There’s nothing to be done about the ice dams on the roof. Everybody in this region with a house that’s not insulated perfectly underneath the roof has this problem. There’s water coming down along where the finished porch in back meets the house, and it was starting to get into my office in the basement, but it stopped after I stacked plywood boards on top of a long piece of 2×4 that’s leaning against the house. It seems to be helping direct the water away from the foundation. The only thing left to do is forget about it, with the help of Kahlua and chocolate milk.
Any Darn way to read Ayn Rand
Denro points out that comic book artist Joe Staton has illustrated a graphic novel adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novella Anthem. I’ve read The Fountainhead, and every single page of Atlas Shrugged too (well, maybe I skipped a few in John Galt’s redundant 60-page diatribe), but I have never read Anthem. Amazon has it for only $8.44 — less than the Kindle version.
Joe’s a busy guy, because he’s taking over the art chores for the classic comic strip Dick Tracy, although I’m sure for Joe it won’t be a chore, but a labor of love. I’m loving the revamped look. Bring back the Moon Maid and the flying garbage cans!
A Little notice
Multi-talented Annie Little says she has a “short but sweet” role on The Mentalist tonight! Here’s Annie hanging out and goofing around with her partner in life and music, Marcus Ashley.
Follow-up: Short and sweet? Annie gets shot!
Go Roku!
I’ve seen Netflix Watch Instantly as done by Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, and I think Roku still has the best streaming player. Roku was also the first Netflix player. tastewar found this video interview with Roku founder Anthony Wood, who’s more of a Woz type than a Jobs.
TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar
Turner Classic Movies — the #1 reason to keep cable TV — has started a 31 days of Oscar series. Here’s the schedule. Tonight they had a nice profile of film historian Kevin Brownlow, who has won an honorary Oscar. Knowing there’s been some contact between TCM and Brownlow gives me hope that Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film will someday be released on DVD.
Taxes and snow
Tax time is here. Argh. Yesterday, I downloaded TurboTax and installed it, after clicking on a promotion for returning customers that promised a free copy of Quicken. Microsoft has discontinued its Money program, so I figured I’d go for it. But when I got to Intuit’s site there was no mention of my free copy of Quicken, and after completing the purchase there was still nothing, so I’ll have to bug them about that. Argh.
Follow-up: I logged back onto Intuit’s site, and now there’s a redeem link.
We already have a lot of snow, over five feet of it, with not much melting. I got out and did some cross-country skiing, and I wanted to do more, but with the promise of another 20+ inches coming tomorrow and Wednesday, I’m not very enthused about anything to do with snow.
I’m worried about the weight of the snow on the front and back porches, where the roofs aren’t supported as well as on the house itself. So I borrowed a snow rake from my friend across the street and got to work. In back of the house, on one side of the porch, I couldn’t reach very far up, but I was able to clear the other side completely because I could stand on the deck. In front the roof is much lower, and I needed to be up high and far back to get a good angle. To do that I got clever and used a couple of pieces of plywood so I could climb onto the pile of snow next to the front walk.
We’re getting low on rock salt, and there’s no de-icer of any sort to be found, but other than that I’m as ready as I can be. I’ll get up extra early in the morning to see how things look.