Farewell 2010...

...may 2011 be better at everything.

Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas...

May you have joy and comfort on this holiday.

LEGO Advent 2010 Final Update!

Hark! The herald LEGO sings, glory to some plastic things...

Ah, the final update of the 2010 LEGO City Advent calendar. I hope you've been enjoying this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I've had a difficult time fitting some of these completely unexpected items into the narrative, which has made the whole thing challenging as well as amusing.

When we last visited our LEGO family, we learned about Mom, her Paul the Samurai fixation, and the attempts to replace everyday household items that Jimmy or Shredder (Princess Frumbles del Toronado Squiggle la Fluffybot 2000 Sharpclaw the Magnificent) had got a hold on. There's only one more member of the household that needs to be introduced...

Dec 18th:

Meet Uncle Bob! Bob is usually wearing a lot more clothing than this, but he was interrupted late Christmas Eve while trying out Mom's new shower. He heard noises and crept out of the bathroom, wearing a Speedo and carrying a heavy brush. Shredder lay fast asleep, curled up next to the terrified Spot, whose silent eyes pleaded with Bob for escape. Moving along, Bob checked in on Jimmy, who slept peacefully in direct contradiction to his usual nature. Sally was also fast asleep in her room. Mom and Dad had their door securely locked, but the noises weren't coming from there. Uncle Bob crept downstairs, wielding his brush like a club, and saw...

Dec 19th:


A strange new item had joined the other toys in the living room. It appeared to be a train car, but Bob wasn't sure where it had come from. He started into the living room to investigate further when he heard the noises again, coming from the near the hearth. He tried to see what was happening, and spotted another new item...

Dec 20th:


A bulldozer? It matched Jimmy's new crane, and Bob thought it was the perfect gift for the boy. But who had brought it? The family had already opened all the gifts to each other. Bob silently considered how none of the neighborhood flowerbeds would ever be safe again after Jimmy got started with this toy. Another noise made Bob quickly hide again, and when he peeked out...

Dec 21st:


Another train car? He studied the new arrival with surprise and pleasure. He bet he could get Shredder to ride in that easily, and possibly even enjoy the ride. Except, where was the engine? He gulped suddenly as he saw the train car move by itself and hook up with the other train car.


Something decidedly strange was happening tonight. There was a sense of unrealness to the whole scene. The train cars hooked up, then stopped. Bob worked hard to convince himself that he hadn't actually just seen that, and they'd been like that all along. Of course they had. But then, where on earth had they come from in the first place?

Dec 22nd:


Uncle Bob moved silently to the other entrance to the living room, trying to outflank whoever was in the room. He stopped in surprise well before he got there as yet another gift came into view. It was a helicopter, and he could practically seen Sally's name written on it. She would adore it, he knew, and it would almost make up for the toy plane's earlier almost tragic flight. He smiled to himself as he imagined her chasing Jimmy with it, then stepped a little closer, looking at the tree...

Dec 23rd:


Which seemed to be normal. True, it had a sort of glow that made Uncle Bob feel all warm and happy inside, but Bob really liked Christmas, so that was nothing too unusual. He stood in his Speedo, holding the brush, basking in the pleasant feeling of Christmas until another noise broke him out of his reverie, and he took a final step into the living room and came face-to-face with...

Dec 24th:


Santa Claus?!?? Riding a train engine?!??? As he watched in stunned disbelief, Santa rode the engine around the tree, and hooked it up with the two train cars, making a cute little train in the living room. Then Santa laughed with a hearty shake and seemed to check on the rest of the room, moving his hands here and there as if conducting an orchestra. The stockings plumped up with candy, and a couple more presents arranged themselves prettily under the tree. Then Santa turned, and...


"Ho ho ho!!" Santa laughed at Uncle Bob and his brush, "Have you been a good Uncle this year, Robert?" Bob stood stock still, staring at Santa. The jolly old elf laughed again, and spun in a tight circle, like Wonder Woman in that old TV show, and vanished completely. Uncle Bob was left staring around the living room, holding his brush. He looked at the extra gifts, and decided he wasn't going to tell anyone what he just saw. He shivered, and suddenly realized that he was getting cold. He hurried off, back to the bathroom upstairs to finish his late night shower and get to bed.

Behind him, the hearth twinkled with an unearthly glitter and a breath of heat, the strange toy fire engine twitched a little, and the room slowly fell back into a normal silence, awaiting the dawn.

The Whole Thing (click to embiggen):

THE END

Christmas Cheer

Our poor postal worker just trudged up to our house in the falling snow to deliver an unexpected package to us. The label indicated it was a gift from Harry and David, and imagine my sheer delight upon opening it to see a penguin looking up at me! There was more in the package, but the choice by the gift-givers, continuing my running gag of penguins, made the opening of the package simply perfect...

A Couple of Links

Spider Robinson writes about why we need the Public Domain. This is a fantastic work, the 1983 Hugo Award winner for Best Short Story.

Wanna read a comic book online, free and clear, without pirating? Steve Lieber and Jeff Parker are offering Underground, all five chapters, for free. If you enjoy it, you should definitely make a donation or purchase the trade to encourage the creators to do more cool work.

Is There a Santa Claus?

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Darkseid Descending" - Aquaman is in it, so I wanted to like it. But it was a bit of a mess of a story, with the introduction of a new Justice League full of second-stringers up against Darkseid. I just didn't feel like it made the grade. Ok, I found the brawling with Booster, Guy, and Aquaman to be mildly amusing, particularly when J'onn joined in. The tease at the beginning featuring Firestorm was ok, but only just. I hope the next episode is better.
• Sapphire and Steel: "Assignment Four: The Man without a Face" - Wow, intense story. I can see why the Torchwood episode "From Out of the Rain" was compared to this tale, even though there are significant differences. The terror of the burning of the photograph was very well done. I can't quite imagine being able to do what Steel told the girl to do at the end. Another strange and interesting episode of this show.

---

This week's movie was Firebreather, an original movie from Cartoon Network based on the comic book from Image comics created by Phil Hester and Andy Kuhn. I've never regularly read the comic, so I came into this movie mostly unfamiliar with the character. This was a slightly confusing intro. Not to the character himself, that was clearly explained. My big problem was that the characters seemed to have certain knowledge, but then later that knowledge is treated as a big reveal. Duncan, for instance, knows who his father is, but when he actually runs into Belloc his mother starts to tease him with the whole "I suppose you're wondering how you happened" thing. Um, wouldn't he have already been aware of that particular strangeness? And Barnes at one point seems to act like he didn't know that Duncan was Belloc's son. But if that was so, why was he assigned to watch him? Despite those distracting moments, the movie was pretty good. The CGI was only a little annoying at times, the characters were fun, and the story was amusing. Overall, I found myself wanting to see more. I may have to check out the comics.

---

Here are some reviews of the DCBS comic book shipment that arrived this week, of books originally released in November:

• November 3rd
• Brightest Day #13 - No Aquaman. Not very interesting to me.
• JSA All-Stars #12 - Cyclone lost her powers, but now... what? Crazy stuff. Pity the artwork is so bad.
• Ozma of Oz #1 - Excellent as usual. I love Billina. She's just about my favorite Oz character in a lot of ways, and her showing up at this point is lovely.
• PS238 #47 - Not really enjoying the alternate universe storyline, and Ron's adventures with Tyler in space needs to wrap up or change soon. But I still enjoyed it.
• November 10th
• Birds of Prey #6 - Ah, a nice wrap up of a storyline I wasn't sure I was enjoying. Huntress comes out well in this one, and even Shiva got an "oh yeah" moment from me. More like this.
• Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors #4 - I really really don't like how this storyline is going. But I'm getting drawn into it anyway.
• Knight & Squire #2 - I love the Morris Men! Wonderful as a set of villains. And I love the "secret" identities of Knight and Squire and how pretty much the entire town protects them.
• All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 - Batman and Superman team up and visit Kandor. I enjoyed this one. Lots of fun, a nice little mystery with plenty of hints for the reader, and you know it's a good start if you've got Superman guesting.
• Tiny Titans/Little Archie #2 - Oh yeah, Josie and the Pussycats! Oh yeah, lots of little fun bits. I think I even caught a glimpse of Aqualad in one panel. I'm not sure who those Archie bad guys are supposed to be, though.
• November 17th
• Brightest Day #14 - Well, that solved one big mystery for me. And even had a tiny touch of Aquaman. Not enough, of course, but a little. I just am waiting for Aquaman to really return to the book.
• Green Lantern #59 - Um. I kind of have to agree with the Flash in wondering what the heck GL thinks he's doing. But then, all the Green Lantern Corps seems to be insane at the moment. Must have something to do with that whole Blackest Night thing.
• Green Lantern Corps #54 - Speaking of insane. I like Natu. But this whole Sinestro's daughter thing is annoying. At least her heart is still in the right place.
• Justice League of America #51 - Sigh. It's an ok book, but it's just not the Justice League. Sorry.
• Power Girl #18 - I like Power Girl, but I haven't been impressed with this run. And the way it's tying into Brightest Day isn't making me happy. I don't like Max.
• Zatanna #7 - For items in a magic museum to come to life and still have the personalities of those people... I was amused. I particularly liked the reactions of the LA Superman and Batman impersonators in the opening page.
• DC Universe Legacies #7 - Ah, the death of Superman. The back-up story was a good one.
• Tiny Titans #34 - The Aqua-Ohs make another appearance, YAY! The whole confusion between Zatara and Superboy was cute, but I'm not really sure what to think of it.
• Northlanders #34 - I'm not really sure what happened with some of the supernatural stuff at the end of this one, but then it's been strangely supernatural all the way through. Glad this story is done.
• George RR Martin's Doorways #1 - I suddenly want to see that pilot. It suffered the same fate as the Aquaman pilot: it was as close to a sure thing as is possible in TV, then circumstances pulled the rug out from under it. This is an interesting story, I'm glad the hubby ordered it.
• Stan Lee: Soldier Zero #2 - Still promising. Gotta see how this one continues.
• November 24th
• Action Comics #895 - And now Vandal Savage is in the mix. Ok. Looking forward to seeing more.
• Justice Society of America #45 - So, is Jay learning a lesson or something here? I'm not sure what to make of this one.
• Batman Beyond #6 - Amanda Waller has gone batty in this DCU.
• DMZ #59 - Matty made his bed, and now he's gone back to make sure he lay in it properly.
• Stan Lee: Traveler #1 - Very promising start to this new series. Pity we didn't order the second issue.
• Usagi Yojimbo #133 - I wonder what Usagi wished for at the end. But it was a very touching story.

---

My library book this week was The Human Blend by Alan Dean Foster. I saw this on the "new books" shelf at the library and picked it up on a whim, because I've enjoyed Foster's work in the past. I was unaware that it is the first book of a trilogy, or I might not have bothered. As I got close to the end, I suspected it wasn't a standalone, and sure enough it ends on a sort of half-hearted cliffhanger. This is a bubblegum sort of book. Don't look too closely or the seams will show. It's fun, a good read if you like Foster's stuff, but definitely not his best work.

---

Agatha Christie this week was The Clocks from 1963. This was the first book I read completely on a Kindle, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. In this case, I figured out the murderer fairly quickly but missed the crucial clue about the motive. I wasn't nearly as disappointed that I didn't figure this one out, at least I fingered the murderer right away. I'm looking forward to the next one, which I think I have an eBook of as well. If not, the library has it. I'm getting nearer the end, and I'm going to be sad when there are no more Agatha Christie stories for me to read.

---

Fortean Times #267 (November 2010). My first thought on seeing the cover, "The Magical Battle of Britian", was isn't that the plot of 'Bedknobs and Broomsticks'? Well, not exactly, as it turns out. According to the cover story, while Britian fought against the invasion, an occult army on the ground fought the forces of evil dredged up by Hitler's occultists. Even if you don't believe in magic, the human story behind the people who strove to protect their homeland is compelling enough to make it an article worth reading.

Strangedays was the usual mix of bizarre and intriguing. More monster sightings, a termite Buddha, giant goldfish, very old people, and trained monkeys. The science section was about astronomical mysteries including dark matter and something slowing two Pioneer probes. Ghostwatch was about an increasing number of ghost reports in the UK. The UFO files has an interesting bit about the fluidity of memory, using a case report of a man who originally thought he'd had a childhood alien encounter, but then found notes he had written that convinced him much of the events had been created later. I wasn't keen on the poetry and paranormal article for some reason, but it had some interesting information. The Forum and Reviews were great, as usual, with lots of stuff that I don't feel like writing a ton about. I'll just say I found it worth reading. Overall, another fantastic issue of the funniest and strangest magazine available.

---

Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

A Handul of Links

Today you, tomorrow me.

Paul Cornell's Custom Doctor Who Apples to Apples cards.

Christmas ornament in space.

Reuters looks into the charges against Assange, and while it doesn't clear up the whole mess, it certainly makes more sense after reading this than all the misinformation being spread previously.

LEGO Advent Update 3!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, up in the Cascades upon the pass...

This is my third update of the 2010 LEGO City Advent calendar, which I've been blogging regularly. Apparently a couple of people are reading this, and might even be enjoying it in the spirit intended. So I'll keep going and see if I can bring this thing to any sort of conclusion by Christmas morning.

In our last exciting edition, we learned about Sally's gifts, including the unfortunate airplane incident, and we met Dad and his hearth. Today we start off with Dad's gifts.

Dec 12th:

Uncle Bob thinks that Dad doesn't get enough exercise, so he got him a nice new axe and a sled for bringing in firewood for the hearth. Dad reacted with his usual non-reaction, not having the heart to tell Bob that the hearth doesn't ever seem to actually need any firewood. Within minutes, Jimmy was chasing Spot around the house with the axe, and Sally had managed to convince her cat Princess Frumbles del Toronado Squiggle la Fluffybot 2000 Sharpclaw the Magnificent, aka "Shredder", to get on the sled for a trip around the living room. Shredder lived up to her name by shredding the pieces of firewood that Bob had brought in to demonstrate the use of the sled. Mom piled the resultant kindling up in a pile near the hearth, and was later seen tossing pieces in to watch them burst into flame.

Dec 13th:


Dad opened the large mysterious box which didn't have a name on it and was surprised to find what appeared to be a toy fire engine inside. Nobody seemed to know who it was from or even when it appeared, but after a few moments it started itself up and drove to a spot near the hearth. Spot came over to sniff it, yelped, then immediately ran into a corner and apparently tried to crawl through the floor. Shredder sniffed at it, hissed, then carefully kept an eye on it thereafter. Jimmy attempted to play with it but couldn't move it from its location near the hearth nor get it to drive itself again, despite shouting, hitting it with various items, and kicking at it. Eventually he gave up, to everyone's surprise, and went back to playing with the axe.

Dec 14th:


This is Mom. She's surprisingly patient with Jimmy, and adores Sally. She often wanders around the house with a loaf of french bread, as seen in this picture. Bob teases her about it, claiming she could have a sword hidden in there! Mom always laughs weakly at that joke, and can sometimes be seen hiding issues of Paul the Samurai away. If confronted, she'll claim the books are Jimmy's, even though Jimmy doesn't read anything that doesn't have detailed instructions on how to destroy stuff. Mom doesn't actually care very much about the stuff Jimmy destroys, as she has a higher purpose in life... which isn't really that relevant to this sweet little Christmas tale, so we'll move on to Mom's gifts.

Dec 15th:


This is Mom's new patio set moments before Jimmy reached it and started to dismantle it. This is the fifth set she's gotten this winter, although she's assured Dad that she really doesn't need one. The neighbors tut-tut about how sad it is that she can't keep a patio set in one piece, so Dad continues to attempt to keep up appearances.

Dec 16th:


Uncle Bob was really proud of this gift! It is said to be the most indestructible sofa ever made, completely and utterly cat-proof. Shredder hopped up on it and ran one claw down a cushion, and seemed surprised to not see it split. In moments Shredder had claimed the top of the sofa for herself, and Spot had claimed the part of the sofa that was away from everyone to hide behind. Late at night Shredder can be heard working on the sofa. Bob has a bet with Sally on, Sally thinks it won't last until Spring, but Bob is sure that Shredder won't get through it at all. Bob will lose that bet.

Dec 17th:


Although a little difficult to see in this picture, this is the replacement shower that Mom got from Dad after Jimmy removed some of the crucial pieces of the last shower in order to make an "acid gun" which fortunately did not work. Sally is certain that the acid Jimmy used was too strong, while Jimmy thinks he just didn't get enough pressure to shoot it out before it started to work on the pipes. Jimmy's eyes lit up when he saw the shower, and he hefted "his" axe. And so the family enjoyed the presents and the usual chaos reigned.

More ADVENTures to follow as I open more of the little doors on the LEGO box...

Intro

Update 1

Update 2

And Suddenly...

...I have a Kindle.

It's a first generation Kindle purchased by hubby-Eric's grandmother back in the day. When she realized that she wasn't actually using it, she thought of me and sent it along. I've already put a handful of free books from Webscription Ebooks on it, and I'm trying out the PDF conversion tool that Amazon.com provides for Kindle owners (the free version) right now. In addition, Amazon has a nice set of free classics that I've loaded on the device. Because this is a first generation Kindle, it has an SD slot, so I can add a lot more books if I want.

I'm pretty much stunned at the moment. More later, after I've had time to enjoy it.

CameraPhone Zen

Wha...?

So You Want to Lose Weight...

I lost over 100 pounds over two years, carefully and slowly and under the care of a regular doctor at the time. This is the really simple version of what I learned.

1) You must actually want to lose weight, not think that maybe sorta you oughta shed a few pounds. You must have the desire and willpower to see it through. If you haven't got this, you haven't got anything.

2) Start by writing down everything you eat, and every physical activity that you do for more than five minutes. This will give you a baseline, and it may also reveal some habits you didn't know you had. With this baseline you can work on a program that will work for you.

To lose weight, you must use more calories than you take in. Period. End of story. There are no good calories or bad calories in weight loss itself. A calorie is a calorie. Therefore, your only goal is to make the IN calories less than the USED calories. There are two methods to do this, and a combination of both is by far the best:

METHOD A: Eat less. Reduce the amount of calories you bring in.
METHOD B: Exercise more. Increase the amount of calories you use.

3) Stop drinking calories. Your body thinks of solid foods as calories, and therefore drinking stuff with calories will not make you feel full even if it has a ton of calories. Stop drinking soft drinks, that alone will improve a lot of figures.

Switch to water, either plain or flavored. I prefer a touch of True Lemon in my water, and herbal tea in the winter. In addition to not having calories, water helps your body to flush out toxins and, yes, excess fat (in a very non-technical sense). So, switch to water. I no longer miss pop, and trying to drink one usually results in me gagging on the sweetness.

4) Reduce portion sizes. If you make your own food, put half of it away for leftovers. If you go to a restaurant, use a doggy bag for the same purpose. Most of us eat WAY too much. Consider investing in smaller plates, it apparently helps. But eat less in each sitting.

5) Walk whenever possible. If you have your mobility, use it. Walk whenever you can. Park on the far side of the parking lot, or at least not close to the entrance. Walk to the library or store. A little walking goes a long way. If you can't walk, find another activity such as swimming, and indulge in it at least once or twice a week. Seriously, that's all you need to make huge improvements. More exercise will yield better results, but even two hours a week will make a difference.

6) Form good habits. This is perhaps the most important piece of advice in many ways. The other stuff will help you lose weight, sure, but unless you make them into habits you aren't ever going to keep the weight off. Good habits are just like bad habits, they are hard to break. So harness the power of habit and make it work for you. Get in the habit of exercising and drinking water, and you'll find it harder to backslide.

7) Get support, but not advice, from those around you. One thing you really need is the support of the people who you deal with on a regular basis, particularly those who you eat with, such as family, close friends, and co-workers. They must be aware that you are altering your diet, so they know to not sabotage it.

As for advice, everyone has their own way to lose weight, and what works for one person may not work for everyone. I'm being intentionally vague about the specific methods I used only because counting calories is not something that everyone wants to do. It worked for me, but it might not work for you. Just like any advice you get from those around you: you have to adapt it to your own needs.

8) Set goals and keep track. I weighed myself every morning, put it into a graph, and watched the line go down. You might have a pair of pants you want to fit in, or the ability to walk a certain amount. Whatever it is, you need to set realistic short-term goals, as well as your long-term goal, and keep track of your progress. Reward yourself when you reach a goal. Not with food.

A note on keeping track. You will almost always hit a plateau where you simply will not lose weight. This is natural, and can continue for weeks. It's frustrating, and can drive you batty. But it's important. What's usually happening during those plateaus is your body is adjusting to the new reality by redistributing fat, tightening up your skin, and converting fat to muscle. A plateau is often a sign that you are succeeding dramatically. While it doesn't always work, a couple of days in a row of exercise can often kickstart weight loss again if you are on a long plateau.

9) If you mess up, don't panic. Allow for disaster days. A disaster day is when everything goes wrong with the plan, and you end up eating too much or not getting exercise. In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is automatically declared a disaster day no matter what your plans are. Our natural instinct when we mess up a diet is to abandon it, but instead you need to shrug, say, "Disaster Day!" and get back on the wagon for the next day. If you do not allow yourself room to make mistakes, you will never have enough room to succeed.

10) Vegetables are your friends. Eat lots of veggies if you are having trouble staying full. Eat a bowl of veggies and drink a glass of water every time you get hunger pangs, even between meals. I assure you that veggies will fill you up with very little calories. Add a glass of water, and you should find yourself good for another hour or two at the minimum.

11) Do not go hungry. Seriously. If you are hungry, eat. Just be careful about what you eat. If you start to get really hungry you'll end up bingeing, so plan ahead and bring small or healthy snacks with you where ever you go. If you suddenly get hungry, don't hit a vending machine, use the snacks you have AND drink a cup of water. The water is important. Drink it.

12) Stick with it. It's entirely too easy to give up, lose hope, get a few pounds off and celebrate with a big meal. Don't. Just keep it up for awhile. I kept it up for about three years, and only recently had a slide back into heavier weights. I'm losing again, but it's a case of getting back into my good habits and remembering what I did the first time. It would have been much easier if I'd just stuck to my original plan the entire time. Fortunately, many of the habits stayed with me, like my water-drinking, that I don't have as far to go.

Anyway, that's my diet book. I hope it helps someone. In the meantime, I think I'll try again to follow my own advice and get back to where I was in 2008, which was when I was at my lowest weight level.

Another Linkdump

Old Sith Nick.

Five Awesome Not Real Children's Books.

Darryl Cunningham Investigates Climate Change.

Comic Book Legends Revealed #290: Devo Lyrics, Blok's Death, and Frank Frazetta.

How Wikileaks Stole Christmas.

OOOoooo, Want.

Why Pyrex isn't actually pyrex anymore.

How to make bacon in the oven.

Festivus gets inmate a change of diet.

Dear Abby's advice on homemade cards. Personally, I'd prefer a homemade card, and so far I've enjoyed the custom cards we've gotten. Some year I really ought to send out Christmas cards.

This is my motivational poster, now.

Spy Pug for the in-laws.

Wow.

Having a camera inside when the roof of the Metrodome collapses the morning of a scheduled game? Pretty cool...

LEGO Advent Update 2!

And if you still love me so, make it snow, make it snow, make it snow...

It's my second update to my blogging of the 2010 LEGO City Advent calendar. I'm still regretting that I wasn't able to get the Castle Advent Calendar this year, but maybe next year. Again, I apologize for the blurry pictures. If I was getting paid for this I might make a second or third effort to get better focused pictures, but since my only pay is the loving comments you leave and I didn't get any for my last update, I'm figuring no one is reading this anyway!

*ahem*

Dec 7th:

Play them off, keyboard cat! Sally and her cat Princess Frumbles del Toronado Squiggle la Fluffybot 2000 Sharpclaw the Magnificent, aka "Shredder", got a keyboard for their first gift of the season. Shredder immediately played some gorgeous Vivaldi tunes, while Sally pecked out "Chopsticks". They were both drowned out when Jimmy sat down at his drum kit (with a new drumstick) and started pounding through his own interpretation of "Stairway to Heaven". Yes, I'm aware that much of Stairway is light on the percussion. Jimmy isn't.

Dec 8th:


Sally was surprised to get a new puppy, but Shredder took to the beast immediately, declaring it a good steed. The puppy, for his part, was terrified by Shredder but liked Sally quite a bit. The puppy was dubbed "Spot" by Sally, despite having none, because "it's a dog's name." Spot spent the rest of the evening hiding from Shredder, howling at Jimmy's drum playing, and looking for a way to escape the asylum. He did enjoy the sausages they gave him, though.

Dec 9th:


Spot was happy when Shredder was distracted by the toy plane that Sally got. The plane was sadly not a remote control plane (although it was big enough to be one), but did glide neatly from the landing at the top of the stairs. Shredder thought the fuselage made a great napping spot, and settled down on it no matter where the plane was set down. This gave Jimmy an unfortunate idea... and Shredder ended up taking an extremely howl-worthy flight off the landing. Both Sally and Jimmy learned that a cat attached to the fuselage makes a plane unbalanced. Uncle Bob said he could paint out the scratch marks and that the plane would be flight-worthy and good as new in no time. Shredder is lucky cats land on their feet but won't go near the plane now.

Dec 10th:


This is Dad. He works in a secretive place and has a case chained to his wrist almost all the time. Uncle Bob will crack jokes about it, but Dad never responds to the taunting. Shredder has so far been unable to get into any of the cases Dad has brought home, but hasn't stopped trying despite Dad's habit of swinging the case at the cat every time it gets near him. Dad's joys in life are his family and his work, not necessarily in that order.

Dec 11th:


This is Dad by the hearth of the family home. The hearth was designed by ancient craftsmen at the dawn of time and holds a terrible secret... but that's not important to the action here. As you can see, a lovely fire has been lit in the grate, and a candle is burning gently on the mantle. Such a pretty sight!

More ADVENTures to follow as I open more of the little doors on the LEGO box...

Intro

Update 1

Linkdump Long Overdue

It's Star Wars Day for Katie.

How to Open a New Book.

Paging The Physician...

Neil Armstrong on the first moon walk, and why it covered such a small area.

Ancient Giant Penguin. Cool. Of course, little penguins can be daring, too.

Some of the most memorable Google Doodles.

Organ Donation.

2,000 Ping Pong Balls and 30 Middle-School Teachers in Zero G.

Evolution.

Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving. I Made Food! I'm Magical!

The Real Rules of the Blue Moon.

A victim of the overblown hype about Wikileaks posts to reddit.

Creepy Photos at the Tower of London.

If you plan on buying the Girl Genius Novel from Amazon, consider buying it on January 12th, Kaja Foglio's birthday. I would, but I haven't got any money for it.

Another, better, use for tobacco?

I am so far behind on these...

• Comic Book Legends Revealed #276: Thimble Theater, Shadow Lass, and Superman.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #277: Hobgoblin, Legion of Super-Heroes, and Censored Get Fuzzy.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #278: Daily Planet Building, Carl Barks' First Duck Tale, and DC's first Graphic Novel.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #279: The Batcave, Wally Lombego, and Xanshi's destruction.
• The Dreams of Wally Lombego, a supplement from J.M. DeMatteis.
• Star Wars Again, the final page unaltered.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #280: Crossover in Rutland, Gyro Gearloose, and The Squadron Sinister.
• Comic Book Legends Addendum: Leagion and Star Wars stuff.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #281: Marvel G.I. Joe comic book, The Archies, and Mister Nobody.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #282: Fallen Angels, Translated Dan Dare, and Re-Drawn Superman.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #283: Chuck Dixon's Plans, Squirrel Girl, and Woodcut Etrigan.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #284: New Mutants Profanity, Flex Mentallo, and Dick Sprang.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #285: Nudity in the Daily Mirror, Steve Englehart's Farewell to Marvel, and Harlan Ellison badmouthing Michael Fleisher about Spectre.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #286: Captain Marvel Trademark, Censored Carl Barks, and Robin's Creation.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #287: The Marvel Ethnic Slur, Captain Shazam, and Atlas/Marvel Comics problems.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #288: Neil Gaiman Superman/Green Lantern Project, Frank Frazetta's Career, and Wonder Woman's Twirling Lasso.
• Comic Book Legends Revealed #288: Felix the Cat, Wonder Woman TV Series, and The Marvelous Wizard of Oz (with a surprise shout out to my husband's Wizard of Oz site).

I think I'm caught up. Whew. How long has it been since I've done a proper linkdump?

Pug puppy for the in-laws

Wikileaks and the Saga of Julian Assange

I'm very divided about this subject. Very.

1) I believe in transparency in government. I understand completely why the people running the government don't want it, but I think they are wrong. That said...

2) I believe in the law. And if the law marks something as top secret, then perhaps it ought to be top secret. However...

3) A lot of these documents are pure garbage that nobody cares about and aren't really all that sensitive. Another portion of them are documents that just confirmed what everyone already knew. Only a handful, comparatively, are really interesting. But...

4) The government being stupid about what gets classified doesn't make leaking them a good idea. And apparently the US government's ability to keep classified information under lock and key is impaired... possibly because so much stuff is classified that in order to not freeze the government they have to give access to too many people. Which leads me to...

5) Wikileaks didn't leak the original information. It was an American who did that. A lot of people seem to be forgetting that the real crime as far as the leaks are concerned was NOT done by Wikileaks. The person who leaked that information might have just sold it or given it to some other country. At least with Wikileaks we all know what's in there. And on that note...

6) Some of the stuff leaked in those documents is FAR worse than a case of leaking some documents. Some of the cables list crimes that need to be prosecuted. Now that we know about them, we can't ignore them. I honestly don't care if the reason we know about them is because of a security breach. Where those cables implicate people in crimes, they need to be punished. And finally...

7) I'm pretty sick of all the people whining about the leak itself when the stuff that's been leaked contains information that should make people truly outraged. Get your freaking priorities in order, people. Oh yeah, one more thing...

8) Julian Assange: He's always looked like a slimeball to me. I don't know what it is about his look, but my snap judgment of the guy is that I would avoid him on the street. That may be unfair of me, he could be perfectly nice. Whether or not any of the allegations against him are true is up to a court to decide, but he creeps me out and has since the first time I saw video of him.

So here's the Taiwanese animation of the Wikileaks scandal, particularly the US government's reaction to it. I gotta admit the Sarah Palin cameo is terribly amusing.

In conclusion, I guess I don't really care so much about the leaks, as they only seem to expose government corruption that ought to be exposed. I think the person who leaked them to Wikileaks should be subject to whatever criminal charges there are for that act, but Wikileaks themselves have committed no crime. I think Assange should go to court and deal with those charges against him. If he's guilty, that really doesn't change the situation with Wikileaks itself. He's only the figurehead, not the whole organization. Trying to discredit Wikileaks because Assange is a scumbag would be like discrediting the Catholic church because the Pope is an imperfect man. Yeah, you can argue that if the head is rotten the rest follows, but Wikileaks isn't about Assange's escapades, it's about exposing secrets that probably never should have been secret in the first place.

I guess I'm mostly pro-Wikileaks. I think that the United States and its crummy security measures are at fault for the cable leaks, and should work on fixing the problems the leak revealed instead of trying to pressure Wikileaks into non-existence. Plus, I'm really curious about the bank information that Wikileaks has promised to release early next year. In fact, I wish they'd release it now.

Tales of Stepford House - Front Door Problems

A few weeks ago the handle of the front door of the house started to get loose. At the time, I somehow managed to pull off the interior knob and get a look at the mechanism, but my efforts to fix the problem didn't work. So today when I got up I decided I was going to fix the front door, so help me FSM.

I also decided to document the thing so I know how to fix it next time. First off, I determined that the handle was a Kwikset, and that there is supposed to be a really easy way to take off the knob.


Getting the cover off the plate was easy, but getting the knob itself off the door seemed impossible. Can you see the arrow on the bit that's flush against the door? All the instructions I could find said that all I needed to do was push it down and the knob would come off. But no matter how I tried it didn't work.


In frustration I started wiggling the doorknob. I turned it one way, and then the other, and kept working on it hoping to get the knob off somehow. To my surprise and shock, the knob eventually popped off.


Once I got the knob off, the rest of the handle assembly came off without any difficulty. It was a mess, but at least I could see all the parts finally without having the door itself in the way. I stuffed a rag in the hole the assembly left in the door, set up the card table, and started to work out just how to fix the stupid thing.


It was pretty easy to figure out why the handle's thumb latch was so loose. There are four screws on the back of it, and two of them hold the thumb latch steady. So I tightened those screws up, then turned my attention to the knob.

The knob was loose because I couldn't reach those two screws on the handle section to tighten them when the sections are against the door. In order to get to the screws, I'd have to get the plate off the knob assembly. But no matter how hard I tried, the stupid plate wouldn't come loose. I pulled, twisted, turned, flipped the arrows up and down, and eventually figured out that when the arrow was down close to the edge the plate was more loose... but it wouldn't come off.

Finally I tried to push the arrow a little further, since there was a tiny space between the arrow point at the edge of the plate it was near. It was difficult because the arrow was stuck, but eventually I got it to make that final snap, and then the plate just popped right off. In short, the arrow wasn't pushed far enough. Once I pushed it the remainder of the way, I was able to pull the plate off the knob assembly.


The rest was easy. I put the handle back on the door, put the now-loose plate against the other side and matched up the screws with the holes, then tightened the screws to hold it snugly.


The knob assembly snapped back on the door without any fuss. The latch and the knob are now tight. And if the knob comes loose again, I think I can fix it now without having to spend weeks getting increasingly frustrated with the problem.

I'm not the handiest person, but sometimes I have my moments. Now, let's see if Eric notices... *heh* Update: Nope.

Oh Rudolph!

LEGO Advent Update!

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle somewhere else...

Ok, it's time for the update of the 2010 LEGO City Advent Calendar. I've been carefully opening each door each day in order to see what exciting new toy I'll get. As you may recall, the first day's surprise was a snowman. Well, the next day we got...

It's Jimmy!
Jimmy is a dangerous little boy who runs around with a sword half the time, terrorizing his family and generally annoying those who have to live with him. In addition to his sword, he usually wears a hoodie, blue jeans, and a red hat. Although you can't see in my fuzzy phone picture, he has freckles and an evil grin that bodes poorly for you if he gets you in his sights.

Dec 3rd 2010:


Jimmy's first present this Adventmas was a skateboard. He immediately set out to torment the neighbors, dodging traffic and running down pedestrians. His only nod to safety was the helmet he put on before first going out. The helmet was later seen adorning a neighbor's garden statue. It is unknown if Jimmy still wears it when he goes out skating.

Dec 4th 2010:


Jimmy then received a play crane with tractor treads. He immediately set about building a clubhouse for his military guys in his mother's garden, using anything he could get his hands on for building materials. Jimmy's mother, well used to not having nice things, only watched in despair as the trellis she had built came down and was reconfigured into a bomb shelter.

Dec 5th 2010:


Jimmy's mother left the house after Jimmy opened this present from Uncle Bob, a brand new drumset! Jimmy played for hours, driving the rest of the family out of the house to buy earplugs. Jimmy also found that the drumsticks were useful for other things, like poking a grumpy cat. Jimmy was only mildly surprised when the cat ripped one of the drumsticks to shreds. Never mind, Uncle Bob will get him a new one!

Dec 6th 2010:


Sally and her cat
Now that we've met Jimmy, let's meet his sister Sally and her cat Princess Frumbles del Toronado Squiggle la Fluffybot 2000 Sharpclaw the Magnificent, aka "Shredder". At the moment, they are waiting for Sally's Adventmas gifts to appear, as we've only gotten up to Dec 6th and she's just shown up.

More ADVENTures to follow as I open more of the little doors on the LEGO box...

A Sunday Review

TV this week:

• Battlestar Galactica: "Daybreak" - And finally we get to the end. It's ... fairly impressive. The defining moments have to be Tyrol's reaction when he finds out what Tory did and the climax of the Opera House dream and how it plays out in reality. I found I really didn't like the flashbacks to Caprica. The characters have moved so far beyond, it felt like paging through a yearbook of pain. Once they reached their new home, the whole thing wrapped up nicely. I was actually unimpressed by the "angels" having to explain what happened to Hera and the rest. As for Kara... what the heck? All-in-all, though, I found it to be a fairly satisfying end to what turned out to be a pretty incredible series. Definitely not your old Battlestar.
• Battlestar Galactica: "The Plan" - If you haven't seen the series, there is no way at all you'd ever be able to understand what was happening in this movie. The events are all the same as the series, but from the Cylon point of view, as we see the parallel developments of two of the Cavil models of Cylon, one on Caprica and one on Galactica. As the Cavils realize that the final five have not learned the lesson Cavil wanted to teach them, one of the Cavils becomes more determined than ever to wipe out humanity while the other realizes that the Cylons have made a terrible mistake. This movie is supported by the wonderful acting of Dean Stockwell, who is a master at his craft. A nice finish to the series, but I'm not sure how much it really adds to the mythos.

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This week's movie was First Men in the Moon by Mark Gatiss. On the day of the moon landing in 1969, a young boy meets a very old man who claims to have already traveled to the moon, and has proof in the form of kinematographic recordings that he shows to the boy. This is a low budget movie with Mark Gatiss playing Professor Cavor, the inventor of Cavorite, in a role that was clearly made for him. Rory Kinnear plays Julius Bedford, both as a young man and as the old man in the 1969 framing sequence. The acting is solid, and helps to sell a goofy premise with sometimes dodgy special effects. Overall, a fun little tribute to Well's original.

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This week's comic book related review is Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon. This is a partly text, partly comic novel from the creator of one of my favorite webcomics, Digger. Danny is a young dragon who hasn't yet mastered fire. Danny is going to school and dealing with the normal problems of youth with his best friend, an Iguana named Wendell. Where Wendell is studious and careful, Danny is a bit of a wild slacker. For a report on the oceans, Danny decides to go on a bit of an adventure, and takes Wendell along. This is a great all ages book, with plenty of humor and even a little bit of education snuck in along with the silliness and fun. Definitely recommended.

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My book this week was Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold. I bought the Webscription of this book the instant I knew it was available. That meant I was able to read it before it came out, and I was able to read it in sections, as the chapters were released. And I loved it. Every word made me happy, right up until the last three words. Those last three words (of the main book) actually made me cry. That's something that only an incredible series with years of history and wonderful moments (and tons of rereading) could make happen. It was a true spearpoint moment, made powerful by the long spear shaft of history in this series. Anyone who has read the series will understand. But, the book itself... Miles Vorkosigan is sent to investigate a fishy situation on a planet of people who fear death so much that they have themselves frozen for later revival. Miles gets up to his usual antics, involving the locals and solving multiple problems (both his business and other people's business) as he goes along. The characters are wonderful, the situations unique and fantastic. And Miles is the perfect hero for this story. I highly recommend the entire series, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next book... which will be about Miles cousin, Ivan.

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Past Sunday Reviews -- Comics at Amazon.com -- Previews -- My Wishlist

Doctor Who "Lost" Cold Open from the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

When we watched the Doctor Who episode of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, we were greeted with this opening.

Finally, after a couple of weeks, the original opening was leaked out and made it to YouTube. Enjoy!


Yay!

It's That Time of Year Again!

LEGO Advent time! I didn't manage to get the Castle version like I really wanted, but I got the regular version, and will be opening it each day and blogging it soon after. I'll probably wait until evening, because that way I won't spoil it for anyone who had their own calendar. Kind of like tonight. So, here's day one of the 2010 LEGO Advent Calendar, City version.

I'll note that the tree in the second image is not LEGO or LEGO-related, but it's fun.

Wicked Cool Icicles

CameraPhone Zen for the day. These are some of the icicles I mentioned that Stepford House is growing in our "melt for two or three hours, then freeze again" weather. It looks like we won't get snow for a bit longer this week. That could be very very good, or absolutely terrible. Either way, we have snow on the ground, icy streets, and careful drivers for the most part here in Churchville, so we're not having any weather problems.


Time to hear your tales. What's up with the weather in your parts? Roger reported possibly flooding in Albany. Seattle is wet, I'm told. What about your place in the world (or out of it)?