10 Thoughts for September 13, 2014

At peak

1. Awesome animated series: Rick and Morty.  Binge-watched and enjoyed, using Chromecast, of course.  Hilarious stuff!  Don't miss out at the end of each show following the credits.  Soooo good.
2. Nope, the Aurora Borealis did not dip down to Oregon.  I was watching the tracking online and it peaked hours before it got dark in Oregon.  The best, strongest and most spectacular light show in years, was over Europe.  By the time the optimal period - directly opposite of the sun -- hit Oregon, the hot spot had died down, sadly.  I didn't even bother to drive anywhere because it had dissipated by sunset.  It's all a matter of (poor) timing.
3. Since we -- in the US -- didn't get to see it, here's the NOAA Aurora Spotters Flickr page of some images of the spectacular light show from Europe.
4. ESPN is still trying to milk the Pat Haden incident for all it's worth, and at this point they're just dragging themselves through the mud.  Ed Cunningham actually compared Arkansas AD Jeff Long's feet-dragging on firing Bobby Petrino (following Petrino's motorcycle accident which revealed his mistress -- another coach at Arkansas), to Pat Haden's actions.  That's below pathetic.
5. USC forgot to board the plane to Massachusetts, and so the school decided to use a bunch of JV footballers to play against Boston College, I think.  Just when you thought it was okay to go outside with your USC shirt...the team lays a rotten egg.
6. I got my Zyxel NAS box on Friday, and I have to say that I'm a little disappointed that the box is plastic.  I guess I got spoiled by the aluminum form factor of my external drives from Fantom.  I haven't yet bought hard drives to fill it up, though; I'm keeping track of 5TB drive prices.
7. Recently watched "Return of Sabata" starring Lee Van Cleef.  Like Quentin Tarantino, I adore spaghetti westerns and samurai flicks.  I own every Clint Eastwood classic.  Anyway, I mention Return of Sabata because it includes actress Annabella Incontrera, who I think is very attractive.  There's an innocence and vulnerability in her face that I like.
8. Speaking of spaghetti westerns, did you know what most of them were Italian and usually filmed in Spain and Italy, including famous Sergio Leone's trilogy with Clint Eastwood (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly).  In Italy they were filmed at Cinecittà Studios, a world-famous location with full-size sets of ancient Rome.  I know, right?  Such arcane knowledge.
9. Best -- free -- sketching app for Android / iPad?  It's a tossup between Autodesk's Sketchbook Express and Wacom's Bamboo Paper.  Bamboo Paper succeeds in its simplicity, but the Android app lacks the colors and tools available for iOS.  Sketchbook Express is a solid tool with lots of controls, but those controls tend to get in the way of drawing.
10. Still playing Line Ninja Strikers.  Still can't seem to get a single 6-star ninja despite using up 90 gems collected from completing several quests.  I've got 15 5-star ninjas, if you can imagine.  My highest score -- 800K -- and I could see everyone below me had at least one 6-star ninja.  With even a single 6-star ninja, I bet I would make everyone else look silly.  Give me two 6-star ninjas and I'd completely dominate.  Oh, but wait, Line wants people to spend money on in-app purchases -- of course they won't let me get a 6-star ninja!  Nothing worse than someone who hasn't spent a dime on their app, to beat out thousands of others who have spent $20+ to get their 6-star ninjas.  But don't worry because I'll get there, and when I do, I will destroy everyone in my wake while letting out a Dr. Evil laugh.