Despite the nasty weather all weekend, we had a pretty good time. Reagan's brother Nathan and his wife Melanie were in town for business and we were able to hang out. They came in Thursday night, stayed until Sunday morning. Reagan and I both took Friday off, so that we could hang out. We had an awesome visit with Piper on Friday morning. We were able to go to Piper's school with her. It was super cute to see here playing with all of the toys, sitting in her little seat. Here is a video of her playing at school, if you want to check it out.

Later that day, we went to a Knicks game and ate a late dinner at Mamoun's. I ate 3 falafel sandwiches. They were delicious. Saturday, we visited Piper again, then pretty much just hung out, watched movies and stayed up all night laughing.

Labels: Family, Piper, Reagan

I have been a busy nerd for the last 30 hours or so. For a while I have been kind of annoyed with the Blogger setup. HTML seems so boring, when compared to PHP. Plus, I felt like it was kind of annoying, having stuff spread all out over the place. Anyway, last night I started migrating everything onto a new page setup, based on a WP platform. Until I switch this bad boy (jakesnewblog) over to WP, if I ever get around to it, entries from Jake's New Blog, and Reagan's Blob, will automatically appear on www.breinholts.com/, as well. I am still migrating all of the old photos from our photo blog. I don't think that I will import the old posts from there, just because I would have to reformat them all for the new template. But going forward, I will be posting all of the photo album related posts, directly to breinholts.com. Speaking of Reagan's Blob, it is now located at www.reagansblob.com. So, update your bookmarks and feeds. Or you can just add the breinholts.com feed and get all the good stuff for the price of zero.

Why do we continue to keep separate blogs you ask? It isn't because we don't value solidarity. It is because we are two different people. I feel like if we both published to the same page, a lot of the time, only one of us would write about issues that we both have a different perspective on. I personally, really enjoy reading what Reagan has to say about issues, or experiences that we share. I delude myself into thinking that she like reading my inane fluff, as well. I know that last part of this post was a bit random. But, when I was trying to figure out how to consolidate everything last night, the thought crossed my mind. Peace in the Middle East (and I don't mean Kansas).

Labels: blogs, Nerdy stuff, Reagan

I snapped this shot last night when I was leaving work. It is the Woolworth building, all lit up to commemorate Veterans' Day. I have to say that I am kind of annoyed with blogger.com, these days. It used to automatically size photos when I posted them, even if I was hosting them somewhere else. Now, I have to do all of that manually. I wonder why on earth they would roll out an update that makes things less automated. Doesn't that seem like regression? Anyway, I have been looking for an excuse to just move everything into a wordpress format for a while. This maybe it. I just have to wait for a night when Reagan is purging the DVR, so she doesn't complain about me being locked in the office working on the computer all night, hahahaha.

Labels: downtown, financial district, Nerdy stuff, NYC

My aunt made an interesting comment in an article she wrote recently. She stated that, being a child of the 60's she hadn't really had the same appreciation and respect for our soldiers, as previous generations had. Obviously the Vietnam war had tainted her point of view on the issue. She went on to say that she had developed an appreciation, after having read some experiences of soldiers in combat. Upon reading her article, I started to wonder if I and members of my generation, or more current generations also lacked respect and appreciation for the soldiers who go to battle representing our country.

I recently had some family visiting, here in New York when this subject came up again. Why was the WWII generation, the greatest generation ever? Why weren't there ticker tape parades when the troops returned from the Korean War? It really is hard to say. For me personally, I have deep respect for those members of our armed forces who bravely execute the orders given by our leaders. This isn't to say that I always agree with the decisions made by our leaders, because I rarely do these days. I would never fault the soldier though, for carrying out orders that I don't understand. In fact, I respect them all the more, for maintaining the integrity of the system, instead of backbiting in insubordination. It seems like in the days of WWII, it was pretty clear that our soldiers really were fighting to defend liberty, freedom, etc.. If that is still the case, it certainly isn't so clear cut anymore.

I will say that I agree with the moniker "the greatest generation," which the WWII generation is now known by. I have had the privilege of a personal relationship with my grandfather, D.V. Breinholt (pictured in the lower-left, above), since I was born. As cheesy as modern media may attempt to portray it, there was a different level of respect, moral character and sense of duty, that seemed to be inherently part of being a member of that generation. My grandfather has been, and is still, a core example of these attributes. Thank the powers above, that the greatest generation was the one to answer the call when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I truly believe that God was on the side of the allies, during that war. Not only because they were fighting against such harmful and oppressive forces, but because of the integrity and ideals that they represented and believed. I know that I'm dragging on a little bit, but as much of a cynic as I tend to be, I really cannot express my gratitude enough, for those who at any time have risked their lives in the name of the country I live in.

Labels: Holiday, politics, veterans day, War

Last time, I mentioned that in my Jr. high days, one of the bands I discovered on KJQ was the Cure. To be honest, they were kind of a guilty pleasure. I felt uncomfortable every time I saw a picture of Robert Smith, the band's front man. He was as dedicated to his stage makeup as Gene Simmons, only, with a Richard Simmons flare. As this picture shows, he wasn't always so wrapped up in the whole Gothic persona that prevailed in the early 90's. The Cure actually got started in 1976, in Sussex England. The early tracks that the band produced actually resembled prevalent punk sound, like that of Johnny Rotten. Even Smith's voice had not yet developed that over the top whiny melancholic quality.

You can hear what I mean in the track that I'm sharing today. It was a studio demo of a song that I'm not sure ever made it onto a proper album. I don't really know much about the date it was written or recorded. I really like this song though. In fact, I think that it is probably my favorite song by the Cure. It's called, "I want to be old". Check it out.

Labels: Cure, Music, Musica Coolica

I came home last night, and these bulletins were taped to the front door of the building, as well as to the wall next to the mailboxes. The funny part is that Reagan has been asking for a guinea pig for a while. I think that it is partly a joke. Anyway, the she wants a black one, if she gets one. But I thought it was super thoughtful of Fluffy's soon to be former owner, to print the notice in English and Spanish. I also thought that the photo was a pretty impressive shot. You can tell that Fluffy is a pretty content little guy/girl. I hope that he/she is able to find equal satisfaction with a new owner.

Labels: deep thought

Today I was checking the snow conditions at the local resort (which shall remain nameless, out of respect for the weak), to which we have already purchased lift tickets this season. I was excited to read a little article that said they already had a 2" base. Just out of curiosity, I decided to see how Snowbird was doing so far this season. Let's see, they have had 52" of snow this season, so far. They currently have a 23" base with 3"s fresh in the last 24 hours. Remind me again, what I'm doing out here?

Labels: snowboarding, weather

I have been a bit backed up with the video uploading for a while. So I sat down tonight and tried to get up to speed. The one below is of my little niece Maya dancing at night in Central Park. It is kinda dark, but you can get the idea. The video below was actually a result of this one, which was Reagan giving a dance lesson to Maya.


Maya dancing in Central Park from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.

Part of the reason that I was motivated to post this stuff tonight, is because we got some pretty cute video of Piper this weekend. You can check it out here.

Labels: Family, Piper, Reagan, videos

I'm not quite sure what the appropriate way to begin this post would be. I probably should have made an outline or something beforehand. Since I didn't, I apologize in advance for the scattered, and most likely disconnected manner in which this post will turn out.

Now that the preface is out of the way, here is the meat. I am a bit of an audiophile. I have been since I was pretty young. When I was very young (kindergartenesque) I used to fall asleep listening to the radio. Back then I was listening to Power 99 and KISN 97. These two stations played pop/rock music in Salt Lake City in the 80's. I was into Madonna, Debbie Gibson, Michael Jackson, Christopher Cross, you get the idea. I collected 8 tracks, vynil, cassette tapes, CDS and now .mp3s.

My taste in music has, of course, changed over the years. When I was in 6th or 7th grade, much to my parents' chagrin, I was introduced to the 90's "alternative" genre. It started when I discovered a radio station called KJQN or "KJQ." When I first started listening, the station didn't come in very clearly in south Salt Lake valley, where I was living at the time. So it was always a little bit staticky. For me putting up with the static was well worth being able to hear songs like Gary Neuman's "Cars," and "Our house in the middle of the street," by Madness. Not to mention, all of my favorite Depeche Mode, Cure and English Beat songs. Later KJQ became X-96, "alternative" became mainstream, and hip hop came into vogue. I never really got into the hair bands. I think mostly it was because of this one fat kid that I hated in elementary school, who always wore a Warrant, "cherry pie" shirt. That, coupled with the unspoken standing dispute (90's version of a "beef") that existed between Kurt Cobain, who I idolized, and Axl Rose, who I despised. What kind of name is Axl, anyway? Axel, ok. But Axl? Wannabe toughguy with an ego the size of the arenas he played in, that was Axl.

Back to the subject... Over the years I have broadened out quite a bit in taste (although I still can't stand the hairband arena stuff), and have amassed a fairly eclectic stack of tracks. From time to time, people inquire about some of the tunes in my collection. I don't consider myself an expert or uberknowledgable in obscure music, by any means. But I do have a passion for for the stuff. So, in the off chance that one, or even possibly some reader(s) of my ramblings has/have dovetailing, or even slightly overlapping taste in music, with me, I had this idea. "What is the idea?", you may be wondering (if you are still reading). Well, I thought that I would occasionally write a "La Musica Coolica" post (the name is lacking, I know), in which I will link to a streaming track of my choice that I felt inspired to share. I had this idea today while straphanging on the A line, with someone's handbag constantly jabbing me in the leg. As the annoy-o-meter was rising and rising, "Personal Space Invader" started playing in my headphones. It was like poetry. It is like the anthem of the rush hour subway rider. So I decided that I would make my first Musica Coolica post about that song.

You may remember Sugar Ray. Although they have all but fallen off of the map, front man Mark McGrath still shows up now and then. The song "Personal Space Invader" is a track off of their album 14:59. The title of this album was commentary on all of the critics claims that "Fly," a song from their previous album, which had received heavy rotation would render the band a one-hit wonder. "14:59" was to say that the 15 minutes of fame had not yet expired. Clever. The song, "Personal Space Invader" is not completely characteristic of the normal Sugar Ray sound. In fact, it is reminiscent of Modernized DEVO. Speaking of DEVO, I want to say a little more about them in a minute. Even though the hook is a lot like DEVO, especially how they kind of get all fake computery, the chorus has plenty of heavy guitar and good melody. For these reasons, I dig it. Here is the link to Sugar Ray's "Personal Space Invader." It is encoded as a streaming .m3u file, in hopes to preempt any sort of proprietary issues. I'm not sure that it will work in Safari, or on a Mac at all (let me know if it does). Give it a listen.


As an almost completely off-topic side note: A couple of weekends ago, when we were at the MOMA for the VanGogh exhibit. We wandered through a couple of other exhibits. One of them dealt with music in the 6o's and early 70's. They had this DEVO video playing that cracked me up. It is a cover of "Secret Agent Man," filmed in 1975. The best part is the keyboard player's dancing. He is wearing a baby mask, and at 1:38 he does the most hilarious moves with his arms. I embedded it below if you want to check it.

Labels: Devo, Music, Musica Coolica, Sugar Ray

I stumbled upon this site the other day when I was looking up race results. It has race results compiled by athlete name. I searched my name and all of my results came up. Even my corporate challenge results, hahaha. Anyway, Reagan and I spent an evening browsing this site looking up all of our local homies who also run. Pretty much everyone was on there. So, I think that it would be cool if some other local peeps that we know subscribed. That way, we could coordinate outings, races etc. Plus, Reagan would like to have someone to add to her "rivals" section. Hahahha. Anyway, It is definitely worth checking out, in my opinion.

Labels: race, running, web

A little premature, I know. But for me, as the end of the year approaches, I tend to start looking back and trying to pickout, what, if anything, I have accomplished over the past year. I get annoyed when people decorate for Christmas before Thanksgiving (even more annoying before Halloween). But I guess that I fall into that camp of offenders this year. Not as much, or actually at all, on the part of premature decorating decorating. But as far as the "look back and reflect on the past year" department goes, I'm guilty. I'm not really sure why I'm finding myself to be so pensive, so early this year. Maybe because it is general election year. Maybe because half of the friends I worked with, I no longer work with. Whatever the reason is, it hasn't been a disappoining thing, which is nice. I feel like I accomplished a lot this year. Not as much as I had hoped. But when is that ever the case? As soon as I am able to organize my thoughts, and it is a little bit more timely, I will probably share some of them. In the meantime, here is a
pre-Obamastockmarketcrashmassivelayoff picture of Reagan and I, taken last December.

Labels: deep thought, Reagan

I promise, this will be the last post about college football until Nov. 22, or thereabouts. Not to belabor the point, but last night was a pretty exciting game, for having such an incredibly low score. Both teams exhibited some seriously impressive defense. As I mentioned before, I feel like Utah's team empirically would do like the Mets and fold in a clutch situation. But three times this season, I have watched them come back and win the game, with 2 minutes or less, of play remaining. Last night was one of these times. The fact that TCU missed 2 short field goal attempts made it possible. But hey, I'll take it.

Labels: college football, Utah, utes