1 Revenge is a dish best served on TV

A couple days ago, I was looking for something to watch on my streaming Netflix and in my very random  recommended section was the TV series Revenge.1 I heard some things (not sure if the things were good or not) about the show and I clicked on it figuring worst-case I stop watching after 5 minutes and best case it is good enough to distract my roommate Emily and it causes her to lose to me in Scrabble. However, I soon realized I was wrong because the show is so amazingly ridiculous and over-the-top that it is great to watch. 8 episodes later it continues to be so over-the-top. The basic plot for Revenge is that the...

0 The Hunt

I have been looking for a new job since I knew I was moving to New York. With a brief 4 month hiatus for bar exam preparation and taking, I have been combing the electronic streets of the internet, looking for a job that I am qualified for. At the least, I have been looking for something to get me out of the house. It has been nice to have the luxury of working remotely/from home for the past 10 months, but the allure has worn off. I miss human contact (quite the revelation for an anti-social agoraphobe like me) and I miss the sense of purpose that comes with working. I also would not mind getting paid the going rate for NYC versus Pittsburgh....

0 Happy Holidays

I feel like it's been forever since I have written anything, and looking at the post timeline it has been quite some time. It's hard around the holidays, especially if you are travelling, to keep up to date with blogging. I would feel like a bum or like I was ignoring family if I was sitting there typing away about the weather, about Black Friday or about how the best part of thanksgiving dinner is stuffing (which it is). But now that I have a 3 week hiatus from vacation, I would like to opine about worthless stuff such as books, movies, food, sports, and pop culture tidbits like Taylor Swift's new bf de jo...

0 Thanksgiving Hiatus

Thanksgiving ended up being a difficult time for the Jamie Dixon Cider.  All my homemade apple sauce making and random family activities really cut into my rant making and random thought writing.  I'll be back soon with some nonsense... And to get everyone into the Holiday spirit, a clip from the best man in late night Jimmy Fallon......

0 The Greatest Elimination ever...

This past week on the Challenge, there was the greatest elimination showdown ever. Undersized, love note writing CJ vs. arena football player, HGH using, Thor looking Zach, in a simple game that involved running through each other in a narrow corridor.  You would think that the huge football player would have won easily, but not so fast.  CJ did the impossible and won three straight times and came so close to pulling off the greatest upset ever.  It really needs to be watched to be appreciated.  Now would be the perfect time to include a clip, but it is basically impossible to find any good highlights of the Challenge online....

0 "The Passage"

I just finished The Passage, a post-apocalyptic novel by Justin Cronin. I am not exactly sure how I got turned onto it but I had just finished Cloud Atlas and I was looking for a new fiction book to read. The book is a lengthy read, clocking in at a little under 900 pages, but it went by pretty fast and I finished it in a little over a week. The plot focuses around a virus that the U.S. Army is developing and modifying to create a new super-soldier. Predictably, things go horribly wrong and the test subjects (death row inmates with nothing to lose) are turned into vampire like creatures with enhanced physical and mental powers who infect other...

0 Pitt is it

So I'm following my label-mate, and writing a post about Pitt basketball because I can't think of anything clever or unique. I am going to do a game by game prediction, but not venture into any post-season prognostications. So without further ado, here are my predictions. I am going to start with the first Big East game, since its hard to guess for the early season tournaments and most if not all of the non-conference games are cupcakes. Monday, Dec. 31 *CINCINNATI (ESPN2) Petersen Events Center Noon  WIN (Cincy is a team to watch and Cronin is doing good things. However, the home court advantage, even with Pitt on winter break will carry...

0 Pitt Basketball, I wish I knew how to quit you.

I am the eternal optimist when it comes to Pitt Basketball.  No matter how heart breaking of a loss, I always come back for more. Of the few times that my tear ducts have worked in my adult life, one was caused by the ending of this Pitt game: Ugh. Then there was Pitt vs. Butler in the NCAA tournament, which had probably the dumbest foul in the history of basketball. Ugh. Then last year a CBI-Zebra Pen Championship. Ugh.   Nonetheless, I'm back again this year.  But will this year be any different? This year's team is loaded with what you need to be successful in the NCAA tournament. A veteran point guard with no fear?...

1 2012 Election

The showdown that has been years in the making, Obama vs. Romney, is finally upon us. Billions of dollars have been spent in order to convince the few undecided and independent voters in a few states that Obama or Romney is the right man for the job. At first, I was going to go into a discussion of Obama and Romney, their differences, their similarities, why Obama is good and why Romney is evil alien robot sent to study and destroy humanity. However, I kept on thinking about how much money has been spent in this election. Both campaigns have raised and spent so much.  In Ohio, there was something along the lines of 26 straight political...

1 The election

So the Presidential election is tomorrow if you have been living in a cave for the last 18 months. It comes down to a couple of states. This is my biggest problem with the American system. I live in New York right now. My vote does not matter in the grand presidential scheme of things. New York is a blue state and it will vote for Obama. The 29 electoral votes are his. Basically, President Obama and Private Citizen Romney (Quick segue: I hate when people are called by titles they used to have. If you are no longer coaching football, you should not be called coach. If you are a ex-senator you are not Senator Smith. The only office I could see...

0 Getting old

I tweaked my back a week ago Friday. I am not sure what exactly happened, but I went to the gym on Friday and I was carrying around groceries and a new speaker system and the combination caused my back to start hurting on Friday. This was only exacerbated on Saturday by sitting on our extremely uncomfortable couch. On Sunday morning I woke up and I could barely walk. It felt like a pinched nerve in my back with pain shooting up and down the right side of my body from my lower back to my toes. It slowly got better over the course of the week, thanks to the application of a heating pad and walking around, which seemed to help things. Things like...

0 America's next great sport... The Challenge

There is some reality television that is entertaining in a oh look at that crazy person, who thinks she is allergic to electromagnetic waves living in a cave of France, I'll watch for a little bit way, and then there is the Challenge on MTV. For the uninitiated, the Challenge is a competition pitting former cast members of Real World seasons against each other in random and often ridiculous events (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Challenge_(TV_series). Now you might be thinking, oh what's the big deal just your standard reality TV nonsense but the Challenge takes it to a different level.  Since I really enjoy lists here are just some of...