Jason Brzoska

Random Dog Blogging

2008-05-14T17:01:00.003-04:00

Riding home on the train... thought I'd share this nice picture of Mickey and Lily, my mom's two dogs. They usually don't get along that well -- little Lily steals poor Mickey's food and bullies him around, but look where we caught them when they thought we weren't looking!

Radiohead Is Awesome (Duh)

2008-05-14T12:48:00.000-04:00

Great show in Virginia! It was downpouring torrentially all night, and people were turned away from the show because the roads were so bad, but we made it in. Good setlist -- they played the entire new album.

Here's a clip I shot (my first YouTube!) of them performing Jigsaw Falling Into Place (someone posted a full version here:

I'm in NYC today, home tonight, NYC again Monday, NYC again next Thursday, and then I head out West on Memorial Day. (Whew!)

Hillary's Case in Five Minutes

2008-05-11T09:52:00.002-04:00

Amy Poehler does an awful Hillary Clinton (not surprising as Saturday Night Live has been terrible for going on fifteen years), but she manages to sum up Clinton's arguments pretty succinctly.

By the way I'm down in DC for the next couple of days, home on Tuesday, and in NYC on Wednesday.

Not Sleeping in the City That Doesn't Sleep

2008-05-07T00:38:00.003-04:00

Obama defeated Hillary handily in NC, and still stands a chance of pulling off an upset in Indiana. If he wins that, I think she'll concede tomorrow. I want to see what happens, but I need to get up early in the morning for a meeting in Midtown. Dilemmas, dilemmas...

Frustrated by PA

2008-04-23T11:44:00.002-04:00

9.5 points? That means nothing. Obama still has an insurmountable delegate lead, but Clinton will stay in because she's playing by her own rules.

We've Missed You, John

2008-04-21T00:37:00.001-04:00

Not One of Those Weeks

2008-04-20T10:53:00.002-04:00

I haven't had a lot of time to post this week. I was in Baltimore and DC for a lot of it and was exhausted when I got home.

One thing to report, though. Most weeks, I don't walk down the street and run into the Pope. This, however, was one of the weeks where I did. I got to see the Popemobile and everything!

Here Comes McCain Again

2008-04-11T00:41:00.003-04:00

Video #2 from the McCain Girls... it's been tough to find because YouTube took it down, but I dug it up again for the time being.

Are they for real? I still don't know. My guess is now probably not, but either way, they're a political phenomenon. Either they think they're doing something to help their candidate and are so unbelievably mistaken, or it's an incredible piece of subversive reverse psychology, demonstrating just how square John McCain is -- it really fits in with his geezerness.

The Boys Are Back...

2008-04-08T20:42:00.002-04:00

STP played together for the first time in over five years last night, and they're starting a 65-show tour before recording a new album. It made my summer, and on top of the Radiohead and Pearl Jam are touring.

Best band ever? They're in the running...

Quote of the Month

2008-04-08T01:12:00.001-04:00

Seriously:

"Now I can pry the gun away!"

D-Day is awesome sometimes.... actually, a lot.

Paddled Soundly

2008-04-05T16:24:00.002-04:00

Last tennis match of the season, and it was an ass-kicking. The guy I played was much better than me, and he beat me 6-2, 6-0. Ouch.

And, to add injury to insult, in a practice set afterward, I managed to smack myself in the bridge of the nose really hard with my racquet. Ouch!

Tennis season's over! Softball practice starts tomorrow...

I Hate Flying

2008-03-28T09:53:00.001-04:00

But you knew that.

On my way to sunny Jacksonville.

What am I doing while I'm stuck in the airport for four hours?

Reading Phil Nugent. You should too.

Falling Into the Third World

2008-03-21T21:16:00.001-04:00

I Won My Match!

2008-03-16T00:06:00.005-04:00

I am tremendously antisocial right now... I could've spent the last two nights out on the town, and instead am completely glued to Six Feet Under.

Oh well, during the few hours I managed to get myself out of the house, I had my weekly tennis match. I just joined a USTA league, and I've gotten my butt kicked in two singles matches and one doubles match -- I didn't even win one set in the three matches! I just didn't appear to be ready for prime time. In the singles matches, I'd been playing in the #2 slot, which was the lower seed. Today, the #1 didn't show up, so I had to play #1. I figured that it would be another ass-kicking, maybe even worse than the other matches (though that would barely be possible).

But, in a miracle on ice, I mean hardcourt, it didn't play out that way. My opponent had a really, really nasty serve -- he aced me on the first two serves of the match, and it seemed hopeless. However, he was a really, really erratic player, with no real strategy, and didn't have many other court skills other than that serve to speak of... and as I learned to handle the serve and as it slowed down, his advantage dwindled. I played him to a tiebreaker in the first set, but I lost it. In the second set, I went up 3-1 before he won three straight games and took a 4-3 lead. I then proceeded to win the last three games of the set, and we went to a ten-point tiebreaker for the third set.

I won the first two points of the tiebreaker, and then he took the next three. I tied it up at 4-4, but then he took the next four to put me on the ropes at 4-8. The adrenaline must've kicked in, however, and I could suddenly do no wrong. I played him to a 9-8 lead, and then after a 20+ shot totally defensive rally, my opponent put a shot into the net. Final count, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 1-0 (10-8). Go me!

In other sports news, Kaz Matsui has the best player card ever at the moment (h/t K-Hole).

Not on the List

2008-03-15T01:23:00.003-04:00

Forbes has released its list of top 10 "up-and-coming tech cities." Despite all of the money we've been throwing at nanotech, AMD, and everything else tech, Albany didn't make the Top 10.

Not such a great return on investment... so much for "Tech Valley."

Hillary in the House... Hillary in the White House!

2008-03-14T22:06:00.001-04:00

Another "shining" example of a viral campaign video from the Clinton campaign:

In what world is a video like this going to make people FOR the candidate it represents?

A John From Day One...

2008-03-10T14:30:00.003-04:00

(Posting from NYC today)

Eliot Spitzer likes hookers.

That is all.

(hat tip to Marji)

UPDATE: Spitzer's statement:

OK, No More Hillary

2008-03-09T03:27:00.000-04:00

I've had enough of crap like this:

One Clinton aide yesterday derided Mr Obama’s victories in "boutique" caucus states rather than the hardscrabble terrain of the rustbelt, saying: "Obama has won the small caucus states with the latte-sipping crowd. They don’t need a president, they need a feeling."

She sounds just like a Republican. She's doing it over and over again.

I just wish Obama would do a better job of fighting back, which is what I was worrying about in the first place with him. We'll see!

Favre's Done and I'm Old

2008-03-07T01:30:00.002-05:00

(Posted from Richmond, CA, outside of San Francisco)

So, Brett Favre retired today... I still remember his first game with Green Bay ('91? '92?); he came in for Don Majikowski and just looked special... I remember thinking to myself, "This young guy's going to be good. There's just no way he isn't." And then I made a point of watching his next game.

I was like 11 years old then. Now the dude is old, gray, and crying at his retirement press conference... I'm ancient.

True Patriotism

2008-03-04T21:43:00.002-05:00

(Posting from sunny Los Angeles today)

(hat tip, Balloon Juice)

Totally, Totally, Totally

2008-03-01T20:51:00.003-05:00

Heading out for the night, but I figured I'd share a pretty good coach meltdown with y'all:

O-BA-MA!

2008-03-01T11:03:00.002-05:00

Listen, I like the guy and all, but does this feel a little cultish to you?

In the meantime, Clinton shows what an asshole she can be:

I like Sadly, No!'s response to this.

Why Don't You Give a F**k? -- Don Siegelman Is In Prison

2008-02-28T20:38:00.003-05:00

A must-watch:

The former governor of Alabama, Don Siegelman, is sitting in jail because of a Republican vendetta. The judge, who has a personal rivalry with Siegelman, is keeping him from appealing. The U.S. Department of Justice is complicit.

Up until now, the story hadn't gotten a lot of play. But 60 Minutes just aired the sordid story in all of its sordid glory... but I haven't seen or heard much outside of the blogosphere.

So, why don't you give a f**k?

UPDATE: Kagro X at DKos explains why this is relevant to you.

Crappy Birthday

2008-02-28T13:22:00.002-05:00

For the third time in the last six years, I'm sick on my birthday. Not as sick as I've been on past birthdays, but to be on the safe side after mono, I'm spending it conked out on Benadryl...

Another Friday Night...

2008-02-22T18:53:00.000-05:00

... another dinner at the wine bar (OK, I'll use the proper name, The Wine Bar and Bistro on Lark). Cavendish Quail and escargot tonight -- really delicious.

Speaking of the wine bar, Kevin's trying to get permission from the neighborhood associations to open the place up on Sundays and to keep it open until 2 AM (it currently closes every night at midnight). He's got my support. There's no reason that he should have to kick a full bar of people out at midnight now that he actually has a full bar! There's not a lot on this section of Lark St. (Bomber's up to Washington Ave.) that is open past midnight other than Elda's and Romeo's, and the wine bar doesn't exactly attract a rambunctious crowd.

In other Albany news, how did I miss this blog?