Mutilate Your Thirst

Priorities

Via ATL, this motion to continue at trial on the grounds that it conflicts with the LSU-OSU game is pretty awesome.

Head Tracking with the Wii

The End of the World

Rent to Own

Merrill Lynch's expectations for the housing market:

But with the sales backdrop still softening, they may have to slice their construction plans by another 30% before we hit bottom on a cyclical basis. And, that bottom could be as long as a year away. Beyond that, weak demographic fundamentals point to years of sluggish real estate activity, particularly in terms of the “price”. The looming dominance of the “move down” buyer suggests that home values will continue to soften long after the building industry mops up the current excess supply. In fact, real estate pricing in general can be expected to be in the doldrums through 2012.

Which, conveniently, is the first year that my net worth will become non-negative.

That's a scary thought.

Finito

Also, I finished my last exam (Copyright). I am outta here. Touchdown in San Diego at 8:10 p.m. PST.

The Death of the 3L Paper

This is the best news in a long time:

All J.D. students are required to produce either

(1) a substantial research paper of publishable or otherwise professional quality, to be written in close consultation with a faculty advisor, in conjunction with a seminar or workshop (for an addition of 1, 2, or 3 credits), or through independent study or the January Term writing program (for 2 or 3 credits); a 3-Credit project should have the scope and ambition commensurate with a 3-credit course, and students electing 3 credits should make sure that this would not cause them to exceed the 12-credit limit on writing credits nor interfere with their plans to pursue cross-registered and clinical courses, the credits for which, along with writing credits, count toward the 16 non-law-school-classroom credits students may take for degree credit.

or

(2) two pieces of writing of a different sort from those encompassed in (1), which could include any of the following, provided that at least one of the pieces was written under the supervision of a faculty member or clinical instructor:

a. lawyers work product: this category would include substantial writing in a clinic, upper-level moot court briefs, or the equivalent, as certified by the supervisor of the relevant program, but not written work from a summer job or paid work;

b. law school course and seminar papers: substantial writing as part of a course or seminar, including the standard series of reaction papers, amounting to no less than 15 pages;

c. law journal writing: including notes, book reviews, descriptions of developments in the law, and the like (totaling no less than 10 publishable pages);

d. nontraditional writing produced under faculty supervision: this might include interactive web-based material, surveys of students or practitioners with analysis, case study materials appropriate for classroom use, or other law-related writing outside of the forms mentioned above.

Everyone winds up writing plenty of long papers for various classes and activities, and tacking another extra long paper requirement onto the tail end of 3L year was just gratuitous, especially for those of us who have no interest in pursuing an academic career. I was going to have to come up with some 30-40 page research paper and bash my brains out trying to write it over the course of next semester.

Now, I don't have to.

Hooray!

Take Admin

It was rough at the time and seemed hopelessly obscure, but one short semester later I can already tell you that taking Administrative Law was one best things I have done to deepen my understanding of how tings actually work. Insights form Admin have helped me in all of my classes this semester, including the venture capital class I took at the business school.

I normally hate on the standard curriculum, which most people seem to take unthinkingly, but please forgive this momentary lapse into earnestness: take Admin.

This Time It's Serious

Boston finally decided to stop playing around and snow for real.

Naturally, we received an e-mail informing us that finals will continue unaffected:

Dear Students:

Just to confirm, exams will take place today as scheduled. Given that most students can reach the school by foot or by public transportation, the Law School has traditionally held exams in the snow without disruption.

Update: The business school, where I am this afternoon for a final presentation, is completely shut down. There's talk of canceling project presentations and doing them again in the spring.

Foxboro Hot Tubs

Been listening to this all week on my ipod. Supposed to be Green Day's new secret side project, only not so secret I guess. Either way, good music, and free, too.

1-900-Turing-Test

Russian chat bots con personals seekers out of their credit card numbers

Barack Obollywood

The lip syncing is awesome, but for my money the best part is the dance at 1:25.

The Race is Over. You Are All Winners.

0 pages still to write. 4 hours until deadline.

Who wants shots?

The Race Is On

15 pages still to write. 28 hours until deadline.

Ready, Go!

Finals

Suck.

But you know this.

A Question of Discipline

One of the professors in my awesome cross-registered course is a medical school professor, and will be teaching a class in the spring called "Human Disease." This brings to mind two questions:

1) Isn't that a fairly broad topic for a one-semester course?

2) What exactly were the med students learning last semester?

Imagine the Harvard Alumni Association With an Army

Westerners think the Communist Party still has something to do with political ideology. You know there is no political philosophy in China except prosperity. The Communist Party is basically a gigantic Skull and Bones. It is one of the social networks its members use to build wealth together.

David Brooks has a quite good column on China.

Heroes Finale

Sigh. For a moment there, it looked like they were going to take the series in a really interesting direction. I confess, I got my hopes up.

It's probably just as well. Given that Heroes watching is now a drinking game in my household (take a drink any time something stupid happens, which is often) it's just as well. They probably couldn't have pulled it off.

Blogger Ethics

MPRE results are out. According to the scaled score, I am nearly twice as ethical as required by the state of California.

Social Networking

From icanhascheezburger.com, the best I've seen in a long time.

World Traveler Points!

I got turned away from a Red Cross blood drive today because I have been in a Malaria zone within the last 12 months.

TMI

I just received the following weird, creepy e-mail:

Trevor,

Zipcar and Flexcar merged. Now we're working 'round the clock to turn Flexcars into Zipcars and Flexcar members into Zipsters.

Who better to bestow savory bits of wisdom upon our newest additions than you, a Zipcar pro?

Its a busy time of year (don't we know it) and we won't keep you long -- just five short questions and you're done. Thanks in advance for the help. Check out the survey here.

The whole Zipcar team

There's nothing weird or creepy about the text, and I have used Zipcar's fine service several times with happy results. The only problem was the subject of the e-mail was "Afterglow".

Marketing directors of America, I implore you. I do not want to be burdened with mental images of C Corporations copulating.

Thank you. That is all.

Endearing Neurosis

Like most of my cohort, I've drifted out of the law blogger scene, but I just got a hot new tip from Ken and I figured I'd pass it along. Good stuff. Endearing Neurosis.

Snow

I fully endorse Andrea's thoughts on the current situation.

Huckabee Facts

A World Without Writers

You Are Hella Smart

Get a Cash Advance

Copyright Reform

From xkcd.

Support the WGA

Work continues on the Parody script, because it's for us and not for some media company. We're not getting paid anyway, except in the adoration of our fans. And beer.

But Mom's a union organizer and I support the strike, even if it's taking away all of my beloved shows. It helps that they're, you know, right. The crew from the Office:



More at the United Hollywood blog.

Art

We The Robots

Fire

My parents were in one of the evacuation zones, but I've been checking the maps and it looks like the fire didn't come to close to our house.

The Blog is Dead - Long Live the Blog

I'm not saying there will never be another post. But I am saying you may be a fool to expect one. It's been real, y'all.

Trevor

Update in response to comments: post frequency and quality have both been in decline for some time. I'm putting this out of its misery. The blog was originally intended as a creative release, and I have since found other, more satisfying outlets. Plus, I somehow got very busy. I used to feel compelled to write here, now it feels like a chore. I'm tired of feeling guilty about not writing up stories. And the I'm-a-new-law-student angle is played out.

I reserve, of course, the right to totally change my mind and create a new blog in a month or so.

Update: I have an addictive personality. Reincarnation!

Grandma at the Movies

I really love Jeremy Blachman's posts about his grandma's opinion of the new releases.

Boo. Yah.

John Harvard, Master Chief

I didn't see it when it was up, but it makes me happy to live in a world where MIT students dress up the John Harvard statue to look like a character from Halo 3.

Iran So Far

Aw hell, why not:

That's just a really well-executed genre parody. I used to roll my eyes at slashies like Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith, and Justin Timberlake trying to make crossover careers taht spanned several entertainment media. But the more time I spend on Parody stuff, the more appreciation I have for the tradition of trying to do everything in show business, and the respect I have for people with that across the board singing/acting/dancing experience to make them balanced performers. Which is all a long of of saying that Andy Samberg has some serious chops.

And Matt Holliday Still Hasn't Touched Home

Goddamn Rockies.

Jets v. Buffalo

Trent Edwards is looking pretty great. Go Cardinal (alumni)!

Finbarr Fest '08

Tomorrow, September 25, is St. Finbarr's day. Finbarr was an Irish saint, and his day is also the anniversary of the founding of U2 and the breaking of ground on Fenway park. It is incidentally the day Congress passed the bill of rights. Clearly, as law students in Boston, we have a moral obligation to observe this oft-forgotten holiday.

Meet at the Hark at lunchtime. Bring beer.

Can Bill Simmons Save Friday Night Lights?

He's already trying. I hope it works.

Sunday Morning Lights

The Blue Thunder Squids: XXX-treme Edition are 2-0 after this morning's win. And the internets are teaching me advanged new techniques to customize this year's jerseys. Posterboard and Krylon may not cut it this year.

And Then You Win

Here's my hometown mayor, Jerry Sanders, explaining why he decided to break an election promise to veto any legislation in support of gay marriage:

This seems a much bigger deal to me than Gavin Newsom's grandstanding a few years ago. San Diego is a little island of Red America in our People's Republic, and eventual acceptance there by an elected Republican is an incredibly promising sign. It's just this kind of private victory of conscience that lets the good guys win in the end.

So: yay progress!

The Manhattan Project

Great article in the SF Chronicle:

The best Manhattans slide easily down the throat. They linger on the palate, dance on the tongue and tickle the tonsils for a good long while. Manhattans, when made by a master of the craft, can produce euphoria in discriminating souls, and they've been known to tempt angels to return to physical manifestation, just for one more sip.

Martinis, on the other hand, get you drunk quickly.

Anachronism

Anybody can do talk like a pirate day. Real pros are already gearing up for Pretend to be a Time Traveler Day on December 8.

The Intentionality of Coalitions

They're discussing Jon Chait's new book, The Big Con, over at the TPM Cafe book club. Ross Douthat has the first response:

The most attention-catching aspect of Chait's thesis - his argument, restated in his first post, that the best way to understand the contemporary conservative movement is by treating it as a conspiracy to practice class warfare on behalf of the rich - strikes me as little better than name-calling, and undercuts the more subtle political analysis that he practices elsewhere in the book. I don't want to step on anything Megan McArdle might say in her contributions to this discussion, but I think her old post on why, in most cases, people actually believe what they say they believe and should be engaged on those terms applies in spades here.

If Douthat's description of Chait's argument is correct, though, his objections miss the point. If a political movement is functionally equivalent to a conspiracy to practice some covert goal, it makes sense to treat it as such even if no individual members of the coalition are actually conspiring. From the way I read Chait's argument, it's not necessary that there be an actual conspiracy. Chait's evidence of "bad faith" is that any time there is a conflict between upward income redistribution and some other conservative policy goal, tax cuts for the rich win. If that's the case, the movement is functioning like a conspiracy, even if nobody is actually lying.

The idea is hard to wrap your mind around - just ask John Searle. But it's perfectly possible when decision-making power isn't vested in a single individual. Then, the honest reasons that individual people give for their preferences don't explain the behavior of the group. Imagine a coalition comprised of the following elements:

• A group of prominent opinion leaders arguing that, on balance, raising speeding limits is a good idea in some circumstances.
  
• A group of crazy/ignorant but still honest people arguing that raising speed limits always reduces the number of accidents.
  
• A group of wealthy sports-car owners who don't write op-eds, but feel that they have a moral right to drive as fast as they can, and only vote for and give money to candidates who support that right.
  
• A group of potential politicians representing the range of possible policy preferences. They are utterly incorruptible and will not change their a priori policy stances in exchange for votes or campaign cash, but they don't feel bad about being deliberately vague on the campaign trail to broaden their coalitions.
  

Under the right (not terribly rare) circumstances, this coalition will be functionally equivalent to a massive conspiracy with the explicit goal of always raising speed limits every time, and deliberately lying about the reasons why, even if all the individual actors always tell the truth.

The question in an individual case is whether it matters if the participants are liars, or if the argument gets its moral/logical force from somewhere else. Here Chait's case gets complicated, because I think his primary thesis is that the party functions as a conspiracy whether or not most participants are honest, but that he also wants to call out certain individuals as liars in a kind of rhetorical going-for-two. This can make his main case appear to rest on bad faith on the other side, even if it doesn't necessarily.

"Nothing feels as solid as a living branch; stone by comparison is brittle."

This (former?) English prof in New York writes a really neat blog, Steamboats Are Ruining Everything.

President Bush Confronts the Zombiefascist Menace

And won't take no guff from no reporters about it, neither.

Incidentally, does anyone know why Blogger won't let me embed YouTube videos?

Test Prep

LSAT Practice, from McSweeney's:

A concerned father drops three boys (Peter, Dom, and Björn), three girls (Henrietta, Elaine, and Meghan), and his daughter (Lorelei) off at the local mall's theater. He wants to know which one of the boys will be making out with his daughter during the movie. He knows that each of the eighth-graders will make out at least once but not more than twice before the movie ends. He also knows that the following conditions must apply:

* Elaine will not make out with Björn until she's with Peter (because they're in an open relationship and she's testing the waters).

* Henrietta will not make out with Peter or Dom (because she only dates older guys).

* If Lorelei makes out with both Henrietta and Elaine, then Peter and Björn will make out. (They made a bet.)

* Meghan will always make out last (because she's ugly).

* Dom will always be paired with Meghan (because he's desperate).

What I Wish I Had Know About Law School At The Start Of My 1L Year

A new year is starting for a new crop of 1Ls, and the internet is bursting with advice for them. I admit I consumed this stuff voraciously, stuffing my cheeks with tips, tricks, and how-tos. But I really had no idea what any of it meant in context, and in place of all the earnest advice, what would have really helped me was a brief bird's-eye view of how law school works. So here it is.

As treated in law school, the legal process is a function that maps fact patterns to verdicts. The way that law works is that stuff happens, making a kind of a short story. The court hears this story (through the lawyers) and then returns a decision. You win, you lose. If you imagine stories as little notes spread across a tabletop, the "law" is a line drawn on that surface separating stories with one outcome (the contract is valid, the defendant is guilty, whatever) from the others. The whole project of law school is figuring out where that line is.

What complicates things is that written laws generally just say "the line should be hereabouts," because it's impossible to think up and account for every possible story ahead of time. And on top of that people have all sorts of reasons for saying the line is somewhere when it isn't really. So then only way to know where it actually lies is to check individual points. So instead of traditional textbooks that just tell you the Rules of Physics, law schools use casebooks. A casebook is just a big book of cases, each one an important data point in figuring out where the line is. Law schools could just tell you where the lines are, because that's what professors spend all day thinking and writing about, but the idea is that out in the real world you won't have professors to tell you the answers, and you'll have to figure out where the line is by yourself, by examining cases. So they figure you should learn to do that now. Don't worry, it only takes a few weeks.

Every case in the casebook is a data point to help you figure out where the line is. Importantly, every case has been put in there on purpose to illustrate some part of how the line curves. The trick to law school is extracting the one important thing that a case stands for from all the excess information.

For example, you are almost certain to read a case (in Contracts) about a botched skin graft that causes the patient to grow hair on the palm of his hand. Professors love the wild details, and they may help you remember, but they're irrelevant. The Hairy Hand case (I don't even remember the real name today) stands for the proposition: "If you break a contract, you owe the other side the money equal to the difference between the value of what you promised them and the value of what you gave them." This is the usual way to assess damages in contracts suits, as opposed to other potential measures like "You have to give them the full value of what was promised, ignoring the value of what you already gave them" or "You don't have to give them anything! Ha ha!" The case is full of wild turns about shady plastic surgeons and how you put a dollar value on having a hairy hand or a healthy one, but you don't really need to know all that. All you need to know is how to do the math.

When it's exam time, you apply that line-finding skill. Your average law school exam is what they call an issue-spotter. All that means is the professor writes a handful of short stories, and then asks you what arguments a court might have to decide, and which side of the line they're on. The best way to figure out exactly how to do well is to get old exams, take them under test conditions, and compare your results to the model answers. But that's no different from any other test.

Now a lot of the time the line is blurry, or there's not enough information to draw it precisely, because this shit is hard. We're mapping to legal outcomes from every possible range of human interaction. That's a lot of space to cover. But if you know the two closest points, even if they fall on opposite sides of the line, you'll do alright. Because it is hard and the people implementing it are only human, there's a lot of individual discretion at the margin.

That's the big picture. Everything else you can figure out plenty fast.

Why Are So Many Nerds Libertarian?

Slashdot put up a thread, and the very first comment modded up to 5 for "insightful" has the answer. Not the answer the author intends, which is a rehash of the non-aggression principle, but in the paragraphs immediately preceding:

I'm sure like many others here, I got very good marks at public school, but was also often in trouble and sent to the principal's office for mouthing off in class, etc. Why? Because while I would accept that the teachers were more learned (or in some cases, less ignorant), I never thought for a moment that they were more intelligent. They demanded respect from me, but never offered the same in return (there were precious few exceptions, and for their counsel, I will always be greatful).

So what messages did I receive in those public school classrooms? "You're no better than anyone else", "Take your place and shut up", "Slow down and learn at the same rate as everybody else; you're not special". All the while, within myself, I was thinking "But I can go faster than everyone else", "I can see a better way to do this", and "I am special".

And I can speak from experience here when I tell you that it's very easy to keep thinking you're special and the rules shouldn't (or even don't really) apply to you when you haven't yet developed the social skills to take other people's interests and perspectives into account. Because, you know, you're a nerd.

None of which is a knock-down critique of the power of markets or anything, and just a piece of the larger story about why ideologies may be popular independent of the merits. But there you are.

UCLA 45, Stanford 17

I'm already tired of hearing how people are excited for football season. I don't get to be excited about football season anymore. Seriously, "Nano-progress?"

Ken Rolls His Ankle

Perhaps the greatest joy came shortly thereafter, when my good samaritan neighbor asked if I wanted him to call me an ambulance to make sure there was no break or ligament damage. "No thanks," I answered. "I have no health insurance!"

Because I am invincible, I have never suffered a major injury, but that sure sounds like it sucks.

Doldrums

Okay, I'm over being home now. It is hotter and more crowded feeling here than I can ever remember it. I'm out of sorts enough that I'm procrastinating to avoid writing on my weblog.

I actually cannot wait to get back to law school (Monday!). How's that for an endorsement?

New-Media Leverage

It is important to CP that I note that he is currently studying in a Spanish language immersion program at the Frida Spanish School in Mexico City.

Exotic Delicacies

In a dramatic proof of God's love - or at least human genius - they now sell chocolate covered bacon.

Justice!

Alberto Gonzales leaves as head of the department thereof.

Gainful Employment

Also, I totally have a job. Sweet.

The Return

I'm back from my Asian Adventure, but due to various frailties and the vagaries of air travel, I'm currently operating with the mental capacity of your average dead raccoon. Maybe a slightly-below-average dead raccoon.

Readers who have been with the blog since its original incarnation (and what a sad lot you must be!) can take heart. I will write extensively about my travels, and may even provide pictures. I totally lied about that no electricity thing.

Vacation

I leave today for a three week vacation through Thailand and China, with stops in Bankok, Hong Kong, Guilin, and Shanghai. I'm not bringing anything that uses electricity. Posting will resume August 25 at the earliest.

Wheels

You know those sneakers the kids these days are wearing, with the wheels in the heels that let them fly past you on the sidewalk? Haven't you wanted a pair? I have. Well Slate has a fun article about a grownup like you or me who buys a pair.

Those Who Do Not Remember The Past...

I can not believe that Law & Order's Fred Thompson is a serious candidate for President of the United States of America. A lazy, affable, inexperienced Southerner and "Authentic Conservative" with down-home charm that seems like the kinda guy you'd want to have a beer with? Guys, we just tried that one. It didn't work out so well.

There Are No Such Thing As Shark Attacks

Gilbert Arenas has a blog. An awesome blog:

I know this is random, but I just want to clear this up for people out there.

There are these things called shark attacks, but there is no such thing as a shark attack. I have never seen a real shark attack.

I know you’re making a weird face as you’re reading this. OK people, a shark attack is not what we see on TV and what people portray it as.

We’re humans. We live on land.

Sharks live in water.

So if you’re swimming in the water and a shark bites you, that’s called trespassing. That is called trespassing. That is not a shark attack.

A shark attack is if you’re chilling at home, sitting on your couch, and a shark comes in and bites you; now that’s a shark attack. Now, if you’re chilling in the water, that is called invasion of space. So I have never heard of a shark attack.

When I see on the news where it’s like, “There have been 10 shark attacks,” I’m like, “Hey, for real?! They’re just running around? Sharks are walking now, huh! We live on the land, we don’t live underwater.”

Gone Fishin'

There is a certain kind of summer associate project very popular with assigning partners. Partner can't think of any cases that stand for a given principle, but (s)he would really like there to be one. So (s)he sends you to look for it. It is of course, not there. Sometimes, if you are lucky, there are lots and lots of cases that say the exact opposite. But usually there's just nothing out there. You just keep searching, aimlessly, not knowing when to cut short your search, unproductive but scared that you're missing something crucial. This is the worst kind of assignment.

And then sometimes you find something. Sometimes you suddenly see that even though Partner's theory is completely crazy you know how to make it work. That is the best kind of assignment.

Already Falling Behind

I heard on the radio about an article in Time Magazine about The Sopranos State of North Korea and I thought to myself, "Hey, isn't that what Sheena's thesis was about?" Sheena is a friend who lived down the hall from me freshman year, and we all went to watch her presentation. So I roll on over to the website and sure enough, the venerable newsweekly has written a feature article about her work, listing her as "a researcher at Harvard University."

I spend the rest of the day feeling like I've been wasting my time at school.

The City Veins

I don't read Matt Yglesias's blog for music recommendations, but because I'm a Trainspotting-level political junkie. Still, the other day he linked to this indie band The City Veins, who were (and are!) giving away their debut CD for free. It's not at all what I'd usually listen to, but I've had it on the iPod at work and it's really grown on me. It kind of makes me want to steal Ken's computer and spend days staring plaintively into a rainy middle distance. This effect is troubling. Having hastily abandoned my SoCal roots, I'm increasingly alarmed that I've become locked in to some irreversible metro-hipster-yuppie metamorphosis. I fully expect to awake in the middle of the night encased in a gossamer cocoon of polyester while terrible enzynes melt my intestines and coat me in a chitinous shell of vinyl and hair product.

But the music is pretty good.

Relative Velocity

I'm picking Ken up from the airport. I just realized it may take me longer to drive there than it will take him to fly.

Double Take

A co-worker asks if anyone has ever told me I look like Roger Federer. They haven't, and I didn't even know what he looks like. But I did a Google Image search and it' actually kind of close:

Pop!

The latest law school term bill arried by e-mail. Some day, I will get used to the idea hitting a few buttons and sending ten thousand dollars off into the ether.

But today is not that day.

Pop!

The Denmark Model

Yes Virginia, national health care would greatly increase labor mobility. This is an issue that plays into pretty much all of my ideological biases, but damn if I didn't wish we heard this case more often.

Keep Calm and Carry On

Apparently, the Walgreens a few blocks up was destroyed by arson. I say apparently because I wasn't here to see any flames, let alone any saboteurs setting them. I only saw the burned-out hulk of a rooftop air conditioner in the middle of the intersection, surrounded by police barricades. The locals told me it was arson. No word on whether the air conditioner was dragged there after or, as I prefer to imagine it, popped off the roof like a champagne cork and came crashing down in a cloud of fire.

Noah's Bagels across the street boarded up its windows, but its owners have spray painted the plywood with encouraging pleas for normalcy. "I ASSURE YOU," reads my favorite, "WE ARE OPEN."

Exodus

No updates for a while, must mean I've been busy. And I have. Most drastically, Summer employer agreed to send me on a three-week impromptu split at the Redwood City office. I had been composing to myself a long and reflective post about my ambivalent feelings about San Diego and what that send about me and law school and how I've changed over the years, and I voiced some of those thoughts at my mid-summer review. Then - BAM! - faster than a speeding blogger I got a call asking if I could start in Silicon Valley on Monday. I drove up all day yesterday and had my first day at work today back in the Bay Area.

Free advice: if you're planning a day-long road trip, do not nap on the beach the morning before you leave. A sunburned back is very uncomfortable during an eight-hour drive.

I didn't leave San Diego until 4:30 because Mike the Once and Future Management Consultant was in town for the Fourth and I had to take him down to the airport. I finally got in to Palo Alto at 12:40.

More free advice: after a long holiday weekend, get some freaking sleep before starting your new job. Man cannot live on caffeine alone.

Also, Live Free or Die Hard is better than Transformers. Transformers does have giant robots fighting, which is awesome. But it sometimes has robots talking, which is a bit less awesome. Die Hard has Bruce Willis fighting, which is awesome. But then it has Bruce Willis talking which is also awesome.

I think I could write a lot about both of those movies, but for now let me just point out one thing. You know how at the end of Transformers when Protagonist and Hot Girl are making out on the hood of his car? That car is a robot and his friend. He's hooking up on top of his friend. And then while they've having some kinky cyborg threesome, the camera pans back and you see all the other robot cars watching them, headlights shining? That's some freaky shit.

That's No Moon

one worldwide plaza
Originally uploaded by nj dodge

From the discussion of Cravath's $900 million lease at Above the Law:

I've heard people call A&P's DC office on 12th St. the "Death Star" because of the huge rounded glass atrium inside that somewhat resembles the center of the Death Star where Vader uttered his immortal words about Luke being his spawn before doing a hatchet job on his hand. It doesn't hurt that one of the partners who has an office off the atrium literally has a life-sized Darth Vader standing in the corner of his office.

Also, they supposedly filmed some scene from the forgettable Jodie Foster movie "Contact" in there.

Posted by: Anonymous | June 27, 2007 11:05 AM

...

Vader doesn't cut off Luke's hand in the Death Star, he cuts it off in Cloud City. You tool.

Posted by: Anonymous | June 27, 2007 11:14 AM

We sure are getting a lot of use out of that I am a huge nerd tag today, aren't we?

A Rarified Intersection

wishful
Originally uploaded by Smartthrob

Via Julian Sanchez, a whole series of Magic™ style cards featuring philosophers and political figures.

The Cato Institute is a good one, as is Darfur.

Yoko Ono Interviews Perez Hilton

Ken saw me watching Blogingheads.tv and only looked over my shoulder for a minute before declaring, "Any site that uses the word "diavlog" on the front page is dead to me."

But how could he pass up on the latest episode, featuring Ann Althouse and David Lat discussing blogging, bonuses, and AutoAdmit? It's so topical!

Bong Hits 4 Jesus

I was going to write a post about Morse v. Frederick, but then I saw that Eugene Volokh already said it.

But I still want to see a bunch of high schoolers make a "Legalize Marijuana for Private Consumption and Enjoy it Responsibly in Your Own Home" banner.

CM is right; this WSJ story is ridiculous: are law students emotional wrecks? Not about the emotional wrecks part, which I suppose is true enough, but the inference that that this is due to the environment of law school as opposed to the particular characteristics of law students.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but most law students I know (myself included!) would not survive med school, let alone find satisfaction there. Law school may not be easy, but compared to med school, it's a frigging cakewalk. Law students whine more because (1) we are way less tough on average and (2) many of us really don't want to be here.

Maybe some of my vestigial techie chauvinism is going to shine through here, but (1) should be pretty obvious. Most law students were humanities majors in college, and never learned what hard work really is. Law school is a shock to their delicate systems. Meanwhile, the pre-meds were crazy for ages. Actual medical school is still a step up in work, but they've been working hard for years, and they're ready for it.

(2) may not be such common knowledge, but it certainly should be to blog readers. A lot of people kind of drift into law school because they aren't sure what to do with themselves and they're kinda smart and do well on the LSAT. These people don't really want to practice law, and the strong focus on actually learning legal doctrine in law school, while it shouldn't really have been surprising, makes them understandably unhappy. Nobody has any illusions about how an MD is a "versatile degree" that "opens all kinds of doors," so practically everybody at med school actually wants to be a doctor. They've probably wanted it for a really long time, because you'd kind of have to in order to put up with all that pre-med craziness alluded to above. Now it may be so awful (you don't see me doing it!) that along the way some of them decide they don't want to be doctors after all, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that's still a smaller percentage than the number who never wanted to be lawyers when they got here.

I could go on too, about why we should expect med school to be objectively harder than law, but I have to go to work.

Dealmaking

I went to Los Angeles this weekend to visit Ken and meet up with some other law school chums. We met up with a friend of his doing public interest work, and traded war stories while pre-partying aggressively at a film festival cocktail hour. Plans were made to meet more friends at a club nearby. However, we arrived to discover a problem. Ken's friend, the philanthropic slouch, was still wearing the traditional SoCal uniform below the waist: cargo shorts and a worn pair of Rainbows. The bouncers, black-clad and big as Oldsmobiles, didn't mind the sandals, but would not abide a short. We'd caught a ride over and our driver was already inside, eager to showcase his jumpy dancing style. We wheedled ineffectually and considered aloud whether we should take our custom elsewhere. They refused to budge on the pants, and suggested we try a Pick N' Save up the block.

We latched on to the suggestion immediately. We could buy pants right then - it was just crazy enough to work. But a quick troop up the street revealed that Pick N' Save was not crazy enough to be open past ten on a Friday night. We dashed over to the dollar store just in time to watch through the window as employees locked its accordion bars. We were crushed to learn that even CVS was closed, although nobody had a good idea about exactly what kind of pants we would have hoped to find inside. We trudged back in defeat, cursing the owners who put their swanky fancy-pants on a such a desolate street, completely deserted except for a 24-hour warehouse of a laundromat.

Inspiration struck. I strode purposefully through the entrance to address the assembled launderers. "Excuse me everyone! Does anyone have a pair of size thirty-six pants they would be willing to sell for twenty dollars?" The more objectively audacious your request, the more your affect must insist it is normal. I imagined myself as the host of a hidden-camera program, riding around the city with my crew in a panel van, making outrageous demands of strangers for some shameless program on E! "Size thirty-six? Anybody?"

"I will sell you pants," piped up a man unloading khakis from a dryer, "but for more than twenty bucks." I pointed at him like an auctioneer receiving a bid.

"How much more? Thirty?"

"Forty."

"Too much!" I cried, and wheeled away. A ruffled-looking hipster had a pair of loose thirty-fours. They fit! he refused to take a dollar over the originally offered twenty.

"And they're good pants?" Ken took charge of quality control. "You don't have crabs or anything?"

"If he had crabs, I wouldn't be dating him," joked the seller's girlfriend, pinching his butt.

"Excellent!" The deal was struck. Our problem proudly solved, we marched back next door. Charmed no doubt by our moxie, the bouncers waived our cover. Inside, we toasted our success.

"I can't believe we just bought pants off someone in a laundromat!"

"I know. I feel like such a dealmaker."

Our formerly beshorted companion, however, was the most pleased of all. "These pants fit really great! I would have paid more than twenty bucks for them. Like, in a store and everything!"

Midnight Oil

The good news is, the office is deserted at 11:00.

The bad news is, I'm still there.

The good news is, it's so I can finish my stuff and leave early tomorrow to go visit Ken.

Also, I won our impromptu Summer Associate Late-Nite Darts Tournament with a well-placed shot to the triple twenty.

Following The Black Line

Pool Lanes
Originally uploaded by Carol Mitchell

I went swimming today, my first real pool workout in months. Some jerk wrote "8 x 50 kick" on the set board. Tomorrow, I may not be able to walk. Also, I am slow. That is sad.

But soon, I will be fast again.

Talkin Bout My Generation

So I'm at dinner, sitting next to Master Trial Lawyer, who was my boss for the last three weeks. MTL is the kind of person whose performances in the courtroom are discussed around the firm with quiet reverence. "Oh, if MTL is crossing you, you're dead."

"So Trevor," my examination begins, "you're part of this Generation Y, right?"

Instinctively, I take evasive action. "They're not really sure what to call us yet. They're trying out a bunch of names. I don't like 'Gen Y', because it doesn't mean anything other than 'after Gen X.' Derivative." Never accept their definitions. "I've heard 'facebook generation' or 'generation whatever.'" Speak by attribution, avoid using your own words. "Actually, in college, there was a cover story in Time about 'Generation 9/11' and what we were all supposed to be like. I cut it out and put in on the wall to remind myself that that is who they think you are." Having dodged, change the subject. Give them something juicy to chase. "That alone doesn't define us. I mean, it's definitely a 'where were you when Kennedy was shot thing' but I don't think it defines anyone's thinking."

The twin golden apples of 9/11 and Kennedy send the conversation veering off course for a while, but all too soon MTL brings it back home. "Let's get back to my question. Notice how that last answer was entirely unresponsive." I'm back on the hook.

Cornered, I try to beg off. "Well, I don't want to proclaim myself as some kind of voice of our generation. That's Zach Braff's job. And I certainly don't want to be Zach Braff." Scattered chuckles. Good audience. But MTL is having none of it. I am going to be Zach Braff, whether I like it or not. Junior Associate jokes that dinosaur partners like to grouse that all young people are so 'mercenary' these days. This is not a sentiment I leap to endorse.

I splutter and flounder for a bit, until someone throws me a lifeline by telling a Stephen Colbert story. Knowing a good hook when I see it, I segue into an exegesis of my cohort's storied cynicism. "Now this may not be all that new. My parents didn't trust anyone over thirty, we just don't trust anyone at all."

Ironically, they are suspicious. Not trust anyone? "I think it's more that we don't believe in long-term promises." If anything, incredulity increases. "I mean, half of us are children of divorce. There's no such thing as job security any more. No one I know expects to actually get social security when we retire. Certainly nobody trusts the government to look out for them." I'm feeling the flow, so I forget to rattle off the familiar failures: Iraq, Katrina, 9/11. None of us can remember a president who wasn't a famous liar. "And of course you can't trust corporations either." Pension raiders too become victims of momentum. "Wherever you see big important institutions making long-term social, informal promises, we see those promises being broken. So we don't trust them any more. In law school we learn about the historical transition from relationships based on status to relationships based on contract. Maybe this is just the next step. Maybe in that sense, we are more mercenary."

MTL is satisfied, and leans back with a playful smirk. A solid answer. I'm out of the woods.

Until Junior Associate surprises me with a flank attack. "You don't believe in long-term promises? What about marriage?" he asks, casting a meaningful glance at his wife, seated next to me. Finding myself in a hole, I resume digging.

Against it Before He Was For It

Robert Bork is pursuing a $1M slip-and-fall case (plus punitive damages!) against the Yale Club of New York City. Which is a bit striking because in 2002 he published an article in our own JLPP arguing that tort reform was more important than originalism:

State tort law today is different in kind from the state tort law known to the generation of the Framers. The present tort system poses dangers to interstate commerce not unlike those faced under the Articles of Confederation. Even if Congress would not, in 1789, have had the power to displace state tort law, the nature of the problem has changed so dramatically as to bring the problem within the scope of the power granted to Congress. Accordingly, proposals, such as placing limits or caps on punitive damages, or eliminating joint or strict liability, which may once have been clearly understood as beyond Congress's power, may now be constitutionally appropriate.

This sort of thing is why I find it extremely hard to take any kind of professed "judicial philosophy" very seriously. They always seem to line up suspiciously conveniently with the judicial philosopher's policy preferences. This is, at worst, an especially clear case.

ACSBlog has the scoop.

LOLyers

Eh Nonymous takes LOL macros into dangerous new territory.

I follow:



Make your own with ROFLbot.

Previously: Statute Cat.

Nullification!

Woman acquitted of mailing dog poop to her congressperson by a jury of her peers, who considered it protected political speech.

The seventh amendment kicks ass.

Knocked Up

When Kevin Smith goes to sleep at night, he dreams of making movies like Judd Apatow.

Inherent in the System

"I wish we got Showtime. It has that show - not Rome, but something like it."
"The Edwardian one?"
"The Tudors! It's suppoed to be very lusty. All sex and violence."
"That's what monarchy's all about, isn't it?"
"I hadn't thought bout that. But that's exactly what it's all about."

"Are They Talking Crazytalk?"

Megan gives a remarkably good lay explanation of the abitrary and capricious standard. I've always been a bigger fan of "Clearly erroneous!" myself, but one takes what one can get.

Killer Instinct

Associate: "Are you going to make it to Halo night next week?"

Trevor: "Oh, yeah. I was just talking to Associate Mentor and he said he has to go home and practice. Ha!"

Associate: (totally serious) "He does. He's terrible"

Google Street View

Have you seen this? Zoomable panoramas of select cities from any point on their streets! My bus stop from last summer.

A Remarkably Clear Brand Message

I got the most awesome/hilarious/tragic piece of junk mail today. MasterCard makes a direct appeal to my reptilian core:

"CARRY PLATINUM" the envelpe commands, "COMMAND RESPECT"

I read some of the fine print, and apparently the credit limit on these PLATIUNUM cards can be as low as $300.

Paul Mooney Was Right

It seems that now white people have stolen PG too.

Midnight Run

God bless Jack in the Box and their 24-hour drive through. It is so nice to be back in a city that lets you buy food after eight pm.

Also, kids? Never get an extension on anything. It will ruin your life.

Towards a Harder Bigotry

Amber at Prettier Than Napoleon has a cryptic, provocative post about sexism arguing (I think) that we should hold men to a much higher standard when it comes to understanding the role of gender in society than we do:

If a woman* had written this, people would say, "looks like someone just took her first Women's Studies class." A guy writes it and it's thunderous and prophetic.

So it's a somewhat disturbing irony that the guy speaking actually minored Gender Studies. Is it even possible to communicate this kind of understanding outside of a university clasroom? Are the standards higher for actual students of women's studies, and if so, how perverse of an incentive does that create?

First Past the Post

The new Pirates movie is fun. The reviews say the plot doesn't make any sense except to serious scholars of the second film, but I didn't even see the second one and I think I got a handle on what went down: there is a lot of backstabbing. They are pirates.

Anyway it turns out the pirates can only go to war if one is declared by the Pirate King. Trouble is, Pirate Kings have to be elected by the nine Pirate Lords, and all of them, being pirates, always vote for themselves. So the votes always deadlock with a nine-way tie, and the pirates can't declare war, even if they are unanimously in favor of it. With an English armada lying in wait outside headed by a magical ship captained by a half-octopus, I'm thinking to myself "what a poorly-designed voting system!" A simple instant runoff system would resolve almost all these contests by the second round. Three cheers for effective governance!

Presently, a vote is called, and the cunning Jack Sparrow gets to play kingmaker by voting last and simply anointing his favorite candidate. She wins 2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-0, gaining unilateral authority to declare war with a whopping 22% mandate. "See!" I scoff inwardly. "The policy space is shaped by the choice of institutions!"

Free Advertising

There is a life-size Silver Surfer surfing out of a poster right in the middle of the movie theater lobby. He is very shiny. It's one of those times I wish I carried a camera, becuase I though, "man I would like a picture of that." It's no giant inflatable Spider-Man, but it was very shiny. And when a movie theater puts a giant shiny thing right in the middle of where everyone want to walk what do they do? They put a "DON'T TOUCH" sign on it. In law school, we call that entrapment. Or an atractive niusance. Or something.

When we were leaving the theater, some promoter was giving out Transformers stickers and poster and then asking people if he could photograph them with their new swag. When someone wants to take your picture holding a sticker of a robot, you really only have one choice. I put on my "this is the most serious shit in the world" face. It looked something like this:



Only, you know, with a sticker. I threw it away. It's not like I'm going to see either of those movies.

Hope in KSR

The Supreme Court is here to assure you: your fellow citizens are not robots.

A person of ordinary skill is also a
person of ordinary creativity, not an automaton.

KSR v. Teleflex

Against Perpetuity

Mark Helprin has an Op-Ed in the New York Times arguing that copyrights should last forever. There's not really a coherent argument so much as hints at several possible ones, but I think I've found the point where he goes off the tracks. Early on:

[The time limit on copyrights] is, then, for the public good. But it might also be for the public good were Congress to allow the enslavement of foreign captives and their descendants (this was tried); the seizure of Bill Gates’s bankbook; or the ruthless suppression of Alec Baldwin. You can always make a case for the public interest if you are willing to exclude from common equity those whose rights you seek to abridge. But we don’t operate that way, mostly.

Let's set aside the argument that the "rights" of deceased creators are not a terribly compelling source of value in the first place. The problem with the exercises of power Helprin thinks are counterexamples is that the imagined government is acting arbitrarily. Copyright law, on the other hand, applies evenly to all holders. Creators whose copyrights expire seventy (70!) years after they die aren't having their rights infringed, because they don't have any copyrights seventy years after death. Unless, that is, the "rights" in question are a kind of natural right to eternal copyright protection, which Helprin seems to want to assume without actually making the case for. As a sometime student of the metaphysics of morals, let me just say good luck with that.

But look, ordinary property rights governing land and chattel have evolved at common law in order to maximize the public good. You always have to make tradeoffs between plausible-sounding "rights" like the right to have peace and quiet on your land and the right to enjoy your land by having loud parties on it. Either Helprin thinks this process is illegitimate, and adopting one rule or the other inevitably "exclude[s] from common equity the rights you seek to abrdige," or he rally just doesn't get what this "law" business is all about.

Three's Company

Nobody Scores is pretty awesome. Found it via Dresden Codak, which I found via Boing Boing, which I found via I have an internet addiction.

The Office Season Finale

Dude. I totally wanted Creed's blog to be real.

With A Vengeance

It's summertime, and all living things are a-bustle. Especially living things with wings and an exoskeleton. Coming back from lunch today, we drove through a giant swarm of bees fiercely guarding a six-lane intersection. As if a tanker truck full of pollen suckers had overturned in the middle, and they had claimed the turf to found their own nation as Free Insects.

Meanwhile, mosquitos keep breaking into the house. In an always fatal error, some of them even enter my room. None of them has even bitten me yet, and only the very lucky avoid even a single swipe of my swatter. I am the goddamn mosquito apocalypse.

Backfire

Because of this brilliant idea, the question most likely to be asked by new co-workers, often with a slightly worried expression, is, "so, what's with the dinosaurs?"

iPod Shuffle

I own a lot of bad music.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

Idleness being merely a step on the path to wickedness, I start work immediately after finals. This very morning! Hope everyone in the same boat remembered to bring one document from schedule A, or one from B and one from C.

Trusts and Estates Employment Opportunity

I ran an early draft by my lawyer, and he had issues with just about everything in there. I specify at the end that I wanted to be reincarnated as an octopus (I have my reasons). He says that this won't work, and that nobody puts that sort of thing in their will. What I want to know is, how does he know it won't work if nobody ever tries it?

I'm looking for a new lawyer.

From Joe Mathlete, of Joe Mathlete Explains Today's Marmaduke fame.

I'm Back, Baby!

Layover

Free wireless in the JetBlue terminal at JFK! Hey look at me!

One More Down

What kind of class grades you only on a final exam with a 3-page limit?

The awesome kind. Duh.

My Roommate Solves Problems

"Ugh! Why am I so tired at ten thirty? I slept for like 11 hours last night."
"Maybe because it's ninety degrees in here?" *opens windows*
"Wow! That does help!"

Product Endorsement

Beer is of course the ideal finals week beverage, but if like me you need to keep your wits about you to write some papers, a sixer of cold IBC Root Beer makes the time go a whole lot faster too.

In His Place

Eugene Volokh fights the power (of parking enforcement) and wins. Rock on.

Suing Michael Scott

LGM points to a great blog by an employment law litigator assessing liability in The Office.

And, just in case you were wondering, calling the company’s best customer a “Biatch” during a press conference and threatening to sabotage the product line if held responsible for mishaps occurring under your supervision would be a good reason to terminate a manager. A very good reason.

Remix Edition

CNN says it's making the video of its presidential debate availalbe "without restrictions." This is really cool, and should lead to a beautiful flowering of homebrew YouTube political ads. And this time, they'll be legal!

Maybe I'll even be inspired to put my own newfound chops to work.

Hoy

Adding insult to a lengthy litany of grevious injuries, Massachusetts apparently sees fit to let Cinco de Mayo pass without comment or celebration. This sucks. They can keep their stupid race on their stupid Patriots' Day.

Wedgie!

Frank Lautenberg is a flipping genius. Dude authors a bill to allow the Attorney General to unilaterally block gun sales to people on the terrorist watch list. His political opponents, who fervently oppose both limits on firearm ownership and oversight of executive power, implode.

When I grow up, I wanna be able to do judo like that.

Two Down

Professor Kamar gives a seriously hard multiple-choice exam for his Corporations class. And I mean, I'm good at multiple-choice. Like, really good.

But damn.

The Kid is Alright

I survived Admin. I even thought I knew some answers!

Pop Quiz

You have a final exam tomorrow morning in administrative law, a subject of which you have at best fleeting and incomplete comprehension. How do you spend your time?

Updating the links on your blog, of course.

Inventing Breakthroughs and Commercializing Science

I'm cross-registering for this course at the Business School next fall. You should too. It sounds cool.

This course has evolved over four years to be unique among HBS electives as students are selected from Harvard's schools of business, medicine, science, engineering, law, public health, government, and teaching hospitals. The focus is on inventing breakthroughs, working with other professions such as science, medicine, and law, and moving research from the lab to the market place. A center piece of the course is a multi-disciplinary team project to create the plan for commercializing research from a university or private sector lab. Final presentations of the projects will be attended by Harvard faculty, alums and local venture capitalists (enrollment will be limited to 50 business and 100 total students per section). Some of the projects will be further developed during the winter term "Half-Course: Science-Based Business Models" for entry into the HBS business plan contest in April.

Wednesdays and Thursdays, 3:10-5:30

Bay Bridge Interchange Collapse

After a tanker truck catches fire. Crazy.

Protestations

PBB has a great account of protests against Alberto Gonzales when he came here for his law school reunion.

In other news, it is childish to pick fights for no reason.

∂M/∂t II

Available at threadless.

∂Maturity/∂t

There's a reason xkcd is marked "essential."

Titles of Nobility

Also, I got the head writer's gig for next year's Parody. All y'all best watch out.

What You Ask For

Let me just preface by saying I know how ridiculous this is going to sound. I know.

As others have noted, the weather in Boston is suddenly glorious, after a deplorable stretch including a solid week of cold rain. Naturally, I cast aside all my obligations - finals be damned! - to run around outside all afternoon. I have diagnosed myself with a pretty serious case of Seasonal Affective Order, which shouldn't be called a Disorder at all, because it is perfectly reasonable to be unhappy when the weather blows, and manic when it rocks. So today's clear skies and highs in the seventies hit me like so much photonic cocaine. Tomorrow should be more of the same, and Monday is supposed to get above eighty (80!) degrees. I could die of ecstasy.

In the meantime, though, I can't sleep. It is too damn hot.

A Hipster Walks Into a Bar

From Cat and Girl

Bummer

Kurt Vonnegut has died at age 84. I read a whole bunch of his books one after another Junior year of high school, which I always blame for making me swear to damn much these days. I found and devoured a copy of The Bagombo Snuff Box over the summer, and it's sad to think now there won't ever be any more of it.

What If John Mayer Sang Baby Got Back?

It might sound a bit like this awesome Jonathan Coulton cover:

Astronauts

Just go watch this. Seriously. Like now.

Mars Cali Needs Women

So, this sucks:



Because this guy could not be more right about that Wintry Mix:

I don't know if any of you have ever had the pleasure of experiencing a Boston winter, but if not let me awaken your senses. It's basically an 8 month-long night of sitting in your bathtub tearlessly crying while listening to Townes Van Zandt/Joy Division mashups, half-heartedly trying to cut your wrists with the Lady Bic of some jawn you were hot for that you just found out gave brain to Mr. Len in the bathroom during some poetry slam in Central Square. No. It's really like that. For everyone. 8 months.

All those red dots are deep in the No Fly Zone.

Statute Cat

There Are Several Airports in the Bay Area

EB: Hey Trevor, you got a ride from the airport on weds yet?
EB: I'm glad to.
TA: Yeah, that would be great.
TA: I land at 7:42 pm, from Jet Blue
EB: Ok
EB: I will quantum entangle myself and show up at oakland, san jose, and san francisco at 7:42. We will then drive back in exactly 1/3 of my car.
EB: Or you can tell me the airport

The Sanctions Regime

"I'm sorry sir, but you're going to have to surrender these. They're a Product of Cuba." He pronounces the capital letters. "We have an Embargo against Cuba."
"I thought there was a one-box exception. For personal use?"
"No exceptions. Embargo means Embargo."
"Didn't there used to be though? When did it change?"
"There have never been exceptions," he intones in shades of Orwell. "There has always been the Embargo."

Bastards. That was a good box of cigars.

Close to Greatness

A source tells me that a girl I kissed once holds the American record in a swimming event. That is, at some point she swam a race faster than any American woman that has ever lived. The best ever. "You must feel pretty good about yourself, hearing that," my source teasingly prompts.

She's right. I kinda do.

Maybe All We Needed Was A Little Space

I come back from a week in Jamaica (awesome) and Boston has decided that Now There Shall Be Spring. Hooray!

The New York Times is Free Again

At least if you have a .edu email address.

Quote of the Day

Last night, Charles Fried is rehearsing his cameo in the hour before curtain. I walk up and listen in, excited.

"Yes?"
"Oh, I just want to watch. I wrote this bit."
"You wrote this?"
"Yes."
"Well it doesn't make any sense."

In my defense, it was a three-word fix to make it make sense. But he did have a point.

Opening Night

Remember when this thing used to be kind of funny? It hasn't been so much lately because I've been channeling my creative energies into the HLS Parody, which I helped write and appear in. Putting in together has been an obscene amount of work. But finally, payoff.

Last night's show went incredibly well, with a great audience and a scene-stealing cameo by Alan Dershowitz. And aside from some fliers about last year's controversy, there were no major disturbances. The masked streaker, for example, had excellent comedic timing. People totally thought we were funny, and stuff.

The Decline and Fall of Higher Education

One of my friends just joined a Facebook group called "You know your in college when."

God help us all.

Baby Barista

Going a week or two without updates is pretty common in these here parts, but it feels especially barren when I do come back and there's a link in the comments to the positively verbose Baby Barista, who appears to write more good gossip in a day than I hear in a week. And in British!

The Departed

Good to see Scorsese come from behind to tie Three 6 Mafia 1-1.

Social Justice vs. Social Calendar

From an e-mail about upcoming events:

Mardi Gras at HLS
Date: Tuesday, Feb. 20
Location: The Hark
Time:
6-7:30pm: When the Levees Broke
Watch a screening of selections of Spike Lee’s film documenting Katrina’s devastation. The screening will be followed by remarks from Dean Kagan.
7:30-10pm: PARTY!!!!
Celebrate the joy and spirit of an enduring New Orleans! Eat, drink and indulge in the sultry sounds of jazz by Evan Diamond & Chris Drake.

Because, you know, nothing makes we want to get down on a Tuesday night like a documentary about the desruction and abandonment of a major American city.

States Matter

I have a new favorite part of this time of year in Cambridge. It happens a day or two after a snowstorm, when snow on the sidewalk has melted and re-frozen into a solid sheet crusted over the cobblestones. If the crust is the right thickness - around a quarter inch is ideal - it cracks and snaps as you stomp across it, and it feels like you're grinding Winter iteslf underfoot.

You'll Thank Me When You Share My Politics

I thought for a while I might post some celebratory Valentine's Day message, complete with homegrown holiday-appropriate imagery.

Well, screw that.

from the indispensable dinosaur comics

Additionally: xkcd, pbf

Replacing "Awesome"

Unfogged has suggestions:

• totally Airwolf (discussed previously in this space)
  
• wizard cocksucker
• copshow

Much useful discussion ensues. Read the comments, at least down to the recounting of using "knives out, motherfuckers!" as a friendly greeting. I think I'm taking that. I've already picked up such ridiculosities as "hella spendy." Damn you, Jason. That lingo is pants.

Hey, I Know That Guy

Congratulations to Law Review President-Elect Andrew Crespo. Article by our very own PBB.

Everyone know what this means, right? I have to start working on Andrew Crespo jokes right away. Anybody got any ideas?

It's Like Tennis, But in a Box

It seems like everybody's playing Racquetball all of a sudden. And Amazon just threw this up on my Recommended section:

What gives?

Re: Claire's Daddy

You were right NBC. I did not suspect that. Well done.

Quote of the Day

Do you guys watch Heroes? It's really good.

- Cass Sunstein

Jesus Loves Osama

You've got to respect the kind of church that posts a sign like that outside. Going way outside the box like this brings the message home much more powerfully than repeating the usual platitudes. And of course it's doctrinally correct, too. Intense.

Already Under the Wire

One unfortunate consequence of my otherwise brilliant feat of scheduling is that I have to do an entire week's worth of reading today. As you may have heard, that can be kind of a lot.

I won't have time to work tomorrow, because I have Parody rehearsal for hours , and then it's the Super Bowl. Which I can't miss, on account of being American. Parody will be fun, though. Our script was well-received at Thursday's read-through, and they found a great 1L to play Unnamed Protagonist, which was my biggest worry about the show. But right now, I'm up to my eyeballs in Admin. Which is less fun.

Books

California is working to make open-source books for K-12 education. Cool.

Also, the Coop was sold out of a book I need for a seminar on Monday, but we were 0only assigned five pages for this week, so with a bit of fiddling I could use Amazon's Search Inside feature to get what I needed until I can get the whole thing shipped.

Mean Girl

So this show 30 Rock is like Tina Fey's secret plan to make me fall in love with her, right? Because it's totally working.

iConcertCal

Julian Sanchez points me to the awesome iConcertCal plug-in for iTunes, which searches your music library and tells you when one of the bands in it is playing a show in your town.

For example, now I'm going to go see MC Lars, who lived in my dorm one year, play at the Middle East on the 27th.

Derogative Inflation

The single biggest drawback to referring to the 1Ls as freshmen (as in "So it turns out the freshman really hate it when you call them freshmen. Who knew?") is that I have no handy word when the MAC is under renovation and our beautiful gym is overrun by actual undergraduates.

I had to satisfy myself with muttering darkly about "damn kids."

Calendar Coup

I staggered out of Entertainment Law at 6:45, barely able to stand after an academic day that began at 8:15 in the morning. But a flash of insight struck, my spine straightened, and the spring returned to my step. It was already the weekend.

I Am Queens Boulevard!

I took the truly awesome Trial Advocacy Workshop over winter term, and fortunately Emily wrote a bunch of really detailed posts about what it involves, so now I don't have to. The high point for me was the jury trial where I played at witness, and my portrayal of a victim of a New York police shooting brought tears to the eyes of one juror. Despite the artificiality of the proceedings, she later told us she was convinced that I had actually been shot.

To be fair, the jurors were sixth graders, but if you can fool them, you can fool anybody.