Alison's Away Message, #6

"it's funny to see the mexicans with their little american flags going to see the fireworks... like it was THEIR independence... stupid heads."

Happy July 4th!

Labels: Alison, Humor, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 1:52 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

I Get It Now

So, I've been fretting just a little that I'm starting to approach the big 3-0 and I don't appear to be on the marriage track. But now I understand why:



It's all so clear now!

Labels: Humor, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:29 AM Trackback Link 1 comments links to this post

Wedding Bells Are in the Air

I'm off today to Daniel's wedding in New Jersey.

Mazel Tov, Daniel and Becky!

Labels: Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:30 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

STP! STP! STP!

Ari's getting married in two months, and he and I did a bachelor tour this weekend... We saw Stone Temple Pilots at two festivals, the first on Saturday night in downtown Kansas City and the second on the outskirts of St. Louis. The shows were great, and we had a good time. STP is clearly back in form and enjoying themselves after nearly six years apart.

Scott Weiland was clearly going for a Jack-Nicholson-as-the-Joker look...



They played the same setlist twice:

• Big Empty
  
• Wicked Garden
  
• Big Bang Baby
  
• Vasoline
  
• Lady Picture Show
  
• Lounge Fly
  
• Crackerman
  
• Sour Girl
  
• Creep
  
• Plush
  
• Interstate Love Song
  
• Coma
  
• Down
  
• Sin
  
• Some jam I didn't recognize that sounded like a James Brown tune
  
• Sex Type Thing
  
• Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart
  
• Dead & Bloated
  

Good setlist, but no real surprises. Greatest hits, basically.

Labels: Music, Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 1:16 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Taking a Break

Now that we have our nominees, I'm going to take a month off from politics online and in real life to get a bit of a breather. I'm hoping that by the time I start following again, Obama is up 10 points.

Fingers crossed...

Labels: 2008 Election, Democratic Party, Personal, Politics, Republican Party

posted by jbrzoska @ 6:52 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Zohan

Saw it tonight in St. Louis (part of Ari's bachelor thingie)... not as bad as I thought. Some genuinely funny moments, to be sure.

My question is, if I didn't have a Jewish background, would I have understood 75% of the humor?

Labels: Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 2:22 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Facebook Peeve

For whatever reason, it bugs me when people use pictures of their kids as their Facebook profile picture.

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 8:38 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Newark Sweet Newark

How many times in the last year have I been stuck in Newark Airport for three hours or more? Chalk up another.

And THIS time, they're charging me $25 each way for the additional bag I couldn't retrieve if I decided I want to drive to Albany.

This happens every time. It really would be faster if Continental replaced the plane from Newark to Albany with a bus.

Something is seriously wrong with this system.

Labels: Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 6:52 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Sign O'il the Times

Was filling up my tank today before heading to the airport in Phoenix, and this woman in her 30s came up to me asking for gas money...

She didn't seem poor or anything -- she was driving a kempt mid-90s Saturn.

I gave her five bucks.

Are we going to be seeing more of this sort of thing as gas prices go up? I noticed in L.A. that diesel, for instance, is well over five dollars a gallon everywhere.

In other news, Daniel is a child...



Yes, he paged me for no apparent reason.

Labels: Economy, Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:47 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

All Over the Place!

Just a quick post before hopping a plane from Charlotte to Phoenix -- I'm going to be in a lot of places over the next 10 days or so -- Phoenix, Tucson, LA, DC, NYC, Kansas City, and St. Louis.

Labels: Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 11:05 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

The Train, Boss, the Train...

For the third time since last Wednesday, I'm on Amtrak to NYC (got a last-minute invite to the annual Hillel gala and I've been told the food's going to be great!). I've really gained an appreciation for public transit in the last year or so. It's still a shame we don't have a high-speed rail between Albany and NYC; a European/Asian-style train would do the trip in an hour as opposed to two and a half. Unfortunately, Americans don't have much of a taste for trains and buses, and it really shows in our lack of such infrastructure.

Molly Ivors over at Whiskey Fire just did her first post in a summer-long series on the topic.

Speaking of Amtrak, the Herrick St. bridge in Rensselaer (the one that goes up to the train station) has been closed for a couple of weeks now. What does it say about the quality of the construction that they're doing bridge work only five years after the bridge opened?

UPDATE (10:34 AM): The train gets more and more attractive in light of stories like this:

American Airlines said Wednesday it will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices. The nation's largest carrier said the fee for the first checked bag starts June 15 and that it would raise other fees for services ranging from reservation help to oversized bags.

American plans to cut domestic flight capacity by 11 percent to 12 percent in the fourth quarter. American had previously expected fourth-quarter capacity to fall 4.6 percent from the same period in 2007.

Labels: Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:24 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Random Dog Blogging

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!

Labels: Humor, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 5:01 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Radiohead Is Awesome (Duh)

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!)

Labels: Music, Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 12:48 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Not One of Those Weeks

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!

Labels: Personal, Travel

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:53 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Paddled Soundly

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...

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 4:24 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

I Hate Flying

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.

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 9:53 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

I Won My Match!

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).

Labels: Personal, Sports

posted by jbrzoska @ 12:06 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Favre's Done and I'm Old

(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.

Labels: Personal, Sports

posted by jbrzoska @ 1:30 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Crappy Birthday

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...

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 1:22 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Another Friday Night...

... 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?

Labels: Albany, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 6:53 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

I GOT RADIOHEAD TICKETS!

May 11th, Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA.

YES!

That is all...

Labels: Music, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 10:40 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

More V-Day Poetry from the Ballas

From Pete:

Alas, my Jewish brothas,
Valentine's Day is for us others,
May your ballers be enough,
as for me it will be tough,
to get my butt there tonite,
cause yes it might start a fight,
even though yesterday was hump day,
nothing ever outdoes Valentine's Day!!
HUBBA HUBBA to All,
Have fun at B-Ball!!

Labels: Humor, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 2:27 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Valentine Poem

From Paul on my Jewball listserv, regarding tonight's pickup game:

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
St. Valentine was not a Jew
So be at basketball tonight
It will only be a small fight
In two days things will be alright.

To all my none Jewish friends
I do not discriminate
Give her dinner & flowers
On your very early date
And get your butts to the court
So we can have at least eight.

Labels: Humor, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 11:43 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

A Sign the Rap-pocalypse is Upon Us

that sampled the Steely Dan line from Kid Charlemagne, "Did you realize, that you were a champion in their eyes..."

Is nothing sacred anymore? Steely Dan as a rap sample? Though I guess I heard a rap song sample Black Cow some time about ten years ago...

Also, in a sign that I'm old, I have to admit that it was the first time I'd even heard a Kanye West song!

In another sign that I'm getting old (aside from the back pain and the fact that my masseusse told me today that I might be on my way to something called Frozen Shoulder if I'm not careful), it hit me this week that the first time I heard Dave Matthews Band was fifteen years ago! Jesus, I'm geriatric.

Labels: Music, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 8:15 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

My First Bingo

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 11:05 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

They Can Do That?

I just left my apartment to get lunch, and on my way out, checked my snailmailbox...

There was an envelope in there from Montgomery County, Maryland... apparently, a radar gun last month caught me doing 44 in a 30 in Chevy Chase.

Seems really Big Brotherish to me...

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 4:01 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Setback

Day 2 post-wisdom-teeth extraction wasn't so bad... I was able to function just fine on just a bit of ibuprofen.

Unfortunately, not today. I find myself using narcotic painkillers for something other than recreational use -- how lame!

Labels: Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 3:39 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

They Made Me a Monster!

Keeping the swelling down...

Labels: Humor, Personal

posted by jbrzoska @ 9:04 PM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post

Here's to Random Foods

This one's for Kevin...

So, for those of you who don't know (and a lot of you do because I've been bitching about it for weeks), I'm getting all four wisdom teeth out on Thursday morning.

I don't know what that's going to do to my eating abilities over the next few days, but I'm assuming I'll be drinking shakes for most of the next week. So, I'm eating whatever the heck I want tonight. And what's that? Twix, Doritos, and scotch...

I was a little iffy on these particular Twix... I came home to find that I bought the newfangled peanut butter Twix instead of the caramel ones, and yelled, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" when I realized it. But, y'know, they're almost indistinguishable from the originals.

The Doritos are Cool Ranch, always a good choice; and boy, do I like my Johnnie Walker Black Label.

And man, I just cannot stop watching The Wire. I've plowed through three-plus seasons in like two weeks.

And that's my life...

Labels: Personal, TV

posted by jbrzoska @ 12:13 AM Trackback Link 0 comments links to this post