Bowling

Halfway through the first game, I realized that I was holding the ball incorrectly. It did not add to my experience when I changed my grip.

First Game: 91
Second Game: 92

Team averages: 81 and 100




I got tagged.


Mr. Tremedous, that's me.


All about the shoes.


Yes, that's my pink ball.


Team Primitive.


FPR in action.


Watching the ball.

A Little Bit of Awesome

Hello Kitty on England's Crest!


Let the rampant jingoism continue!

And Clint Dempsey is my hero!

As soon as it came, it was already lame

The Epitome of Douche: "Bros Icing Bros":

"Are you unfamiliar with icing? Are you unfamiliar with the rules of icing? Good. Keep it that way. Because unless you're a freshman pledging Delta Upsilon or some other fucking frat, this game is a complete waste of your time. If CNN is already doing an extensive analysis of it, it's already played out and lame and fucking dumb. You're an adult now. Just fucking drink."

Still Fixated on the Albany Music Thing

Why can't we get Sponge to play?

I mean, if Albany needs music from the mid 90s, why not these guys? 1994 was a great year for them!

TEA and the afternoon

So, even with the broken arm (Wii Related Accident), an afternoon with
a long walk, a trip to the comic book shop, and Indian for dinner
makes this a good day.

Albany and Music

Okay...what the hell is this?

WEQX is throwing a festival in Albany and...Rusted Root is headlining?

Is this a punishment? Did I wake up in 1995? (Why don't I have hair?)

That's it...we need better bands here.

Or at least something like the Concert for Dogs that Lou Reed put on. That would be nice too.

Short Stories for the Sci-Fi Geek

In order to edify the world, another list (and yes, Lemon, this is a cheat).

The Marching Morons - C.M. Kornbluth

A Pail of Air - Fritz Leiber

Beggars in Spain - Nancy Kress

All The Myriad Ways - Larry Niven

Nostalgia 101 - Dean Wesley Smith

Bicycle Repairman - Bruce Sterling

Second Variety - Philip K. Dick

The Sentinel - Arthur C. Clark

Johnny Mnemonic - William Gibson

This is, of course, not a complete list. Please share your favorites or those you think to be required reading.

The Brilliance of Balk

Worth a read, especially if you find this concept as monstrous as hilarious.

Bros Icing Bros And The Fate Of Humanity: A Look Back - The Awl:

"And yet, even at the darkest hour, there was one bright light that helped cut through the gloom: bros icing bros, that playful game where the forced consumption of horrible alcohol imbued our otherwise empty lives with a brief bit of purpose and gaiety. As the weeks wore on and the news brought no relief, Americans from all walks of life began to embrace the phenomenon. It was almost some sort of mass delusion in which society convinced itself that if everyone decided to participate in the icing our problems would mysteriously vanish and life would return to the normality we knew just a few years earlier."

California, Why?

California, you could have done something wise and good. You could have spoken with a voice that rang with clarity.

But Nooooooooo...

You weren't going to elect the wingnut birther thereby making New York look sane in comparison.

Why couldn't you have done that, especially for me? Orly deserved better.

In California Elections, Whitman, Fiorina Win; Orly Taitz Falls Short - Political Hotsheet - CBS News:

"But the anti-incumbent mood wasn't strong enough to help Orly Taitz, the woman best known for questioning whether President Obama is a natural born citizen, in her bid for the GOP nomination for secretary of state. She was defeated by former NFL player Damon Dunn, who now goes on to challenge Democratic Secretary of State Debra Bowen."

An Inside Joke

Oh, Interwebs, you are cruel and dehumanizing.

David Markson

David Markson passed away last week and the Awl just posted a fitting farewell.

An Albany native and Union alum (yes, I did know both of these things before this), Markson wrote things that I couldn't read. His supposed brilliance was beyond me. Not that I am not saying that he was not brilliant, just that I could not see it based on my plebeian tastes. He was one of those authors that I was supposed to love, I just couldn't do it.

RIP David Markson

Anthony Bourdain on Rachel

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I have far too many friends who find this man fascinating. For those of you who did not see this last night, remember that I do care.

So...you want to be a geek?

Part of being a geek is an obsession with pop culture.

To that end, the following is media that I believe is critical for geekiness.

The Five Novels (or series) You Need To Read:

Neuromancer
Dune
Starship Troopers
KSR's Mars Trilogy
Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space Series

(Honorable Mentions: Accelerando & Cryptonomicon)

Five Movies You Need to Own:

Blade Runner
Aliens
2001: A Space Odyssey
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Brazil

(Honorable Mentions: A Clockwork Orange, Alien, Children of Men, Planet of the Apes)

Medical Justification

Seriously.

There may be a medical justification for crazy cat lady behaviors.

I think this proves a number theories that I have always held.
Toxoplasmosis and psychology: A game of cat and mouse | The Economist:

"One reason to suspect this is that a country’s level of Toxoplasma infection seems to be related to the level of neuroticism displayed by its population. Another is that those infected seem to have poor reaction times and are more likely to be involved in road accidents. A third is that they have short attention spans and little interest in seeking out novelty. A fourth, possibly the most worrying, is that those who suffer from schizophrenia are more likely than those who do not to have been exposed to Toxoplasma."

Image via Microscopy U

This would be funny... (Moderately SFW)

if they weren't such bigots and they weren't wielding so much power.



Though, I think "Eat the Poo Poo" will enter my personal lexicon.

Via Facebook

Three Beers

While I was primarily drinking Long Trail IPA, I did have the opportunity to try three beers that were made in and around where I was staying in the Berkshires.



On Friday, with dinner, I had the Opa Opa IPA which was...not good. I barely finished it. Something with it disagreed with me. (And I did have a Utica Club a couple of days previous to this, so...it wasn't me being a snob.)



On Saturday, with lunch, I tried the Berkshire Brewing Company Maibock Lager which was tasty and had a very nice finish. I recommend it as a passable if tasty lager.



With dinner though, I had the Berkshire Brewing Company Lost Sailor IPA which tastes the way that I envision heaven tasting. It was the perfect ale for a warm late spring evening and paired really well with a grilled dinner.

Now that you have heard some of my suggestions and recommendations, what malted beverage do you prefer for the summer?

GBW10

A friendly reminder...

Failure to tip your friendly waitstaff
(even, and especially, if you are just having a water)
will result in
Public Social Correction.

The Great Beer Walk 2010 - Things

As of right now, we have 27 confirmed walkers for the Great Beer Walk with fifty maybes and almost 200 people yet to respond. There are also a couple of plus ones and such.

I would like to have a hard count for the establishments that we are visiting no later than Tuesday, June 15th. Please let me know if you have any plus ones or people who are not using Facebook. (I know, I was as shocked as everyone else.)

As for the suggestions, and Sandor will elaborate on this at some point (and thank him for the logo design), but two things that I would like to insist upon in addition to suggesting; if you are just getting a water, tip the bartender as if they were getting you a beer & if you would like to complain about which venues we are going to or avoiding, please do...just not to me while we are engaging in this activity. The point of this is to have fun and meet new and interesting people as well as have a couple of tasty beverages not to try to out-douche me, because, son, you will lose.

Finally, program the number of a taxi service into your phone now. Work on setting up rides for yourself if you don't live on the route that we are walking and familiarize yourself with the CDTA routes and schedules. As this is going to be happening on an "Alive at Five" night, please remember that the local police departments are extra vigilant...so...why risk it?

The Power of the Anonymous Comment

What kind of person really has the time or energy in their pathetic lives to do this? I picture you as the type of person who has absolutely no social life but to search stories and "rant" about individuals that you really do not know. (*snark) I hope that the future brings you days of better things to do.

Does coming up in a morning round-up of relevent stories count as searching? Does blogging about someone who got popped for prostitution who had a Facebook status that was a) public and b) salacious count as ranting?

Oh yeah, on a posting that was from January...of 2009.

As for the social life, that's probably valid as I an writing this from my mom's basement while reviewing my fantasy soccer picks and watching Star Wars.