tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56119972011-04-21T22:32:00.049-04:00Pardon the url tag (implying that I may be a genius), but this website was originally known as "Jay Benjamin Drezner is an unrecognized genius" and was written by my brother as a birthday gift. Since then, I've tried to turn this site into a personal log of news and observations from a Yank living in Australia and has now moved back to the US.Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.comBlogger841100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1121111030826020712005-07-11T15:24:00.000-04:002005-07-11T15:43:50.866-04:00

All good things come to an end, and more accurately, most bad things end even quicker. Using that theory, I have decided that it is time to end my blog in a blaze of glory (OK, more like a little whimper).Why make such a decision? My rationale is as follows:1) As we're approaching my birthday, and coincidentally, the second anniversary of my blog's creation, I realize that my frequency of posting

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1116960248675715472005-05-24T14:29:00.000-04:002005-05-24T14:44:08.696-04:00

Well, for those who have visited in the past several months and were wondering why I wasn't posting anything, there are several possible theories:1) I've given up on seeing movies2) I've given up on blogging3) I've been stuck under something very heavy with no access to the InternetAnd the answer? A bit of all three, but mostly #3. What was I stuck under you wonder? That would be my wedding to

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1112035752733129732005-03-28T13:47:00.000-05:002005-03-28T13:49:12.740-05:00

It's been a while since I've seen my last movie. I think that has more to do with the quality of offerings out there rather than our lack of time. Also, between Pam and I, there are certain genres which we likely will never see in the theatre due to one of us casting a veto on the selection (i.e. Pam and war movies, me and depressing dramas). However, both Pam and I agreed that seeing Robots was

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1102371257510324752005-01-06T20:10:00.000-05:002005-05-24T14:54:47.030-04:00

I know it's been an entire month since my last post. In fact, this movie was one I saw around a month ago but just didn't have the attention span to post the review until just now (plus I deleted my entry twice!). In the next several weeks, I'm going to be doing a bit of blog soul searching and try to decide if this medium is something I'd like to continue putting effort into. While I really

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1105038236681216112005-01-06T13:22:00.000-05:002005-01-06T14:03:56.683-05:00

This isn't a movie (sure sounds like it would be a boring one though, doesn't it?). This is a follow-up to a post I wrote well over a year ago entitled, Why Be on a Board? In the original posting, I questioned the worth of serving as an Independent Director on the Board of a for-profit listed company and doubted the worth of it versus the risks / costs. Specifically, I mentioned the risk of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1102360224649453942004-12-06T13:57:00.000-05:002004-12-06T14:10:24.650-05:00

OK, I tried to post this around a month ago when Pam and I went to Chicago to visit much more famous blog brother's newest addition. We took out my non-blogging nephew Sam (who I'm sure will be blogging soon) to see the Incredibles. I had written a wonderful, highly analytical post examining the pros and cons of the movie (far more of the former than the latter) and was all ready to post when my

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1098588262208703492004-10-23T22:38:00.000-04:002004-10-23T23:25:42.873-04:00

1) Pet Peeve (if any) - As with most Trey Parker / Matt Stone movies, my biggest pet peeve is almost always the gratuitous swearing. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind swearing in the movies or in the world in general, it's that Parker / Stone obviously get a kick from putting swears into movies (a bit like Beavis & Butthead to an extreme) and don't really care if its in context. Many times it is

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1097093730813716852004-10-06T14:30:00.000-04:002004-10-06T16:15:30.813-04:00

Yes, it's been a little while since I last saw and reviewed a movie. However, given the average American sees around five to six movies in the theatre per year, I'm still well above the norm. So last night Pam and I went oot to see Shaun of the Dead (referred to as "SOTD" hereafter) for some random movie madness. 1) Pet Peeve (if any) - Two things on this one. Firstly, in the movie's

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1096335412128949172004-09-27T18:39:00.000-04:002004-09-27T21:36:52.126-04:00

So I've read in the past about how Russia has generated additional funding for their space program by taking on paying passengers at a reported price of around $20 million a head. Well talk about price competition, look out Russia, here comes Richard Branson! According to the uber-wealthy founder of Virgin... "Would-be space tourists would pay from $291,580 for a flight, receiving three days'

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1095184469164034302004-09-14T13:45:00.000-04:002004-09-14T13:54:29.163-04:00

With all of my adjustments back to the working world of New York, I never thought I would be able to turn to the New York Giants for a dose of levity and reality, all baked into one. See this article to see what I'm talking about, but the quick takeaway is that the coach of the New York Giants, Tom Coughlin, a noted disciplinarian, has started fining players who don't show up to meetings early

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1094351528249509552004-09-04T22:29:00.000-04:002004-09-04T22:32:08.250-04:00

My brother isn't the only one who will likely be blogging less for the next little while. Pamela and I just closed earlier this week on our apartment and we plan on being very busy over the next couple of months upgrading the place. Yesterday, I bought my first ever power tool and my first ever trip to a DIY big box retailer (Lowe's in North Bergen, NJ). Of course, if I see any movies during

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1093902503420341162004-08-30T17:44:00.000-04:002004-08-30T17:58:31.976-04:00

While Pam's and my life goes on and we plan for our wedding next year, many other families are being created or expanding. For those of you who know my much more famous brother, he is not only more famous than I, but now has two more children than I do. Congrats to Erika (who I presume did most of the work), Dan, Sam and of course, my new niece Lauren. She's the first female Drezner born to our

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1092767317255943912004-08-17T14:21:00.000-04:002004-08-17T14:28:37.256-04:00

My first movie-related prognostication was that Catwoman was going to bomb, and it did. My second prediction was that Alien vs. Predator, despite being soundly panned by most critics, would do well. Despite my being off by a week in terms of when the wide-screen release was to take place, it still did pretty well in the box office this past weekend, clearing over $38 million. I'll need to come

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1092766842100020882004-08-17T13:12:00.000-04:002004-08-30T17:51:51.283-04:00

Saw this on Friday night with New Jersey residents Michelle & Kirke. Review is as follows: 1) Pet peeve (if any) - so why is this movie called Garden State? Yes, it takes place almost entirely in New Jersey but that doesn't seem to be enough justification. In Orange County, the movie is about the personalities of Orange County and the movie name seems to make sense. I'm not sure that Garden

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1091985125692571732004-08-08T12:17:00.000-04:002004-08-08T13:12:05.693-04:00

Some more movie thoughts on this lazy Sunday (slept until after 11:00 a.m. today which is relatively unheard of nowadays for me). Pam and I went to see I, Robot last night at our new local theatre (84th Street Loews on the Upper West Side). My thoughts on it are below. As a general rule, I'm going to do my best to avoid spoilers in all reviews and if not, I will highlight the fact well

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1091454393861435302004-08-02T09:20:00.000-04:002004-08-04T17:47:32.643-04:00

All the big movie news from this weekend is regarding M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" which cleared over $50 million this weekend in a surprisingly successful first weekend on the market. Given the poor reviews, this was even more of a surprise. What isn't really mentioned at all is that Catwoman, which debuted with a very low $17 million last week (compared to most other comic-inspired

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1090847699801766062004-07-26T09:09:00.000-04:002004-07-26T09:14:59.800-04:00

I guess it didn't take a genius or anything, but I'm still pretty proud of my first movie prediction.  Catwoman, as I thought, didn't really do that well in the box office.  A quote from USA Today is as follows: Audiences don't seem to feel the same way about Halle Berry (news)'s Catwoman. The comic-book adaptation, which cost $100 million, brought in a measly $17.2 million. The take marks one

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1090511499881204612004-07-21T14:53:00.000-04:002004-07-22T11:51:39.880-04:00

Still no movie reviews, but on a separate but related note, has anyone noticed what's happening to the world of TV, particularly in relation to TV credits?  In the old world, a typical half-hour show would actually be composed of 21-22 minutes of actual programming, 6-7 minutes of advertising and 1-2 minutes of credit at the end. Around 10 years ago (maybe more), a lot of broadcasters (network

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1089864103548984222004-07-14T23:54:00.000-04:002004-07-15T00:01:43.546-04:00

While I have all the best intentions to write some movie reviews (recent movies seen include Spiderman 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Shrek 2 and Troy) but for now, all I'm going to talk about is a movie which I think is going to bomb. I have no idea if I have this predictive power and I'd like to try and make a call before I've read any reviews, just seen the previews. Using this

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1089863399184946902004-07-14T23:12:00.000-04:002004-07-14T23:49:59.183-04:00

OK, I wasn't planning on talking too much about the transition from Australia to the United States, but there have been a few things that I have noticed, even while doing all the other stuff we've needed to take care of (finding a place to live, learning my new job, etc). The largest of these differences is definitely the way that the United States, and the consumer product manufacturers in

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1089224393708453722004-07-07T13:11:00.000-04:002004-07-07T14:19:53.706-04:00

As you can probably tell from some previous posts, Pam and I are officially in the United States now (although in Pam's case it is still temporary). This brings up the question of the purpose of this blog. If you go back to the beginning, the genesis of this blog was as a birthday present from my brother, the famous blogger, Daniel Drezner. Quickly thereafter, I decided to continue posting on

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1088783684840466012004-07-02T11:40:00.000-04:002004-07-02T11:54:44.840-04:00

For those of you who didn't see it, the Sunday Times had a front page article (front page of the Real Estate section that is) all about the kind of unethical stuff that's been going on in the New York property market recently. A good quote is as follows: "There are a million stories of people getting the gazump," said Betsy Dean, managing director of Stribling & Associates. "It's been a year of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1087849200076496362004-06-21T13:42:00.000-04:002004-06-21T16:22:37.993-04:00

Not that real estate agents engender a lot of trust anyways (correct me if I'm wrong, but they are usually perceived to be as slimy as ay other sales-based professional like an investment banker, used car salesman, etc) but I have had a very negative experience recently with a broker from The Corcoran Group in Manhattan. The story is as follows: 1) Jay finds apartment he wants to buy, puts in a

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1087839714511499972004-06-21T10:41:00.000-04:002004-06-21T13:41:54.510-04:00

While this blog isn't necessarily the best place to post updates on my life (after all, I have no idea who actually reads this thing), for those who do and are interested, the following is a quick update on all the things currently going on: These are in temporal order as well, not order of importance (you'll see why I say this a bit later). 1) Thanks to all the people in Sydney who wished us

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1086160730682539122004-06-02T02:44:00.000-04:002004-06-02T03:18:50.683-04:00

As I'm sitting here in my office making the last preparations to move all of my belongings to the United States and selling that which I am not bringing with me (I just sold my car...sniff...sniff...I'll miss her), I thought I would take a last minute look at the New York Times op-ed page online. What do I see there staring me in the face, but a new article by William Safire entitled "Abolish

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1085720850969478092004-05-28T00:59:00.000-04:002004-05-28T01:07:30.970-04:00

For those hardy souls who actually check back in here every once in a while, there have been a couple of developments. First of all, Pam and I officially leave Sydney on the 9th of June. We may have an excruciatingly painful four or five day layover in Hawaii which we're very disappointed about but will live with. Then, it's off to Chicago for two weeks of training starting on June 14th, where

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1083211112571292552004-04-28T23:58:00.000-04:002004-04-29T00:01:37.640-04:00

For those of you who actually peruse this online journal (and as seldom as I publish, I congratulate you), you should know that I have officially received an offer to transfer back to the United States with the same company that shipped me out here to Sydney in the first place. The actual move should happen sometime in late May / early June so if you're one of my friends who lives in New York,

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1082774914151732062004-04-23T22:48:00.000-04:002004-05-04T00:57:31.623-04:00

I just read in Yahoo!News that Pat Tillman, former strong safety for the Arizona Cardinals, who turned away from a $3.6 million contract to enlist in the US Army Rangers, was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Not that the life of any one soldier is worth more than another, but I have to admit that I got chills when I read this report. From everything I have heard and read (read the article,

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1082448435879853972004-04-20T04:07:00.000-04:002004-04-20T04:10:12.793-04:00

Anybody remember the movie PCU starring Jeremy Piven? Not exactly a classic but a decent effort at mocking the world of political correctness. At one point in the movie, Piven's character is escorting a pre-frosh around campus showing him all of the various protests that are taking place at the same time (i.e. Save the Whales, ERA, Vegans for Peace, etc). The reason I bring this

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1081933396523216632004-04-20T03:36:00.000-04:002004-04-20T03:36:01.590-04:00

How could I not mention the Uconn Huskies accomplishing the unprecedented double-dip of both the Men's and Women's NCAA Tournament Championships?!? What a fantastic experience, not only because they won, but also because this time I could be in the United States to see it happen! Funnily enough, the only other time the Men's team won the NCAA Tournament (1999), I was traveling in Thailand and

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1081834178755732852004-04-13T01:29:00.000-04:002004-04-13T01:32:28.216-04:00

Pam and I returned just today from our trip to New York which involved several stress-inducing experiences, including (in no particular order): 1) attempting to secure an international transfer within my company back to New York 2) doing apartment hunting in Manhattan 3) introducing Pam to my friends and family While I'd like to say all three were wonderful successes, on my first day back I can

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1080638958834317652004-03-30T04:29:00.000-05:002004-03-30T04:34:34.826-05:00

Was just reading an editorial by David Brooks in the New York Times on the college application system. The highlight of the essay is in the second paragraph which states: "You are being judged according to criteria that you would never use to judge another person and which will never again be applied to you once you leave higher ed." Flashing back to my high school days, I certainly have some

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1080185701560607652004-03-24T22:35:00.000-05:002004-03-24T22:37:31.826-05:00

Well, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that in the Kenyon and Kenyon pool being run on Sportsline, I am currently running in 27th place out of 41 entrants, which doesn't look so good. On the positive side however, I still have most of my big picks still alive and in the tournament including all four of my Final Four picks and six of my Elite Eight picks, leaving me with the

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1079655342352471432004-03-18T19:15:00.000-05:002004-03-18T19:18:06.763-05:00

Early results from the NCAA tournament show that I've gotten 7 out of the first 8 games predicted correctly. Most importantly was Manhattan's dumping of Florida since I have the Jaspers going to the Sweet Sixteen. Given how Wake Forest barely survived playing Virginia Commonwealth, I am hopeful for the next round. Go Manhattan! Otherwise, my only miss so far was the Salukis beating Alabama

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1079592167719427972004-03-18T01:42:00.000-05:002004-03-18T01:45:11.013-05:00

It's that time of year again. As I have mentioned previously, NFL Football is by far my favorite sport, but when it comes to sports events, nothing beats the NCAA Tournament for excitement and fun. As with football, there is the added element on minor gambling (i.e. picking the tournament contests, tourney draws, etc) and even better than the NFL, a real chance for underdogs or small schools

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1078696205582084302004-03-07T16:50:00.000-05:002004-03-07T16:52:18.403-05:00

Remember all those articles I used to read in the New York Times about how people in New York were still unemployed from the dot com boom and were forced to work at a Gap just to pay the rent / put the kids through school? Well, this morning I sat down to read another one, resigning myself to the depression that is still the New York job economy. However, this time was different. While the

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1078369714666421502004-03-03T22:08:00.000-05:002004-03-03T22:10:44.293-05:00

Thank goodness. Arrived back in Sydney this past Saturday and spent my time since working and trying to get my digestive system back in order. On a very positive note, my volleyball team, the Usual Suspects, won our divisional Grand Final while I was away and Pam and I now have an additional trophy to showcase on our bureau. The next season has already started and we have been moved up a grade

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1077348357840747962004-02-21T02:25:00.000-05:002004-02-21T02:27:55.403-05:00

Can't write much but I thought I'd check in. Jakarta is a pretty interesting place, and if I had the chance to spend any time out of either conference rooms or my hotel, I'd tell you all about it. As it is, you're better off looking at Lonely Planet or something. Big highlights of the past week include the riots in Sydney which took place a few days after I left, severe flooding in Jakarta

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1076571022043133102004-02-12T02:30:00.000-05:002004-02-12T02:34:02.436-05:00

Just happened to read two fairly similar articles at the same time. The first one is from the AP and addresses the recent phenomenon of banning mobile phones with cameras by privacy sensitive establishments. The second article is from news.com.au in Australia and is about a man who recently pleaded guilty to three charges of offensive behaviour. For what? For filming over 135 minutes with a

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1076483278323179002004-02-11T02:07:00.000-05:002004-02-11T02:09:46.060-05:00

Just read this article in the New York Times in regards to the Feds catching organized crime defrauding consumers through their mobile phone bills. A couple of interesting quotes from the article: "...officials say they believe that the cramming scheme, which the indictment says generated $50,000 to $600,000 a day from 1997 to 2001 taking in $100 million in profit, is currently the crime

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1076457283187042672004-02-10T18:54:00.000-05:002004-02-12T02:32:51.110-05:00

It's pretty embarassing when my brother, who lives in Chicago, writes about a Free Trade Agreement between the United States and Australia before I do. This is especially sad given the agreement was pretty much all over the headlines of the Australian papers and I had a difficult time finding it in the mainstream US press. For some additional perspective on the agreement however, I seem to have

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1075768249457955122004-02-02T19:30:00.000-05:002004-02-02T19:32:28.686-05:00

For anyone interested in seeing the pictures from our citizenship ceremony and following picnic from Australia Day, please click here. A quick note for those of you who know what cricket is about. 1) In one picture, my left leg was sticking out because the ball (a tennis ball) was bowled behind me 2) In another picture, yes, I am holding the cricket bat backwards. Embarrassing but true.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1075277201432416272004-01-28T03:06:00.000-05:002004-01-28T03:08:52.670-05:00

I've previously posted about the lesser known results to come out of the California recall election and I found another tidbit to talk about in New Hampshire. In this case, after looking a the complete results page from the New York Times, there are a couple of interesting things to note. Firstly, despite publicly dropping out of the election, Richard Gephardt got more votes than Al Sharpton, a

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1075179826436404292004-01-27T00:03:00.000-05:002004-03-03T22:13:19.653-05:00

A big thank you to everybody who participated in the raffle for the Fred Hollows Foundation which was being run by my friend's Paul and Alana (the new Australian citizen). For official results, go here. Thanks to your effort, not only was over A$3,000 raised to fight preventable blindness, but I co-won the top referral sub-contest. In a piece of completely unrelated luck, I was also a

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1075179430651967942004-01-26T23:57:00.000-05:002004-01-26T23:58:43.420-05:00

This past weekend was a holiday in Australia, aptly named Australia Day. The whole spirit of the holiday is somewhat similar to the 4th of July in the US with fireworks and air shows, parades and the occasional riot. However, the best part from my point of view was seeing a bunch of local people from my suburb get sworn in as Australian citizens. According to the Minister for Citizenship and

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1073720984745466792004-01-10T02:49:00.000-05:002004-01-10T02:53:37.686-05:00

Pam has published our holiday photos from over New Years. Pictures from her birthday (the day before New Year's) are also up. I warn you in advance, if you havea problem with seeing me with my shirt off, and I wouldn't blame you for that, then you may want to skip these pics. Enjoy...

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1073707683504760202004-01-09T22:42:00.000-05:002004-01-10T02:39:59.733-05:00

I've lived in Australia for almost two and a half years now and during that period there have been some horrible bush fires all over the country. Given what seems like constant drought-like conditions, lots of dry bush land, high temperatures and high winds during the summer, it's pretty much an annual tradition down here now. Of course, it doesn't help that some idiots are actually setting

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1073446320960722162004-01-06T18:04:00.001-05:002004-01-06T22:34:07.560-05:00

It's been out on video for a while now, but I only recently saw the film "Donnie Darko." It's a weird movie but has a pretty amazing cast (Jake Gyllenhall, Jena Malone, Noah Wylie, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Mary McDonnell) and has one of the better songs I have heard in the past 20 years. It's called Mad World and it's a remake of a Tears for Fears song that came out in the mid-80's.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1073443361532406322004-01-06T18:04:00.000-05:002004-01-06T22:18:46.153-05:00

By now, most people are probably aware of the controversy surrounding Steve Irwin, dubbed the "Crocodile Hunter", and the involvement of his children in his crocodile shows. Comparisons have been made to Michael Jackson's now infamous baby dangling episode, complaints have been lodged with both the Queensland Families Department and the local police and the The National Association for

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1073284139803820712004-01-05T01:01:00.000-05:002004-01-05T01:30:41.733-05:00

Well, the holidays are over and I'm back at work. For those who were interested, I had a fantastic time over the break. Activities were varied and included the following: - Opening presents with Pam's family on Christmas Day. Now, to be clear, opening presents with the Devon family is no ordinary exercise. It consists of one person at a time opening up their present and once they have done

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1071803168416745272003-12-18T21:18:00.000-05:002003-12-18T22:09:08.153-05:00

OK, I'm back and have some time to post. Lots of stuff to cover: First of all, I promised myself I was going to write something about Andrew Bartlett from the Democrats in Australia (it seemed a perfect follow-up on my post on civility and politics), however I mentioned it to my brother on the phone the other day and, botto-boom botto-bing!, he steals the story from me (although he did give me

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1070977088376452622003-12-09T08:34:00.000-05:002003-12-09T08:39:13.950-05:00

No, I'm not drinking heavily, I'm just getting pulverized at work this week. 1:30 a.m. last night, 12:30 a.m. and counting tonight. I thought these days were supposed to be over once you make Vice President and move to a country with a lifestyle as sweet as Australia. Oh well. Just wanted to explain the lack of posts. Lots to talk about as well. New Years plans, the Usual Suspects Christmas

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1070345290490708842003-12-02T00:54:00.000-05:002003-12-02T01:09:52.403-05:00

I read an article a couple of days ago in the New York Times about the trend towards the lack of civility in US politics. Among the historical lessons was the following: History, of course, is replete with examples of unpleasantness — and worse — on Capitol Hill. One 19th century senator once referred to another as "a sniveling political Pecksniff." Lawmakers have, at various times, brandished

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1069994457053669772003-11-27T23:38:00.000-05:002003-11-27T23:41:29.860-05:00

Austraila does not celebrate Thanksgiving, but that didn't stop my friend Alana and I planning a big Thanksgiving feast for our partners and a bunch of friends at Alana's house yesterday. If anyone is interested in seeing the pictures from the gala event (and the turkey preparation party the night before), click here. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1069890145677529202003-11-26T18:01:00.000-05:002003-12-02T17:13:23.826-05:00

Since I'm living here, I sometimes wonder if I pay extra attention to American news reports about all things Australian. A year ago, when the Golden Globe nominations were announced, Australians were all over it (Baz Luhrmann, Russell Crowe (a Kiwi who grew up in Australia), Nicole Kidman, Judy Davis, Rachel Griffiths, etc). And I wasn't the only one to notice, so did CNN. Think about some of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1069392053115825872003-11-20T22:41:00.000-05:002003-11-21T00:42:12.280-05:00

Once again inspired by an article in the New York Times, I'd like to put out an idea I've had for a long time but have never really talked about (other than to my brother who thought it was pretty dumb). It relates to the appropriateness of politicians advertising on television for themselves or their campaigns. The article I reference above speaks to how the Republican National Committee is

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1069049155052248362003-11-17T00:20:00.000-05:002003-11-17T01:16:04.716-05:00

Had a great weekend watching the Semi-Finals of the Rugby World Cup being held here in Australia. For those of you who don't follow, the Wallabies (the nickname of the Australian Rugby Team) beat the All-Blacks (the nickname of the New Zealand Rugby Team) in a fairly big upset. In the other semi-final, England beat up on France despite not scoring a single try. This means an England v.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1068704611924746332003-11-13T00:54:00.000-05:002003-11-13T01:23:29.130-05:00

I was just thinking back to the post I put on a couple of months ago about how excited I was about the start of the football season. Looking back, I was thinking about the New York Giants, my fantasy football league and my suicide pool. Approximate mid-season report is as follows: 1) The New York Giants, despite having changed all of their players and coaches since I was a child, are still as

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1068523862965340632003-11-10T22:56:00.001-05:002003-11-10T23:12:01.940-05:00

Was just browsing the new editorials in the New York Times and found this one by David Brooks. The key highlight (from a purely familial point of view was as follows: Over the past few months, the Democratic presidential candidates have been peddling a story. The story is that the Bush administration is circumventing the competitive bidding process to funnel sweetheart Iraq reconstruction

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1068522986934024512003-11-10T22:56:00.000-05:002003-11-10T22:56:24.796-05:00

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1068422925550328722003-11-09T18:36:00.000-05:002003-11-09T19:08:43.420-05:00

Having looked back at some of my more recent posts, everything seems to be geared towards articles in the New York Times and general sniping. This could have something to do with me still being in the middle of re-reading Atlas Shrugged which, while an amazing book, tends to color the way you think about the world in a somewhat dark light. Therefore, on a much more positive note, this past

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1067986989611898382003-11-04T17:33:00.000-05:002003-11-04T18:03:08.236-05:00

Was just reading another article in the New York Times. This one is about lawyers in New York advertising for passengers on the Staten Island Ferry that crashed and hurt (and killed) so many people. These lawyers are advertising the fact that claims for injuries stemming from the accident have a deadline which is rapidly approaching. An example is as follows: Norman Reimer, vice president of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1067836296546049432003-11-02T23:14:00.000-05:002003-11-09T19:13:36.043-05:00

For those of you who read back to the genesis of this blog, you will be able to understand this a bit better. For those who don't, follow the link for a second. Once that is done, please see this recent article in the New York Times which discusses success and siblings. What I find interesting about this particular article is that it completely focuses on wealth as the barometer for success

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1067241989993887102003-10-26T21:31:00.002-05:002003-10-27T03:07:08.430-05:00

To all of you who know me (and I assume that would be most of the people who actually bother to read this), if you want to send me e-mail, send it to my work address. If you don't know that, e-mail my hotmail address (posted on the right side of this page). Recently, my firm was one of many that prohibited the use of Hotmail or any other independent e-mail service while at work. This means I

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1067241655688070202003-10-26T21:31:00.001-05:002003-10-27T03:02:19.760-05:00

One thing I like about being in Australia is that I get a first crack at the new day's editorials in the New York Times far ahead of most people who keep normal hours on the East Coast of the US. Therefore, while it is 4:00 p.m. Monday here, I am just now getting the editorials for the NYT Monday edition at midnight their time. In his latest editorial, Bob Herbert has written about the jobless

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1067222136770653722003-10-26T21:31:00.000-05:002003-10-26T21:46:06.520-05:00

Apologies to any who may have been checking here for Jay life updates. I just got back last night from a combination visit from my mom and aunt along with a week's vacation in Tropical North Queensland. There's a ton to tell and hundreds of pictures (Pam gets pretty excited about photographs) and I hope to post about it all in the next week or so. For now however, I'm going to have to

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1066022476784080402003-10-13T01:07:00.001-04:002003-10-15T07:50:35.730-04:00

Given my current employment status in Australia, having already fulfilled my two year commitment to my firm and exploring potential transfer opportunities back to the US, I am always interested in reading articles about the job scene. To be honest, most of the stuff I have read over the past year and a half from the New York Times has been profoundly depressing. Stories about white collar

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1066025642542234542003-10-13T01:07:00.000-04:002003-10-13T02:14:02.543-04:00

I'm sure most Americans are aware of the World Cup. However, I'm not certain how many of them know that, aside from men's and women's soccer, there are other World Cups to be mentioned. This is definitely the benefit of living in Australia as I have become extremely familiar with some sports that I didn't even know existed and others which I didn't know well enough. The first non-soccer World

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1065760554280666242003-10-10T00:32:00.000-04:002003-10-10T00:35:53.940-04:00

Just caught an article in my local paper, ironically enough called the Village Voice, talking about my local Footy team, the Balmain Tigers, going on quite the road trip, all the way to Staten Island, to play an "All-Star" American team. Who would have thought the US has over 30 local AFL teams? For the article on the game, go here. For the US web site dedicated to footy, go here.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1065664385590090072003-10-08T21:53:00.000-04:002003-10-08T21:53:04.960-04:00

It's that time of year again. The baseball playoffs. Over the past several years we have had some special treats in the post-season, particularly for those of us who are blessed to have been born Yankees fans. Despite the tough years (basically starting from the early 1980's until the mid-1990's - anyone remember Mel Hall?), the Yankees have once again become the dominant force in baseball.

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1065589496283791802003-10-08T00:20:00.000-04:002003-10-08T21:17:37.926-04:00

Well, it's 2:20 p.m. in Australia right now and it seems that both the alternate Republican choice (Tom McClintock) and Democratic hopeful (Cruz Bustamente) have already conceded the race for the Governor of California to Arnold Schwarzenegger. A quick viewpoint on this development from an Australian perspective, based on an extremely scientific poll of 2 Australians and 1 Singaporean that I

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1064834435394097672003-09-29T04:31:00.000-04:002003-09-29T07:35:31.430-04:00

I noticed in the New York Times today that Jurgen Schrempp, the Chief Executive of DaimlerChrysler, has resigned from the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange. This follows the debacle surrounding the pay scale awarded to Dick Grasso who was forced to resign, and the resignation of another high profile Director in Carl McCall. The NYSE is a bit different from your normal pubclicly

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1064277486419718542003-09-22T20:11:00.000-04:002003-09-22T20:38:25.000-04:00

...but I have been busy at work lately. For those of you who don't know what I do for a living (and I have to assume that there aren't many of you who would actually visit this page and don't know) I work for an investment bank. The hours can be quite unpredictable and sometimes long, therefore leaving me little time to post. However, I did manage to make it to the Swans preliminary final game

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1063454752647926582003-09-13T07:54:00.000-04:002003-09-13T08:05:52.653-04:00

Well, it has been a week of sporting ups and downs. On the list of highlights was the improbably victory of my adopted Aussie Rules team, the Sydney Swans. They won as the number four seed playing away from home against the Port Adelaide Power, the number one seed and regular season champion. What does that mean? It means they get a bye in the second round of the playoffs and get to host a

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1063014030168896982003-09-08T05:40:00.000-04:002003-09-08T05:42:44.623-04:00

Congratulations to those intrepid souls who followed the link in my recent mass e-mail. As you will see from the materials below, this blog is a haphazard combination of random thoughts that pop into my head along with periodic updates on my life in Australia. I hope you enjoy yourself. While you're at it, you may find it worthwhile to follow some of the links on the side here, particularly to

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1062749384000478432003-09-05T04:09:00.000-04:002003-09-08T05:45:41.603-04:00

Having worked in advertising in a former life, I can appreciate the pains that a company can go through to establish and nurture a brand or corporate identity. It can cost a lot of money in advertising and public relations and, sometimes, ends up being the most valuable part of the company (two very good but diametrically opposed examples would be Coca-Cola and Pets.com). All that being said, I

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1062742403457454132003-09-05T02:13:00.000-04:002003-09-05T03:00:45.030-04:00

I've just read my brother Dan's post in reference to Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on espn.com. While I won't comment on the other parts of his post (mostly in relation to Canadians and Christianity but not together), thinking about the Tuesday Morning Quarterback (which is a favorite of mine although it has its faults) has made me all nostalgic for the US football

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1062378685852636772003-08-31T21:11:00.000-04:002003-08-31T21:14:09.356-04:00

I recently noticed that my brother has listed my "blog" among his favorites. To those of you who have actually followed that link to this site, keep in mind the following: - My brother has two Masters degrees (economics and poli sci) and one PhD (poli sci - international relations) while I only have a lowly MBA (albeit from Columbia) - Therefore, if you have come here thinking that a pair of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1061984846574674102003-08-27T07:47:00.000-04:002003-08-27T08:40:50.893-04:00

Had a fairly uneventful weekend so I thought I would talk about a different subject this week. My focus is on the world of currency, specifically coined currency. When I lived in the United States, I managed to collect around $300 in coins a year. How, you ask? Every time I came home to my apartment, I would take the change out of my pocket and put it on my bureau only to discover that when I

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1061184068665554732003-08-18T01:21:00.000-04:002003-08-19T08:22:28.006-04:00

This past weekend was a very fun one for Pam (my girlfriend) and I and was highlighted by our participation in an event on Friday night called Roar & Snore. The basic idea is that a group of around 20 people have a slumber party at the zoo in Sydney (called the Taronga Zoo). For more details, the full itinerary is below: After showing up on Friday night, we were presented with a couple of

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1060655786341450082003-08-11T22:36:00.001-04:002003-08-14T01:05:26.846-04:00

So my first piece of news from Sydney is that I, along with over 49,000 of my best friends, ran the City to Surf which I have been told is the largest timed race in the world. I'm quite proud of the fact that I a) ran the entire 14 kilometer course which is extremely hilly, but also that b) I had a great parking spot picked out from the night before so I could get out of Bondi without having to

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1060574276297072582003-08-10T23:57:00.000-04:002003-08-10T23:57:56.316-04:00

After having thought about it a bit more, I see no point in my trying to do any sort of meaningful commentary on political events in the United States or around the world in general. After all, that is not my educational background and is mostly unrelated to my professional experience (which I would like to leave out of this blog alltogether). Instead, I will try to use this site as an

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1059609028265712032003-07-30T19:50:00.000-04:002003-07-30T19:50:28.193-04:00

I would like to thank my brother Daniel for his creation of this visionary web site and then his allowing me to further edit. It's taken almost 35 years, but such an exhibition of humility on his part is (I believe) quite refreshing for the whole Drezner clan. While I doubt that I will be posting often, or that anyone would actually be reading here, if there are any interesting developments or

Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00978746669917318571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5611997.post-1059084158130991692003-07-24T18:02:00.000-04:002003-07-25T10:38:20.793-04:00

A BIG WELCOME to family, friends, and mildly curious readers!! Although my brother may have the quasi-famous blog, this site is dedicated to proving that I -- Jay Benjamin Drezner -- am actually the genius of the family. Want some proof? Here's a Top Ten list of Reasons Why I Am A Genius And My Brother Is Not: 10) Chicago has an average temperature of 49 degrees; Sydney has an average

Justin Bieberynoreply@blogger.com0