Two new albums...

I just loaded up my iPod with two great new albums... one by Ben Folds and Late Registration by Kanye West... good stuff.

NJ Carnival of the Bloggers #15

Carnival Number 15!

Welcome to the 15th weekly Carnival of the NJ Bloggers. We are baseball. We are peaches and tomatoes. We are beaches and concerts. We are politics and news. We are New Jersey blogging.

Being the who's-who and the what's-what of New Jersey blogging is all well and good... but this week, I thought I'd try to give us all a more visual picture of where we're writing from and what we're writing about. Using the newly released Google maps API I've tried to build on last week's innovative use of satellite imagery.

Please note that all locations are approximate or even in some cases complete guesses, based on either the subject of the post or the "location" of the blog itself. We're talking about towns and counties, not streets... so if you zoom in all the way on any one post you're not going to see anything that has the least bit to do with the entry... just enjoy the big picture.

I hope I got everybody... I sure did try. You'll have to do some zooming in Hudson and Essex counties to see all the posts... but nothing from Warren county, yet.

Click here to open Carnival Map!

Thanks everyone for blogging this week. I'm sorry that I couldn't post the map directly in my blog... Google just didn't want to cooperate. Also... if the map isn't loading in your browser, please let me know in the comments and I'll post the text-only version in the morning. I'll post a tutorial this week on how I did this... once I figure things out, it wasn't so hard (maybe somebody smarter than me can figure out how to mash up google maps and our RSS feeds to do this in real time...)

Carnival 15

Hi everyone! I'll be hosting the 15th NJ Carnival of the Bloggers... so please fire up your email client and send your submission.

I'd also like to ask that this week you send along either the town that you'd like your blog associated with - or the town that is the subject of the post. Being a huge nerd, I've got to try something slightly different this week...

Carnival 14 is up...

#14 in the NJ Blog Carnival series is up, courtesy of Sloppydawg. Great job this week... and I really love the use of the maps.

Hopefully I can top it next week when I get to host the carnival...

annoying advertising

I read PoliticsNJ pretty much every day, even though it sometimes has some of the most annoying advertisements on the planet.

First there's a banner ad for Commerce Bank that for some unknown reason uses Java (and keeps the page from loading as fast as normal websites) despite being just a plain old still photo... but much worse are those full page splash ads that we've been bombarded with this week.

Aside from being a barrier between me and the content I want to read, is PoliticsNJ really the place for these ads? Is there anyone who reads PoliticsNJ who is going to be influenced by the back and forth splash-page ads arms-race? If you're already reading PoliticsNJ... you've probably already got a pretty solid opinion on these issues anyway... right?

Gas up and win!

Gas up and win!
Originally uploaded by pdcryan.

Now I can't say that a state regulation (or a condition on a state contract, I don't know which) never saved me a little money. It seems that whoenever runs the Parkway reststops is restricted from changing the gas prices... untill tomorrow that is. Gas it while it's hot! The unheard of price of $2.38 for regular is going fast!

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Sent from Ryan's Treo650 mobile device.


UPDATE: I got my first comment spam today... I guess I've hit the big time!

Gold Digger

You can't buy the album yet... but you can listen to Kanye West's new single Gold Digger online. It's a mash up of sorts with the Ray Charles song "I Got a Woman." Good stuff.

I first heard the song on Hot 97 a few weeks ago... then again every day this week. Apparently they just play the same songs at the same time every morning. I guess I'm hooked... payola works.

Moving to the country?

Tris McCall is moving out of Jersey City?

According to The Sold Coast... he might be.

All I have to say is... the grass really is greener west of the Parkway... but maybe not greener than that toxic mold he's brewing up on Grand Street. That's what we like to call... uh... not good.

In other news... The Evening Journal Association, parent company of the Jersey Journal is up 2 3/8 in late morning trading on the news that its biggest competitor... the Jersey City Journal might be closing up shop.

Another Sunday, another Carnival!

Check out the weekly blog-fest here! Get it while it's hot (outside).

What is 'dip it'?

What is 'dip it'?
Originally uploaded by pdcryan.

Can somebody tell me what the heck "dip it" is, and why a whole isle at the A & P is devoted to it? In other news, we're finally moved in and should be back to full out blogging soon!



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Sent from Ryan's Treo650 mobile device.

12th Weekly NJ Carnival of the Bloggers

The Center of NJ Life hosts this week's carnival and does quite a nice job, I might add.

Blogging the Phillies

Blogging the Phillies
Originally uploaded by pdcryan.

Enjoy the view from section 111... right now it's 1-1, bottom of the 8th, Phillies and the Brew crew... More to come.

UPDATE: If you follow the Phillies, even without knowing the score you probably saw this one coming. Well pitched game lost in the end by blundering numbskullery. 3-1 Brewers in 10. Winning runs score on two errors in the same play.
-- Sent from Ryan's Treo650 mobile device.

Digging out

Digging out
Originally uploaded by pdcryan.

So Mary and I have moved to (Upper?) Montclair. We are currently burried under a pile of boxes, but we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. However, if we have to drive to Homedepot, Ikea or The Container Store one more time, I swear it'll be the last trip I make (is there any time of day that rt. 17 isn't completely awefull?)



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Sent from Ryan's Treo650 mobile device.