Brainsplatterfest

I love reading the more bizarre spammy comments random people post.

I love deleting them even more. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

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Some mornings I really should listen to the little voice in the back of my head that drowns out the other, louder, voices and tells me to just stay in bed (after calling in sick to the office, of course).

I always regret it when I don't listen to that little voice.

Damnit.

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Shipping is just a weird process.

I've gotten packages (using comparable shipping methods) from the UK, Hong Kong, and the domestic U.S. It boggles my mind that I've got a domestic package that's taking more than two weeks to get here and I've already received packages from other countries.

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I can't believe it's September tomorrow.

Gettin' the pimp suit on

The Internets, in their grand and vile intention to exploit my weak nature, pointed me to a fascinating site in the glorious United Kingdom: A Touch of Ginger

Fascinating site. At first I thought it was some redhead thing (I guess our British cousins refer to redheads as "gingers").

Then I saw what they actually sell.

Check this out! A stainless-steel, credit-card-shaped bottle opener!

A Fish and Chips tool! (I dislike fish and would never consider using utensils to eat fries, but the concept is clever)

And their Urban Kits are just a bunch of pure win. I mean look at these little babies! Bike Ride kits! Flightbag kits! Dirty Stop Out kits! What the hell is a "dirty stop out"?

Seriously. Is that some kind of British slang? It must be.

Whatever works.

The sheer variety of kits they offer is just evidence of epic genius.

Observations

Claim: There are few things I enjoy more than bicycling in the wind in the early hours of the morning.

No, wait. That's a lie. I hate bicycling in the wind. Hate it.

Claim: I love moving all my junk to a new desk then cleaning up my old one.

Again, that's really just a great big lie.

Claim: I love edits.

Mixed lie. I hate seeing things I've done wrong, but I do like that someone caught it.

Claim: The Internet is my friend.

Utter and complete lie. The amount of money I've spent... oh god... why go there?

Claim: I excel at time management.

I really don't. That's so beyond a lie that it may actually have caused a bajillion angels to moult.

Who now?

I've re-watched "Let's Kill Hitler" for a total of two viewings.

I'm having problems with this.

Spoilers:

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You were warned.

Okay, so first of all: Melody Pond regenerates in 1969. She somehow then jaunts forward in time to the 1990s where she grows up in tandem with her future parents: Amy and Rory. She even gets them together.

Yet River has cautioned in the past of the dangers of interacting with one's own timeline. So... um... paradox...

And the regeneration things. So she's essentially just a Time Lady now? Except that she's not. Y'know. 'Cause she gave it up. To save the Doctor.

How the hell does poison lipstick work, anyway? Wouldn't the poison affect the person wearing it as well?

And what the hell kind of poison suspends a Time Lord's regeneration powers? I mean, if the Time War wiped out Gallifrey and the Time Lords - a secretive people to begin with - how the HELL does everyone seem to know so much about their technology and abilities?

How did the mini-people have so much accurate data on the Doctor? I mean, I get that some folks might know the TARDIS is a Type 40 TT, but how does anyone know it was stolen? The Doctor is cagey at best on that story.

And since apparently the Silence and the mini-people can time travel, why does ANYONE care about the Doctor? I mean, if everyone and Bob can time travel, what makes the Doctor and the TARDIS so special?

Why bother cooking up a Time Lady child (in the form of Melody Pond) if you can already time travel? What would be the point?

And the Doctor's got a half-hour of agony to live. He changes into a tux? Wha? And suddenly he's got a sonic cane? Really, they're just placing more toys now?

River Song's become WAY too "Mary Sue" for my tastes. She was an okay plot device once or twice, but she long ago crossed into "bugging me" territory. It was a nice twist that she's Amy and Rory's kid, but she can learn to fly the TARDIS in a few seconds interaction with the machine? She can throw regeneration blasts?

The whole story around her is so goddamn muddled now that it's become just one giant, epic, jump over a shark. And it bugs me.

The Moff is starting to lose me. Saddens me to write those words.

Is there a Doctor in the...?

Just saw "Let's Kill Hitler".

I'm processing this one.

It's not what I expected.

And I'm okay with that, really.

Beyond that, I'm disinclined to comment at the moment, as that may provide spoilers.

Living in a "First World" nation

California is considered as "First World" as they come. We've got lots of food, clean water, and all that fun stuff. We've got technology up the wazoo. Compared to most of the world, we're doing pretty damn well. Depending on who you ask, we stand at roughly 7 or 8 in the world economy with the rest of the U.S. set aside.

So I find myself surprised at how often my neighborhood loses power.

In the Bay Area, we've got Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) as the monopoly that provides power to most cities. Some cities (the island of Alameda, for example) have their own municipal utility district to handle their power needs. For the rest of us lucky schmucks, we get PG&E with its spectacular service record.

They're so awesome, Julia Roberts starred in a movie about them.

On average, my 'hood loses power four or five times a year.

A year.

Without fail.

The outage can go from a few blocks to two or three cities. We're in a population-dense area here around the Bay, so that's a lot of people affected.

You'd think with a record like that, a utility company responsible for providing utilities to one of the most populated parts of the United States would fix the goddamn problem.

I mean, it's got to be expensive to send out repair crews to fix the same goddamn problem four or five times a year.

Apparently not.

Quake and Quake 2

No, this has nothing to do with videogames.

Yes, I thought the title was clever. I'm also running on one cup of coffee right now, so cut me some slack.

By this point, most folks know about the east coast earthquake here in the states. It's a tad unusual for Virginia to get hit with a 'quake. A 5.8 (or 5.9, depending on the source). I'm going with 5.8 'cause that's what the USGS says and as a good Californian, I go to them for info.

As a Californian, it's easy to scoff at a 5.8. That's an appreciable shaker, but not really in the category of badass. Our buildings out here are (in theory) built to handle 5.8 quakes with only the barest mention.

I usually don't pay any more than the most fleeting attention to anything under a 5.0, as a general rule.

So when we got a little jolt of our own last night, I have to say I paid it only the most cursory attention.

I think I was sound asleep, actually. The window rattled. It woke me up. I recall thinking "huh. Quake." Then I rolled over and promptly fell back into a surreal dream involving laser-umbrellas, zip-lines to tree houses, and flying over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Don't ask. I suspect I shouldn't have had that spicy chicken sandwich for dinner.

I just find it funny that the 3.6 quake here has gotten all that much attention. I mean, it's neat that it happened the same day as the east coast quake, but it's a freakin' 3.6!

I have a buddy who farts stronger than that after a hearty meal (I'M LOOKIN' AT YOU, T!)

The east coasters aren't used to getting quakes, and honestly, why should they? They already have enough troubles. I mean they've got humid summers, hurricanes, freezing winters, Congress, and Florida. Hell, they even get tornadoes sometimes.

Adding earthquakes to that pile is just being cruel.

East coast peeps, I feel genuine sympathy that you guys had to experience a quake. It must have been scary and disorienting. I hope that was a one-time gig for you guys. It really sucks to feel the earth shaking when you're not used to it.

You can now go back to dealing with the rest of that list. And you have my sympathies for having Florida. Really.

More on that space battleship

I need to sleep on a movie before blabbing about it.

So... Space Battleship Yamato...

This film was released in Japan in early 2010. The initial trailers were pretty awesome. Epic space battles and all that fun stuff.

The trailers did the movie justice.

The premise of the movie... (could be spoiler-ish if you've never seen the anime)

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It's the 22nd century. Earth has developed space travel within the solar system. That's when an alien race comes along and bombs the human race beyond the stone age with "meteor bombs".

The meteor bombs make the Earth's surface unable to sustain life thanks to radiation and all that fun stuff. Earth has gone from green/blue to very Martian-red.

Ecologists and biologists are, by this point, having aneurysms, but I digress.

Earth's remaining space fleet is getting its ass kicked by the much superior aliens. Then, in true deus ex machina fashion, a message/probe from a far-away alien world comes to Earth. It contains schematics for a faster-than-light propulsion method for spaceships, a superior energy system, and coordinates.

So the Earth survivors (who apparently are all Japanese... the rest of us got obliterated, I suppose) convert the World War II battleship Yamato (the one the U.S. forces sunk in 1945) into a space cruiser. They use the new technology to beef up the weapons and include a super-cannon in the nose of the battleship that they call the "wave-motion" gun. It's essentially an unstoppable death ray that causes a horrible drain on the ship's energy supply.

So the Yamato takes off and experiments with this faster-than-light drive to try to get to this alien world and secure a magic technology that will restore the Earth.

The crew includes:

* Captain Okita, a grizzled veteran of past battles with the hostile aliens
* Susumu Kodai, the young, dashing, hero. He's an ace pilot, brash leader, etc. etc.
* Yuki Mori, the love interest for Kodai.

And there's others, but really they're all subordinate roles.

In the American release of the anime, all these characters had "Americanized" names but that's really not relevant here.

So the film starts with space battles. There's the obligatory obtaining the message/technology from the distant world (called "Iskandar") then getting the crew together and blasting off in the Yamato to fight through the aliens.

There's the introduction of the characters. There's character drama. There's more battles. There's... um... more character drama. There's a romance in there. There's lots of alien battles.

There's a shitload of people getting blasted.

There's a lot of explosions. Y'know, 'cause of the battles.

I'm not going to spoil with details. None of this is shocking if you know anything about the series at all.

The film does not follow the anime precisely. There's a LOT of corny, cliche-ridden junk in this.

And it works. Oh, does it work.

This is not Shakespeare and it's not meant to be. This is a space opera in the grand fashion of space operas. It's not supposed to have great acting. It's supposed to have over-acting stuff where men are manly men, aliens are aliens, and spaceships are spaceships (and all that stuff).

It's cheesy. Oh god is it cheesy. It is soaked in cheese then sprinkled with nacho cheese for more cheesy flavor.

For all that, the film-makers actually succeed. It's not injected with any artificial gravitas or depth. It's a fun, ridiculous, over-the-top movie.

They should have released it in the U.S. in general release.

We're off to Outer Space

Space Battleship Yamato, the 2010 movie based on what Americans of my age once watched as "Star Blazers", back in the day.

It's out on DVD now.

I got my copy today. It's a Hong Kong version with English subtitles.

This movie is beyond awesome.

This. This right here. This kind of movie is the kind of adventure-science fiction we need these days. Great space battles. Cheesy heroes. Cliches up the exhaust tube.

Hollywood? You bunch of useless dorks! You need to watch this and make stuff like this!

People Suck

Some jackass stole the blade for my car's rear windshield wiper.

What kind of fucking piece of shit steals a windshield wiper blade?

I am inclined to break something important off of said thief should I ever discover the identity of said turd-filled meatsack.

Soapboxing

Okay, for some reason that defies logic, 170 people from the U.S. actually read or have viewed this blog.

You lot! Pay attention for a moment.

Look at Demand Progress's information on the "PROTECT IP" act that may well have a very solid impact on your web browsing and interactions with your ISP.

It's my not-so-humble opinion that this sort of legislation is, at best, ill-considered.

Might not be a bad idea to let your Congresspeeps know they ought to oppose this.

Yes, I know the current Congress has the collective IQ of a radish. Contact 'em anyway. They might even listen...

Credit Where Credit is Due

It's amazing the proliferation of credit-card tool thingies out these days.

Case in point:

The CardSharp utility knife
The Eon Extreme Flashlight
The Carzor

There's other credit-card shaped things out there or tools to re-utilize credit cards.

I can't speak to many of such items, but the CardSharp, Eon Extreme, and Carzor are all items I couldn't resist acquiring.

The CardSharp is the first of the lot I went for. I've mentioned it in prior posts. It's still a neat little construct. Sharp little thing too. The one issue is that I have to remember to take it out of my wallet when I go to the airport or court or somesuch place where they're not keen on sharp objects in one's possession.

The Eon Extreme was the second of the lot that I obtained. I've similarly mentioned it. A few months have passed and my opinion of the Eon Extreme has changed a bit. The concept is really solid and the light is really damn bright, but the construction is a bit shoddy in parts. The case is aluminum that's glued on. When I first got the Eon Extreme, I had some problems with the activation button sticking on its highest setting (and causing the light to heat up a great deal). I later had problems as the glue gave way on one edge, exposing the insides. I had to re-glue the errant edge and then, for added security, I wrapped that edge in black electrical tape. Recently (in the past week or two) the light has demonstrated another problem: when I click on the highest (230 lumens) setting, the light shows super-bright for about 2 to 3 seconds, then it flickers and shifts down to the lower setting. The lower setting remains unaffected.

A bit of an irritation, really. I've asked the company for insight on how this could be fixed, but have yet to receive a reply.

Finally, I received my Carzor late yesterday. It's a fascinating little construct. It breaks out into two pieces: a razor and a U-shaped scratch-resistant mirror. Embedded in the U-frame are two razor cartridges. A third cartridge comes separately in the package.

It's a neat idea. I haven't tried to insert the cartridges yet and shave. I reserve judgment until I've managed that, but in terms of design, it's a cool little doodad.

Buffy the Exorcist Sla... no wait...

The Bible-thumper brigade has upped it to the next level.

That's right: teenage girl exorcist squads.

On the plus side, they hate "Twilight". On the minus side, they also hate "Harry Potter".

I'm curious where they stand on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

Oh, and they're from Arizona, the state where you need papers if your skin is any shade of brown. I know you find that shocking.

Apparently these girls find time for beauty pagents, horseback riding, and karate.

'Cause you may need to look good as you ride down the demon possessed and throw a roundhouse kick to the head in order to give Satan the boot. It's their way of saving the sole.

I could go on, but nobody wants that.

They're apparently getting a reality TV show. The article says the show is Canadian. I'm shocked FOX hasn't picked this idea up for local consumption.

(via io9)

Not a Simpson

Yeah, okay. BART protests.

So there was a much-ballyhooed and predicted BART protest yesterday. It shut down four stations in San Francisco.

For the uninformed, those stations were Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell, and Civic Center. If you're going into San Francisco from the East Bay, those are the first four stations you'd arrive at. They're the main destinations for tourists, shoppers, etc.

Anyone who works downtown pretty much has to use those stations to get out of the city.

And BART's police shut them down around 5:30pm in response to disruptions caused by protesters.

Where to begin?

First of all, I'm puzzled at the behavior of the protesters. They're protesting the fatal shooting of a knife-wielding man on July 3.

I wasn't present for this, but by all accounts, a guy WITH A KNIFE threatened police (and apparently threw said knife at a BART cop).

I do believe there's a good argument for self-defense in the officer's reaction. I do not believe BART police carry TASERS at this point, but I may be wrong. I really don't pay that much attention to what BART cops are carrying.

Now, I get that people are sensitive about BART cops and gunplay. Oscar Grant was shot in the back by a BART police officer while Grant was face down on the ground. Again, I wasn't present for this, but it seems to me that the shooting was entirely unjustified in Grant's case. The officer who killed Grant certainly did not seem to get a stiff sentence for that shooting, but I am not aware of all the facts in the case.

And the shooting of the knife-wielding man is a very different scenario.

So the protesters are going apeshit and disrupting people's workdays after a long, tired Monday, to protest a cop shooting some guy who was threatening people on the BART platform with a knife.

I do not understand, or with the facts as they are now do I sympathize, with this protest. This is bullshit. Let the goddamn courts figure out if the cop was right to shoot a knife-wielding man or not.

Now... the flipside. BART almost had my sympathy over this protest situation. I don't particularly agree with their decision last week to shut down cellular and wireless service in the stations. It wouldn't affect me (my POS phone barely gets a signal in a BART station, for all their accessibility setup), but the principle of the matter is that BART acted very... ah... totalitarian.

So the protest happens anyway yesterday. It disrupts service on at least one platform. BART's reaction? Shut down four stations and keep people from entering said stations.

And that fixes the disruption of service...? There were hundreds of people essentially marooned in San Francisco for over two hours because BART wouldn't let people on to the platforms.

That's a solution to a protest? Really?

Seems to me that someone in charge of BART security is spending a little too much time taking tips from shows like "24". There had to be a better way to handle that situation.

Jesus... what a pooch-screw this has become.

Nukie Brown

The Lawyer



The Doctor



The Goon (my personal favorite)

Yes please

Daaaaamn....

You know BART's touched a nerve when the EFF says they've "pulled a Mubarak".

Can't say I personally disagree. I think most BART-related protests are counterproductive, but it's bad precedent to do stuff like kill cell phones just to disrupt a potential protest.

Oddly enough, I am in favor of killing cell phone signals in movie theaters, so I suppose one could argue I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I don't think the two situations are remotely the same, but in the interests of full disclosure... there it is.

Dr. Who!

There's a spoiler in this if you have not seen "A Good Man Goes to War". Otherwise, it's pretty spoiler-free.

A little prequel to the next new episode of "Dr. Who"...

Epic Synchronicity

In the latest blog post for Funranium Labs, Herr Direktor (the mad genius behind the Black Blood of the Earth - 100 ml of which is coursing through my veins as I type - and the Steins of Science - one of which is at my desk as I type...) mentions that he got to sit down and have multiple beers with Charles Stross.

Ponder a moment.

The awesomeness of Herr Direktor, scientist and pusher of hedonistic glory, and Charles Stross, the author of The Atrocity Archives (among many other science fiction classics) sitting down and having beers and talking about things scientific and whatever.

I would cheerfully have given an important organ (lung, kidney, heart, whatever) to witness such a meeting.

Oh, not one of my organs. I need them. Besides, my organs are crap. Nobody would want 'em.

Anyways, back to the awesome... I would have LOVED to witness such a meeting of awesome. I probably would have offered to buy all the beers.

I wouldn't have understood three words these two worthies would have uttered, mind you. I'm quite cognizant of my limitations. Still, it would have been fantastic to see two of my personal heroes having pints.

Good lord... I'm a fanboy.

I need a beer.

Alternate Awesome

Sillof does customized action figures. Sillof's Workshop is most famous for their alternate "Star Wars" figures.

There's a series of new ones now that are just the purest awesome:

* Serial Wars (what if "Star Wars" had been a 1940's serial)

* Noir Wars (you know Humphrey Bogart would be a hell of a Yoda)

* Long Ago and Far Away (more traditional)

(via Nerd Approved)

Punking with Steam

My friend V introduced me to the "steampunk" band, Abney Park yesterday. I decided to download their "Aether Shanties" album and give it a proper listening-to.

I still don't understand how "steampunk" became a music venue. The music itself is a kind of folk-ballad-rock hybrid in the manner of various "Celtic rock" bands like "Great Big Sea", "Clandestine", and such.

Apparently the performers dress up in "steampunk" garb on stage when they perform. The Wikipedia article claims they used to be a "goth" band. I'm still fuzzy on how "goth" is a music style, but whatever works.

Meh. Doesn't matter. I do like this "Aether Shanties" album. The titular "Aether Shanties" song is my favorite so far.

I feel like I need to be wearing goggles and a funky hat now.

Fiction Friction

As I impatiently wait for more of series six of "Dr. Who", I am trying to find other media to entertain and amuse me while I try desperately to avoid the depressing news of our nation's meltdown in utter stupidity.

I've been watching SyFy's new series "Alphas" (though I failed to record last night's episode). I think I've already described it as "X-Men lite" with bland acting and forgettable actors. So far my opinion hasn't changed. David Straithairn (playing the soft-spoken Dr. Lee Rosen) and Ryan Cartwright (playing the autistic Gary Bell) demonstrate the most compelling characters of the cast. Laura Mennell (playing the mind-controlling Nina Theroux) and Azita Ghanizada (playing the hyper-sensitive and neurotic Rachel Pirzad) are attractive actresses, but surprisingly boring. The two action heroes, Warren Christie (playing the super-coordinated, brooding Cameron Hicks) and Malik Yoba (playing the temperamental and super-strong Bill Harken) are easily the most one-dimensional and yawn-worthy of the lot.

It's really sad that "Alphas" is probably one of the best shows SyFy is currently airing. I've never really had the patience for the SyFy fluffy quasi-comedy shows like "Eureka" or "Warehouse 13". The 2000 "Invisible Man" show outclassed all of those in action/comedy the way a finely-tuned sports car outclasses a rusting used car.

Hm. Guess I've got opinions.

In desperation for other science fiction fare, I've tried to watch TNT's "Falling Skies". The "Hallmark Channel" style of heavy-handed moralistic claptrap is hard to handle in most of their plots. The stories are generally uninteresting and I often find myself hoping the aliens will swoop in and obliterate most of the cast save the delightfully sociopathic John Pope (played by Colin Cunningham), the out-of-her-depth Dr. Anne Glass (played by the beautiful Moon Bloodgood... I love her name), and the damaged Margaret (played by Sarah Carter).

I generally hate shows that have kids playing central roles anyway.

I have enjoyed the aliens in "Falling Skies". The bizarre mechs, the multi-limbed Skitters, and their gangly alien masters have all been entertaining. Their motivations and actions are generally stupid, but they look cool.

Honestly the show really does seem like it belongs on the "Hallmark Channel". It's hard to imagine how they could get more preachy about America's Revolutionary War history, Christianity, and the bonds of family.

Why the hell can't we get good, solid, adventure shows? "I-Man" was a great example of stories with clever writing, compelling characters, entertaining dialog, and good plots. Hell, "Battlestar Galactica" was outstanding in its first three seasons (despite my feeling that the pilot mini-series was a bit slow).

Bring back my "Dr. Who"! I needs me my sci-fi!

Blundstones

It's been a few days and I've had my Blundstones to break in.

I remain impressed.

I've read mixed reviews of Blundstone. Apparently their old, made-in-Australia boots were fantastic, but in recent years they've started having their manufacturing done in China and I guess the quality has slipped a bit.

I can't comment on that. I've only had these boots for a few days and I have no complaints. They've broken-in faster than most footwear I've obtained and are insanely-comfortable.

So much so that I've already ordered a second pair for hiking purposes (when my foot is healed enough that I can actually hike, that is).

I guess a lot of folks are also loving Redwing boots/shoes. If the Blundstones crap out, maybe I'll try those.

Thundarr the Awesome

A few reasons why "Thundarr the Barbarian" is pure awesome:

* Giant robot monkeys

* "Ariel! Ookla! Ride!"

* "Release her, creature!"

* Vampire space ships

* "Lords of Light!"

* Conan the Barbarian ripoffs with lightsaber "sun swords"

* Wookie-like Moks

* A bathing-suit wearing "Princess" sorceress

Time Twisting

I've re-watched "series six" of the revived "Doctor Who". I just finished re-re-re-re-re-re-re-watching "A Good Man Goes to War", the mid-season finale.

And I'm finding the River Song story is bugging me.

Spoilers ahead for anyone who isn't up-to-date on "Doctor Who" so if you're not hip on your Who, move on to other things.

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Okay?

You were warned.

So River Song has stated repeatedly through her appearances that she's meeting the Doctor in the opposite direction that he's encountering her. The first time he met her was the last time she met him. Each time he learns more of her, she knows a bit less of him.

Their timelines are supposed to be going in different directions.

It's a clever and ambitious idea for a television program. It's got to be maddening to do.

And thus the continuity flaws.

So in "A Good Man Goes to War", you have Dorium Maldovar, the fat, blue, black-marketeer appear. Maldovar has had cameos in prior episodes, specifically in "The Pandorica Opens" in which he sells River a time-travel device.

Maldovar gets killed in "A Good Man Goes to War."

"The Pandorica Opens" happens earlier in the Doctor's time stream than "A Good Man Goes to War". Ergo, Maldovar should be dead in River's time stream and be unable to secure her the time travel device that lets her do her thing in that episode.

Unless the blue fat guy can regenerate (and I'm not ruling that out) it seems to me this River-Doctor time wonkiness is just going to get worse.

Argh.

Bugs me. I'm OCD enough for continuity. Time travel paradoxes really annoy me.

Okay, I got that off my chest.

End rant.

Good for the Sole

I'm a fan of Cory Doctorow's book "Little Brother". It's a paranoiac novel out of my paranoid little heart (or the blackened organ that serves the same purpose in my chest cavity).

I have a point. Bear with me.

So the hero of the book has a particular brand of footwear he favors: Blundstone boots.

In light of my recent injury, I decided I needed footwear that would be less of a problem for my damaged toe.

And since I'm totally a sucker for certain types of advertising... well, long story short, I got a pair from Zappo's.

I'm wearing them now. I know you care.

They're damn comfy. I expect I'll have more to say in the future.

Credit Card-tastic

I love stuff like this (the Carzor razor).

(via various places on the web like Gizmodo and Uncrate, among others)

Having a Death Wish

Somewhat recently, I felt I absolutely had to try Death Wish Black Blood of the Earth.

The "strongest coffee in the world" coupled with the GLORY OF SCIENCE that is Herr Direktor's BBotE is something that I simply could not resist.

I got a bottle and have sparingly been working my way through it.

By "sparingly" I mean that I'm still drinking more caffeine than is healthy for any human being who expects to live a long life and avoid some kind of damage.

It has an unusual, but not unpleasant, flavor to it that sets it apart from the other versions of BBotE. And the caffeine. Sweet FSM, the caffeine.

This stuff is glorious.

I prefer the taste of the other BBotE versions, but this stuff does get the old ticker a thumpin' like mad.

I'm on a strong dose of the stuff right now, actually. Thanks to a... hiccup... in the alarm clock setting for my wristwatch, I've found myself a bit sleep-deprived today.

Well... until Death Wish BBotE. Now I just find myself levitating about ten inches off of the ground and can see new spectrums of color.

A Critic for the 21st Century

Seriously. This guy should review absolutely everything in the world exactly this way.

Weird Al gets it in one

I'm fully aware of the irony, btw.

Owie

I've never broken a bone before. At least not to my knowledge.

I expect I'd know if I had a broken bone, so I'm comfortable sticking with my first statement.

I think I broke my record last night (Har! I be funny!).

While working through throws in my class, I landed and took note that my pinky toe was not pointing in the right direction.

Yeah... that's not a good thing.

It didn't hurt, per se. It was just wrong. I reset it then opted to buddy-tape it to the next toe. I went back to doing the crazy martial arts stuff without much of a thought. As my class wrapped up, I could feel my toe starting to hurt and then wondered if I had indeed broken it.

Fast forward an hour later. I'm on the phone with the advice nurse and explaining what's going on. First thing he tells me is not to buddy-tape. No problem. That tape was gone as soon as I got home. I wanted to see if my toe was changing color or something equally disturbing.

Then came the other advice: ice it and pop pain-killers. Don't buddy tape and wear shoes with lots of toe room. Just suck it up and let the doctor's office know if things get worse.

That was pretty much what I'd expected, except the bit about buddy-taping. Apparently that causes complications. I learned something new.

The nurse advised me it's most likely the toe is dislocated, there's something torn in there, or it's broken. Not much to do but let it heal normally and not do stupid things to make it worse.

So that ends martial arts for me for a while.

And this morning, it hurts.

Here I was thinking I'm a pain-mocking badass 'cause I didn't feel any real pain yesterday. Oh silly me.

I still don't know if it's broken, sprained, or whatever. Guess it doesn't matter.

The Weekend of Nerd

My weekend accomplishments:

Cowboys and Aliens - a good movie to see with alcohol in the system.

"Ghost Story" by Jim Butcher - Not as "HOLY SHIT THAT IS INTENSE" awesome as his last book, "Changes". It's still a solid and - at times - intense story. The whodunnit caught me by surprise. The end didn't. And I'm okay with all that.

"Thundarr the Barbarian" - so apparently I've been misspelling "Thundarr" for... um... forever. Strangely enough, Western Civilization hasn't collapsed yet. I guess I have to step up my game.

In the meantime, I forgot how cheesetacular this show is. Ye gods.

Good, clean, fun. And that pretty much was my last free weekend for a long, long time.