

YAY!

1. It's Friday.

2. Got mail that "The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle #1" is in the mail.

3. It's Friday.

4. Having slept on it. I still enjoyed Indy IV (and still need to see it again).

5. It's Friday.

I'm really happy it's Friday. This whole week has been strangely exhausting. Getting up in the morning has been insanely-difficult. I'm looking forward to being able to rest a bit over the weekend.

whip crack

There weren't enough of those in the movie.

I quite enjoyed "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". It was a bit fluffy but it was enjoyable enough. It was better than "The Temple of Doom" by a long shot. A bit less-awesome than the "Last Crusade" but still worth every penny.

Shia Le Bouf didn't suck. Karen Allen is still awesome beyond words. Kate Blanchett can try to use Commie-psychic-mojo on me any day. Harrison Ford will forever be Indiana Jones.

I need to see it again. I missed a part.

overload?

So I'll be very upset if I miss out on issue #1 of the "Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle" at this point.

Erik called me during lunch (shocker!) and offered to pick a copy up for me. I've got one copy on order with Badger Comics and I've got Flying Colors looking to get me a copy.

If trusty Flying Colors and Badger fail me, I'll be bummed.

Of course, they'll have a TBP (trade paper back) or similar compilation out soon enough, but still...

---
I had teriyaki chicken for lunch. I'm thinking I should've gone for the kabob.

Next time.

Indy? Why does the floor... move?

I'm a little jazzed about the movie, even despite all the crap it's getting on io9.

It's making it a bit hard to focus.

Well that's a bit of a bother

Between picking up my car from the shop and visiting my grandmother, I managed to pick up comics in combo with a gas run (gas is quite cheaper inland).

Thanks to a head's up from Erik, I was able to get the second "Dresden Files" comic book.

Alas for me, the first one is sold out. Completely. I did a search at home and found out that the distributor sold out.

Ouch.

Thankfully, Google did not fail me and I was able to find some place in Michigan that claims to carry it.

I love the Internet. I really, really do.

It should be in the mail shortly.

---

The wind forecasts earlier in the week made it sound like the endtimes were arriving. Thank you, weather wonks.

That said, yesterday's bike ride home was decidedly lacking in fun.

This morning, the weather wonks claimed it would just be "breezy". The wind was, if anything, stronger.

I opted to drive today.

---

Steve dropped me a line about the "Carnival" parade in S.F. on Sunday.

Normally I wouldn't even consider getting out of bed before 9am on a Sunday. Ever. I mean, it's Sunday.

He's a persuasive bastard. I'll give him that.

So...

A few things as part of a brain dump:

- Peter Moffat is taking over "Dr. Who" from Russel Davies. This pleases me beyond words. I'm hoping for less farting aliens, fat jokes, and insipid fluff and more actual sci-fi.

I can dream.

- The wind did not manifest for today's ride in. I'm hoping the weather wonks are incorrect about this afternoon, 'cause the ride back would take me right into the wind. That's a bit more fun than I want.

- "The Name of the Wind" continues to impress me. I'm kind of glad the TV schedule sucks this week (I forgot to record "Reaper" last night... again... damn!) so I can enjoy the book properly.

Yes. I am saying that the idiot box rules my life. Bite me.

- Indy IV tomorrow. I can't help but be a little jazzed.

I am so very, very tired.

Mmm... Korean food

So for two days in a row I've had "bibimbap" for lunch (I think I spelled that correctly).

Good stuff. Fills me up, too.

Nummy.

Now I have to find some way to stay awake for the next few hours. Gah.

It's hard being me.

BSG

So a few things that I got from last Friday's BSG:

- The Colonials should have learned by now not to let Sharon carry a firearm.

- Six gets shot a lot.

- Everyone obsesses over Six, including the little half-Cylon kid.

- Tigh can override Adama and not even get a light scolding.

- Colonials are examples of Darwinism in action. They put half their military might on a Cylon base ship and their leader jaunts over for a fun-filled Cylon chat.

This, of course, does not go well.

- Apollo is as much of a tool as a politican as he was as a military wonk.

- Helo draws the worst situations in his military career.

- Gaeta sings a lot. He has to be a Cylon.

- The "Four-of-the-Final-Five" apparently don't think they know where Earth is.

- A lot of these wonks, both Cylon and human, put an awful lot of faith in visions received by people who are clearly a bit nuts.

So Battlestar Galactica begins its slow spiral around that grand toilet that signifies the series end. Per IMDB, we get some kind of mid-season break on 6/13 (no new ep this Friday either... frakkers) and then the balance of the show airs sometime in 2009.

Sadly, I can't conjure a lot of interest to care at this point. I'm more interested to see when "Reaper" comes out on DVD and counting down to "Burn Notice" on DVD.

This blows

Or, technically, it will later today.

The weather wonks predict strong winds after 5pm today and through early tomorrow morning. "Strong" is between 30 mph and 40 mph.

Whee?

Tomorrow's bike ride is clearly going to suck ass. Oh well, it will help add to the pain of my car's brake job.

No, no... I don't really need any cheese to go with my whine. Thanks for asking.

le sigh

So it's supposed to be really windy in the next couple of days. Specifically, it's supposed to be really windy tomorrow and Wednesday.

This is especially fun given that I won't have a car Wednesday and have to ride my bike that day.

I wouldn't mind except that the weather wonks were talking about 30 mph or higher winds.

That just sucks. Seriously. That's quite un-fun.

Ah well. The whole week is kind of chaotic anyway, but I don't mind. It's a lesson in being adaptable, I guess.

It was a good weekend. That will carry me through the bumpier parts of this week. Besides, it's "Indy" on Thursday (though, let's face it, that movie will probably suck).

And, best of all, three-day weekend coming up! Woo-hoo!

I'm about 132 pages into "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss.

It's very, very good.

I'm hooked. I'm not so hooked as Erik that I feel compelled to get the hardback (which I'm quite impressed by... he's not really a hardback collector... but I digress), but I love the book.

I've been quite fortunate with the recent new books tossed my way.

It would be hard to bump Jim Butcher and George R.R. Martin out of my #1 slot (I'm still fuzzy as to which author I prefer more). Steven Erikson also rocks my reading world. Rothfuss ("Name of the Wind") and Scott Lynch ("Lies of Locke Lamora") have bumped a lot of my other faves into the background. I'm inclined to say I favor them over Joe Abercrombie ("The Blade Itself" and sequels), if only because they're less-depressing.

So many books. So little time.

I am Iron Man

So I took advantage of my unexpected free Saturday and jaunted off to see a matinee of "Iron Man" after a leisurely breakfast of French Toast.

Mmm...

So before watching this movie, I'd believed "Batman Begins" to be the best superhero movie I'd ever seen.

And I'm not a huge fan of "Iron Man" from the comic books.

That said, this movie blew me away. It was outstanding! I wasn't bored a single moment. And that's saying something.

The casting, the pacing, the story, the writing... it was all brilliant!

The Big Lebowski as the villain threw me, but Bridges really carried it off. Downey was genius as Tony Stark.

And the cameo at the end... GAH!

So I blew a Borders coupon and got "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. I'm only a few pages in and enjoying it. Kudos to Erik for recommending it.

And I'm hitting "Forbidden Island" this afternoon for some tropical drink goodness.

Good times.

Events are cowards

In Neil Gaiman's "NeverWhere" novel, the protagonist observes that "events are cowards. They never come at you singly, but rather wait and come at you en masse."

Okay, the quotes are unnecessary. I'm paraphrasing as the book isn't in front of me.

Regardless, I've noticed Gaiman's commentary is remarkably valid.

My weekends in June are filling up insanely-fast and it's barely halfway through May.

I guess I should feel flattered that I've got this much going on, but I wish I could spread this out a bit.

Then again, I like my dead weekends. I needs my sleep.

Spontaneous Human Combustion

... is making more sense to me now.

Wow. It's still rather toasty.

And it's early still.

Muy caliente

My high school Spanish is unbelievably rusty, but I do believe I've just said "very hot".

That's an apt description of today. Wow.

Apparently today blew away all sorts of records for the area.

I can't say I'm shocked. It's 77 in my apartment and the sun is setting. Gah. This is one of those rare days where I'm wishing I had central air or even one of those crappy window AC units.

I'll just settle for my trusty fan.

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday. I'm burnt out (pun semi-intended).

I'm tempted to hit Forbidden Island tomorrow. 'Tis the weather for it.

I'll have to see how tomorrow goes.

Freakin' hot

It's like a freakin' oven outside!

What the HELL?

And the damn wind is blowing like a banshee. Instead of riding my bike home in a toaster oven, I get to ride home against a giant frakking hair dryer.

Ah well. Could be worse. Could be inland...

yikes

It was warm biking in this morning. Very warm.

Warm enough that I probably didn't need the jacket I wore.

That does not bode well for when the sun rises today. Gonna be a hot one. Oh well, at least I don't live inland where the temps are supposed to hit three digits.

That would suck.

Warm weather

It's quite pleasant outside right now.

I had a quick, nice lunch of sushi and took a walk.

Damn, but it's nice. It was difficult to return to the office.

And now I have to focus on the stuff I'm paid to do. Oh, the humanity!

I really want to be under an umbrella at a beach with a cold beer or a mai tai.

sigh

and there we go

I went to my office softball game last night and was surprised to find I was cold. I probably shouldn't be surprised, but damn...

And this morning's bike ride in was positively balmy. WTF?

Erik appears to have succumbed to illness, so no game in May. Poor guy. Sucks to be sick when the heat spikes.

So maybe I'll attempt to see "Iron Man" this weekend after all.

Decisions, decisions.

It burns ussss!!!!

I can feel it getting a mite warm outside. Seems like the weather wonks may be correct about a pending heat wave a'comin'.

Figures.

Ah well. Good thing my office dress code is relaxed. So long as we're wearing some kind of footwear, we're good, at least in my department.

So the rest of the week is looking a great deal like shorts weather.

I love my job.

This actually works out pretty well with the whole "ride your bike to work day" stuff going around. It's easier to get my lazy arse out the door on the bike if the weather is warmer.

But the dayball.

It burns us!

Hissss!!!!

Huh

I'd forgotten stuff about "The Black Hole".

Mainly I forgot the cheesy 80's intro. Still cool, though.

It was a bit annoying to have to sit through the main suite with a static screen before seeing any of the actual movie. Ah well. Stupid Disney.

My ADD prohibits me from taking in the entire movie in one sitting. I'm feeling oddly restless today. Dunno why.

Oh wait. ADD. Yeah. I knew that.

I got around to downloading my pics from the Kaboom party.

They came out pretty well. Only one really crappy pic that I didn't even bother to upload.

The Flickr uploader acted weird so I have duplicates appearing randomly, but I think I bumped most of 'em off.

Marc handed off more Naruto and Bleach to me. Joy! Sweet anime goodness.

Erik's latest blog post hints at possible illness, so I guess I should consider a "plan B" for Saturday. Maybe I'll finally see "Iron Man" if the game goes south.

Eh. I'll worry about it if it happens.

Another week begins

Nothing says awesome like coming back to the office on a Monday morning and having a package from Amazon.

"Army of Darkness" on DVD. Yes!

And on a truly random whim, I got "The Black Hole" (the Disney flick) on DVD as well. I have no idea what prompted me to get those movies, but there you are.

Good lord. It's nearly halfway through May already. What the hell happened this year? It feels like it was January just yesterday.

Of course the unseasonably cool weather probably has something to do with that. The weather wonks claim we're getting hit with a heat wave as soon as tomorrow. A sudden spike in hot temps does not fill me with joy, but alas, I was not consulted by Mother Nature on what lies ahead.

Probably revenge for my claim yesterday that dry winters tend to give us cool summers.

Damn you, ironic universe!

So Steve's final Kaboom party along the Embarcadero was quite enjoyable. It was a solid nerd-crowd of gaming developers and Second Lifers, for the most part. I passingly knew about half of the party's crowd. I was more than a little surprised to meet someone among Steve's co-workers who is associated with my friend Vicky, formerly from my company.

Small world indeed.

And Mother's Day went quite well. I love living in the 21st century when Amazon gift certificates satisfy. I was able to perfect the brownie recipe in this "all edges" pan and present it as part of dessert for everyone.

Mmm... brownies.

---

Friday's sci-fi offerings were tolerable. I'm still enjoying the "Sarah Jane Adventures" even though they're very much kiddie-fare. The "Dr. Who" episode entitled "The Planet of the Ood" wasn't as preachy as I'd feared. The Doctor's latest companion, Donna Noble, isn't as screechingly annoying as I'd feared. Overall I'm enjoying this season a lot.

And then there's BSG.

I found Friday's BSG a tad lackluster. I find the scattered portrayal of Starbuck more than a little irritating this season. Who the hell would follow such an obvious crazy person? And some of the decisions they made... I mean who would seriously risk an injured man's leg getting amputated just to risk meeting and making a tenuous alliance with the fuckers who nearly annihilated humanity?

When the Cylon woman is saying "this is a bad idea", it should've been a tipoff. And the writers had her just randomly jump over to volunteer to help Starbuck... gah!

It's like the BSG writers are dropping a lot of acid now. The character motivations don't make any sense anymore.

Saddens me.

---

This coming weekend is our next game, this time at Chez Erik. It's nice to have something to look forward to.

That reminds me. I must load up on the allergy drugs.

Aaah... Zachary's

Best 'za I've ever had.

And that pretty much does it for me for the immediate future. It was delish, but the powers on-high have spoken. I gotta keep away from the yummy stuff.

Getting old sucks.

'Za!!!

Aaah... stuff done.

While I await news, I treated myself to what was possibly the most magnificent breakfast ever.

Soon... Zachary's.

Mmm....

Yes. I'm food-fixated.

I'm comfortable with that.

Chez Panisse

Has GREAT lunches.

Just sayin'.

Aaah...

This week has been utterly insane.

My company had its major software release on Tuesday. That essentially meant that Tuesday was non-stop patching of information wounds all over the place. I think I was pretty much spinning around from 5am 'till about 3pm and still had stuff to do yesterday.

It's nice to feel needed. It would have been nicer if I hadn't been savagely brutalized by allergies.

Now everything's out-the-door and the celebrations begin.

The allergy meds have the annoying side-effect of making me really hungry, in addition to all the other fun things they do. So yesterday, I was starving. I decided I wanted pasta (something filling but not likely to jack up my cholesterol and all that fun stuff). So I had an impromptu lunch at Pasta Pomodoro and talked one of my co-workers into walking over to share lunch.

Pasta is the best food on Earth.

Just sayin'.

So today my department has our department lunch. I'm not supposed to say where we're going but suffice it to say... it's really nice.

My manager is the best ever.

No exaggeration.

After that we'll come back to the office and the company is having an ice cream social to celebrate the release.

Yes. Ice cream.

I love working here. I'd probably be happier if I weren't lactose intolerant.

I'm taking tomorrow off to deal with appointments. I've decided to personally celebrate the release and other things by having dinner at Zachary's.

Zachary's Pizza... oh how I've missed ye.

I can't wait.

Then it's the Kaboom party on Saturday and Mother's Day on Sunday.

Non-stop celebrations! Woo-hoo!

Now I'm hungry.

Endtimes?

I admit I'm a bit sketchy about watching most television. If it's not action-driven or sci-fi-ish, I'm probably not going to be into it.

That said, I find myself startled when I look at IMDB's television listings and see shows called "Wife Swap" and "Supernanny".

And they've apparently been on for a while.

What the hell?

I can't figure out if this is one of the reasons why the average American has the comprehensive skills of a fifth grader or if this is just a result of average Americans being so... ah... challenged.

Boggles the mind.

---

I don't know exactly what's blooming or filling the air right now, but sweet mother of mercy are my allergies killing me. I usually shun allergy drugs because I've developed a resistance to them in the past and I want to save them for when my allergies are really bad.

I'm loaded on drugs right now.

I'm taking Friday off to deal with personal stuff. I can't wait to be able to sleep in.

Red Seas Under Red Skies

I finished "Red Seas Under Red Skies" on Sunday.

An excellent book. It slowed a little bit in the middle but it picked up again very quickly.

The story took several unexpected turns. There were a couple of "WTF?" moments followed by exclamations of "oh you did NOT do that!".

Yeah. My neighbors love me. They really do.

Since "Red Seas" was in hardback, I suspect that means Lynch's next book is not even close to publication.

Damnit!

What's with the blog?

Um... I dunno. It was an accident, for the most part. I needed to create it to accomplish a snarky task and decided to do some brain dumps to stave off boredom.

So for now, it's an exercise. When I get bored with this, I'll probably delete it.

Until then, I intend to blab about whatever comes to mind. And on that topic:

Dr. Who in Pompeii. Kind of an interesting episode, to my surprise. I quite enjoyed it. It certainly topped the season opener with the "alien fat babies", although that's not saying much.

BSG seemed to be filler stuff this time around. Nothing substantive happened. A lot of unnecessary buildup and drama. I'm getting a little tired of some of the storylines, actually. The writers are clearly getting lazy or burned-out.

- Starbuck is obviously crazy so let's stand around and let her bring a crazy Cylon aboard (this act cost me a coffee that is now owed to one of my co-workers... damn them)

- Everyone seems to be conveniently forgetting that "Athena"-Sharon is also a Cylon. Shouldn't... I dunno... people listen to her opinion or comment on her Cylon-ness? Just a thought.

- Baltar amuses me but I still think someone needs to riddle him with bullets.

- The "Final Four" Cylons are individually such a bunch of crackheads that it's a wonder the Cylons actually took down the 12 Colonies.

I have to admit I'm finding myself disenchanted with BSG after having watched this episode. You'd think that with the show ending they'd try to spend more time ramping up main storyline stuff and concluding things instead of taking side-trips down crazy-people lane.

I guess I expect too much from my TV shows.

Port Costa

So I went to scenic Crockett and Port Costa for some drinks with the unnamed and some friends.

A good time was had by all.

The Nantucket in Crockett is a neat little place by the water with cheerful staff and Full Sail on draft. Mmm... Two pitchers of Full Sail were a good start to the evening as we watched the sun set, the cargo ships go by, and studied the various boats in dock to wonder what kind of creepy stuff could be going on in them.

I wouldn't have wanted to do that speculation after sunset. Brrr.

We migrated on to Port Costa to hit the Warehouse Bar.

Words fail me at how awesome that bar is. So I took pictures.

The beer selection at the Warehouse Bar is unbelievable. Their beer menu is unreal! The bartender was an amusing fellow who was also kind enough to give us a tour of the walk-in cooler where the billions of beer were stored.

It was like beer heaven!

I kind of wish I hadn't had so much Full Sail at the Nantucket. It would have afforded me more room for the other beers.

Then again... Full Sail on tap. Mmmm...

It was quiet there, so we pretty much dominated the bar scene. The others programmed the juke box with music that was alternately awesome and terrifying. Apparently there's a biker convention arriving today that will number in the hundreds.

Glad we went last night.

The ride out was a long, windy, dark road with axe-murderer, creepy children, and hungry animals lurking in every imaginary shadow.

Good times.

Adventures in bicycling

So I've been good and ridden my bike to work every day of the week.

It's not really a bad ride. I set out in the wee-hours of the morning before the sun has roused from its cozy bed and had that first cup of sweet, sweet coffee.

At that time, the normally-busy city streets of the Berzerkely area are navicable so it's pretty much a straight shot in.

It's dark, but I have a pretty bright lamp on my bike and the city streets are lit so I don't have problems.

I also have a rule: once I start I don't stop for anything short of a moving vehicle. Period.

There's a reason for this: freaks.

If you're not familiar with the Berkeley area, it has its fair share of nutcases walking about. They really like walking about at all hours and in all kinds of weather. I see a fair number of them on my bike ride in.

Many try to stop me (and other folks moving about in the wee hours) for conversation or whatever.

I don't stop unless I hit an intersection where I have no real choice. There's just nothing to be gained from it.

This morning I was just about to cross out of Berkeley's city boundaries into Emeryville's borders when I hit a red light and had to stop because of opposing traffic. Stopped next to me at the light was some random guy on a bike.

It's 5-something in the morning. I have exactly one cup of coffee in me. I'm not making eye contact.

So what does this guy do? Starts chatting at me. At first I thought he was coherent, but he rapidly stopped being coherent.

The light changed colors and I was pretty much gone like a shot. He followed me for three blocks, but I've gotten familiar with the E'ville streets and either I lost him or he found something else to do.

Good times.

While it's nice for physical fitness, this ride does have its fair share of tweaky moments. I've been stopped by police three times while on my bike, had random pedestrians try to flag me down (or grab me off my bike... whee!) and I've been solicited at least twice.

I need to buy that "Flypaper for Freaks" t-shirt.

Friday

Woke up grouchy for no good reason I can think of.

Tonight's adventures will involve a trek to scenic Port Costa. Where is Port Costa, you ask? Well, it's described here and here.

Why am I going to Port Costa?

Apparently there's a very interesting bar there known as the "Warehouse Cafe" which is set in a... wait for it... warehouse.

Port Costa has a rough population of 232 people and it has a Wikipedia article. WTF??

Tonight's gonna be weird.

Interestingly enough the Wikipedia article links off to all sorts of random stuff I didn't know about the area. I had no idea eastern Contra Costa County had so many ghost towns.

Might make for an interesting day trek at some point.

I keep meaning to hit the Black Diamond Mines. Rumor has it that it's haunted. There's also supposed to be some kind of old Native American artwork cave on EBMUD lands near Mt. Diablo.

Adventures for the future, I suppose.

Borders coupons

So it's dangerous to be so close to a Borders books and get those damn coupons. Combine that with my poor impulse-control and I wind up buying stuff.

Case-in-point: the local Borders has some eps of the classic "Dr. Who" on DVD. With these coupons, they're almost affordable.

I used to have tons of the Jon Pertwee, Tom Backer, Peter Davison (shudder), Colin Baker, and even Sylvester McCoy eps on VHS thanks to PBS broadcasts. I never really got to watch any of the old Patrick Troughton eps, save at sci-fi cons.

So I managed to pick up an old Cybermen classic of the Troughton era: "The Invasion"

I'm a bit jazzed. I don't mind sayin' it.

---

I just got invited to an outing of some sort in June. I don't think it's a bridal shower. Is it a bachelorette party? If so, why am I invited? Eh, in any event, I'm going to a friend's wedding on June 7 and have been invited to an outing earlier that week that involves Sake bombs (or so the evite says).

And it's on a Tuesday night.

Gah!

I loves my sake, but on a school night? Ye gods.

Oh wow. I re-read the invite. It's in friggin' Palo Alto. No... that's not happening.
---

It's May already. What the hell happened?

Cylons

... will not be discussed in this post. I don't give a rat's arse who the last Cylon is.

This makes my eyes burn, but in a good way.

Tonight's the next installment of "Lost". With this latest season, they've got me hooked again, the bastards. io9 has an interesting post where the producers "graded" some of the theories. If they're not yanking fan-chains, I could find a glimmer of hope that they know what they're doing with this show.

Damn hope.

I'm mildly-surprised that I don't have a hangover this morning. I had three drinks last night that weren't weak. Sure I had plenty of water and was peachy-keen when I left "Forbidden Island", but still...

Ah well. Good times.