I Just Found the Oddest Thing...

Publishers are making video trailers for new books. Chalk that up as another sign of the end of days.




Apparently this is not a new phenomenon.

Thank you America...

...for finally healing from the tragedy of 9/11/01.

I mean, is there any way to explain the Astro-nut and the Anna Nicole happening in the same week?

As Irregular TRiNaDP Contributor JTB said, "I feel like I'm back in the summer of Chandra Levy and shark attacks."

I hope I'm not the last to say, it has been a LONG time coming.

p.s. Prince SUCKED during the half time show. I like Prince (although I'm dissapointed that I can't find a wingdings character to represent his true name). But I give a haearty wag of the finger to ESPN Productions for a completely lame half time show. Bill Simons has no balls for not pointing this out.

Congratulations to the NFL...

...for the best officiated game of the post-instant-replay era. Genious New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick opted to take the cheap route toward securing a Super Bowl birth after a 21-3 halftime lead. Knowing how the impossibly awesome Peyton Manning can change a game, Belichick chose to instruct his team to take every cheap shot possible, and they did. "Tough" hitting comes when the ball is in play, cheap hitting is diving on pile-ups after the ball is dead. The Patriots did the latter for the entire half and got called on a bullshit roughing the passer violation. It was bullshit, but more deserved than any other call all game.

...also thank you for one of the greatest playoffs games ever.

Behind the Scenes of Borat...Behind the Scenes at America's Largest Bank

This is the most comprehensive look at reactions from the folks who got duped by Borat that I've seen so far.

This is just totally terrible in every way:

Macaca Speaks!

I was in Nepal when Macaca-Gate broke...I didn't even know about it till I got back and asked the same question everyone else in America asked, only a month later- "what the fuck is a macaca?"

Well, wikipedia has robust coverage of the answer to that question. For the record my favorite antiquated racial slur is and will remain WOG.

Anyway, the alleged macaca (actually a wog) is S. R. Sidarth. He's written an very nice and very diplomatic op-ed in today's Washington Post.

I hope Mr. Sidarth finds whatever he is looking for at the end of the aspiring politico rainbow. He's off to a grand start.

Songs I Haven't Heard in a Very Long Time #1

Inner Circle are best know for the Cops theme song ("Bad Boys") but "Sweat" is certainly their greatest work. It brings the listener back to the days when sexy music was fun. This song rams it in hard, but with a loveable goofyness that keeps me coming back for more.



P.S. three huzzahs for the democrats, but where the fuck was my invitation to CNN's blogging party?

China is a land of contrasts...

The first thing that is abundently clear to anyone who has visited china is that there is a bit of a air quality issue going on...

Take, for instance, this photo from Beijing (at the construction site of the city's new largest building):



Chengdu, is about 2000 kilometers south of Beijing. It looks like this:



The problem even overwhelms most trips to the Great Wall:



It even looms, among other things, above Tiananmen:



Also, the country can be a bit crowded sometimes. This is the tiny little ancient village of Lijiang in Yunnan:



And yet...there's still some really beautiful places...like this countryside pagoda, also in Yunnan:



and there are also cool animals...alive... :



....dead... :



...and slightly less dead... :



You can even get lost on strange communist tourist trap islands:



But, after all is said and done, the best thing about China is the people:

For a small taste of how stupid some people can be....

...I suggest reading this discussion on the Lonely Planet forums.

"Planning to travel to Mumbai and Goa with our 18month old daughter in Dec.She has not had any immunisations and we try to treat most illnesses with homeopathy.Although we have successfully seen her through many colds, fevers and measles with homeopathy i am still worried about all the tummy bugs etc. and i wonder if we're better off waiting a year ...Any thoughts?Thanks"

I really, really want to believe the person writing this has a really dark sense of humor. I'm afraid not.

THIS BLOG GOES PRIME TIME!!!!!

Even though I’m in Kathmandu, it didn’t take long to find out that this humble blog was cited on legal juggernaught The Volokh Conspiracy. I’m honored, and a little scared (I could even make Gawker if I manage to fail the exam). Oddly enough, I was very unhappy with the list of “top ten things not to include in your bar exam essay.” The humor value inherent in the bar exam process deserves more. But, that post was the product of the kind of late night bar exam stress that has you looking on the internet for the real reason for the bizarre rules on ademption.

The internet here is slow, but censor free. I’ve been in China for a month…hence the lack of posts. In case you were wondering, this blog is banned in China. But, oddly enough I managed to get on Blogger once while in Guilin. I wrote a whole post about how the blog wasn’t banned in china. Turns out the whole thing got held up in one of China’s three internet “out pipes.” Does this mean China has a fake version of blogger up and running simply to see who is trying to post to blogs? Or, did I just not hit the "publish post" button? The world will never know.

I did take a picture. See below:

Top Ten Things Not to Include in Your Bar Exam Essay:

1. God's law (hereinafter "GL") is clear on the following point...

2. 3 generations of imbeciles is enough

3. Whoever is in need of evidence, he shall go on every third day to shout before the witness' doorway.

4. If an overseer or a fisherman ordered to the service of the king does not come, but sends a hireling in his stead, that same overseer or fisherman shall be put to death, and his house shall go into the possession of the hireling.

5. If a woman in a quarrel injure the testicle of a man, one of her fingers they shall cut off. And if a physician bind it up and the other testicle which is beside it be infected thereby, or take harm; or in a quarrel she injure the other testicle, they shall destroy both of her eyes

6. If defendant shirks or takes to heels, plaintiff shall lay hands on him.

7. Evil is as evil does

8. If the wife of a man be walking on the highway, and a man seize her, say to her "I will surely have intercourse with you," if she be not willing and defend herself, and he seize her by force and rape her, whether they catch him upon the wife of a man, or whether at the word of the woman whom he has raped, the elders shall prosecute him, they shall put him to death. There is no punishment for the woman.

9. While the defendant may have escaped punishment on Earth, he will get his just deserts in the afterlife.

10. Since, then, the primacy of the Apostolic See is established by the merit of St. Peter (who is the chief among the bishops), by the majesty of the city of Rome, and finally by the authority of a holy council, no one, withot inexcusable presumption, may attempt anything against the authority of that see.

Coase's List-->NEW LOW!

I thought $700 was a bit high for a used matress, so I decided to actually read the email. Here you go:

--------------------------------------------------------------

From: Anon
To: Coase's List (NYU Law's version of Craig's List)
Subject: Luxurious, Brand New Mattress & Box Spring - $700 OBO

Relisting... new, lower price!

Two-week old Simmons Beautyrest Full-sized pillow top mattress with boxspring - the same one as the Westin uses for its luxurious "Heavenly Bed," -for sale, $1000 original price (plus shipping if you order from the Westin).

We purchased this two weeks ago and it is the wrong level of softness for me (though my partner adores it and is bitter that it's going away) and wecan't return it. It's in brand-new condition - totally clean and the tagsare even still on it. $700 OBO.

Here's the skinny on the Westin Heavenly Bed http://tinyurl.com/ebtorWe're in Park Slope, and may be able to work something out with delivery.

---------------------------------------------------------

A couple of things- 1) I've always wondered who purchased the on-sale items from a hotel room's furniture 2) Park Slope, BIG surprise there 3) I declare a Fatwa on the term "partner."

Only RARELY am I actually impressed by other people's blog posts....

...but this one is just fucking great. I wish I could write as well.

Dan Marino to buy Penguins?

Dan is on board for one of the Penguin's bids. If (as all rummors suggest) Mark Cuban plans to one day buy the Pirates, then Pittsburgh will have pretty bitchin group of owners for its sports franchises.

epic wikipedia post

sometimes I stumble on a wikipedia article that has either (1) more information about an obscure topic than could reasonably be expected or (2) a really well written summary of a hard to peg down pop culture idea or term. This article falls into category (2).

Go Sweden!

Lots of fun legal news today...

1) I'm sure these guys in Florida were real assholes...but something about this case ("no money, no independent means, but they had the desire to blow up buildings") seems a tad dubious. The whole thing makes me wonder whether Alan Ginsberg could, these days, be prosecuted for his attempt to levitate the Pentagon via meditation during the 1969 March on Washington.

For one thing, the indictment is strange. Count 1 is alleges a violation of 18 USC 2339B...Count 2 alleges a violation of 18 USC 2339A. I don't have the time or the desire to look in to this more, but what the hell is the difference between these two statutes...at least as to this particular case? 2339B is about aid to specifically designated foreign terrorist groups. 2339A is about aid to "terrorists" more generally. In classic poor draftsmanship (maybe because the ole Patriot Act was "written" and passed in 2 weeks), 2339A (terrorists generally) has a specific definition of "material aid" including "personnel," which seems to be the legal theory in this case- by pledging support to al al queda, the Miami group offered themselves as personnel as material aid. 2339B (designated foreign terrorists), has no such definition. What I'm trying to figure out is if the Feds are going to try to charge both violations and get 15 year sentences under both...this seems fishy to say the least since the two statutes appear to have been written to address separate situations. I understand that the "personnel as aid" theory is stronger under 2339A, but the scenario here (Al Queda) seems a better fit with 2339B. Wouldn't the more proper route be to just charge under 2339B and at trial argue that the definition of aid in 2339A should be incorporated as a matter of statutory interpretation into 2339B. The two statutes were written at the same time, written together, and designed to capture the same sort of activity.

Look, I don't have a problem with actively seeking out aid FROM Al Queda or supposed Al Queda being criminal behavior. But, its just odd that that this activity is being charged under statutes designed to prohibit aid TO terrorists.

Also, if this seeking help of Al Queda versus helping Al Queda distinction has legal significance (again I don't think it should, it just seems like it does by the way these statutes are drafted), then the entirety of the conversations between the FBI undercover agent and the group are going to be poured over at trial...who suggested the Sears Tower? who suggested the FBI Building? who suggested the loyalty oath? If the defense can make it seem that the group was "tricked" then they could lose the case. Which, again, I don't think they should. My only point is that we really should have a law against seeking the help of Al Queda if we think that should be a crime.

2) here's an article about some super-shady dealings between the SEC, a major hedge fund, and a vigilant SEC attorney.

Another mini-scandal for this blog

Today, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review (an almost-insolvent, right-wing Pittsburgh paper) ran a story about the negative attention and harassment that has been focused on the woman who's car Roethlisberger collided into last week. Obviously, such idiots give Steelers fans a bad name.

Folks on steelcityinsider picked up the story and started looking for blood (its currently a two page string of posts...page 1 here, page 2 here). By 3:30 in the afternoon someone had, they claimed, emailed the Tribune Review for the source blogs, and was told this blog (and, probably, this post) is the bad guy. I just posted a response there you can check out. Since almost no one came to this blog on the day of Roethlisberger's accident, I can be pretty sure that I didn't start the harassment. But, still, I feel bad because that was never my intent. As regular readers know I almost never post anything non-ironic or non-satirical on this blog. This gets me in to trouble when people read posts out of context.

Just to clarify, the point of the post was to show how irresponsible the PGH media was for listing Fleishman's name and city neighborhood so early in the story's development. She was being tagged in every article in the local news media well before any other real detail of the accident was known (also well before the extent of Ben's injuries were known...which makes it doubly irresponsible). I put a link to google to show just how much info is easily available online once someone's name gets out in the "real" media. I know it can be read otherwise, as a wink or a nod to people to actually call up the poor lady, but that really wasn't the point. I also accused the Patriots of arranging the whole thing, but I wasn't serious about that either.

Now, to the tirade....the poster on steelcityinsider appears to be posting info from a Michael Hasch at the Tribune Review saying my blog was one of the sources for the story (Hasch is not the attributed author to the original article). The story says:

"One blogger, who posted Fleishman's home address and telephone number, was typical of the merciless Internet attackers. "She had Maine license plates. ... freaking New England fan ... I don't think she will be getting the key to the city any time soon.""

I can see how my post was close to the above paragraph. But, if this blog really is the source than the above is an out-and-out misrepresentation of what I said....pure FICTION if you will. Also, for the record, I use the word "fucking" instead of "freaking" on this space. I have no doubt that the Trib had enough integrity to actually find one of the many posts that displays actual anger against the woman and to quote it accurately. I'm sure many people picked up on the connection between the Maine license plates and the New England Patriots.

The real question is why would this guy at the Trib, after the fact, claim that my post was the source for the story? Furthermore, why haven't the Pittsburgh news outlets that are actually responsible for all this negative attention actually looked into how and why the info was released so early. Where did her name come from? The police didn't release it...

I do feel bad to have been involved, even slightly, in the bad judgment of a few rotten apples. But, I really think the true story here is how the Pittsburgh news outlets found the woman's name and why they chose to release it the way they did.

ING-GA-LAND, ING-GA-LAND!!!

As the premier "Is Ben Roethlisberger Jewish?" blog...

...I was negligent in not pointing out the religious tensions underlying The "Accident." Here's a good blog post that hits the major points.

A comment rightly points out: "I don't want your loyal readers thinking I am some paranoid nut. I mean when they say "Martha Fleishman, 62, of Squirrel Hill" you know that the rest of the burgh is reading it as "Jew Lady from Jew Hill."

So true.

A recent comment on this blog (scroll to the bottom) shows a little bit of the pogrom potential underlying this whole incident. Maybe it isn't so paranoid to be worried about Cossacks sweeping into Squirrel Hill.

Also...here's a very entertaining article in the Post Gazette outing some of the gleeful reactions to Ben's misfortune. The entertaining part comes from a clinical psychologist trying to explain why people might revel in the Steelers woes:

-----------------------------

Friday said the human brain does not fully develop until 25 years of age, which, he said, might explain why Roethlisberger, who is 24, decided to ride a motorcycle without a helmet. Friday said the posters are either too young to know better or are people whose brains never completely wired, which can happen due to a number of circumstances, including class and culture.

"The people who are blogging in Cincinnati, they're the ones whose brains never fully develop," Friday said. "They don't perspectivize human tragedy. They don't learn to think effectively. These people are not normal. We're talking about a fringe element. We're dealing with the screaming people who are venting. These are elements that are not representative of their communities. They are representatives of their own minds."
Friday said posters on Internet message boards hide behind their keyboards and write things they would never have the courage to say aloud in public. He said posters who write tasteless messages use football and the rivalries between teams as a way of getting out their aggression in a non-violent manner. It's not necessarily a new phenomenon, just one that is more evident because of the instant communication that is available via the Internet.

"We have a degree of transference on sports figures," Friday said. "It's a way of vicariously going to battle. People can blog and send thoughts, and feel a self-induced empowerment."
The Steelers' success also is part of the equation, he said. If the Steelers had not won the Super Bowl in February, people would not post such vitriolic messages. The Steelers are kings of the mountain, and their players are being transformed from humans into symbols, waiting to be knocked from their high perch.

------------------------

I had an eye opening experience wearing my Roethlisberger jersey around NYC this week. People at Bar Bri laughed at me. Most dudes on the street (Jet's fans no doubt) laughed in my face. A couple people asked me if I heard what happened, which I found funny. All in all, there was a lot more hostility than sympathy.

Obiviously Roethlisberger's absurd decision to ride around Pittsburgh w/o a helmet reflects more his stupid-hick-from-Ohio side than his jesus-incarnate-champion-for-the-ages side, but it is weird to laugh at someone while he's still in surgery.

Personally, I have to think that the vast majority of the anger stems not from undeveloped brains or transference but rather the simple fact that the STEELERS ARE THE MOTHER FUCKING WORLD CHAMPIONS AND ALL YOU HATERS ARE JUST JEALOUS AS SHIT. SUCK IT. That which does not kill you....

Not that I encourage harassing phone calls...

...BUT, if you want to make a friendly call to the car owner who Ben Roethlisberger cashed into...you may be able to do so here. Stupid Mainers...this stinks of New England Patriot shananigans.

P.S. Post Gazette article irresponsibly outing the car owner's name can be found here.

The above photo, taken by Steve Mellon, of Post-Gazette photos...shows the scene of Ben Roethlisberger's accident.

Dear Ben Roethlisberger....get better soon!

This story makes me very sad (the Pittsburgh paper, www.postgazette.com, seems to be crashed at the moment by people looking for more news. UPDATE: post gazette story is here, with more details including a pool of blood and pictures of the crash site). What's worse is I found out about it as the Czechs went up 2-0 against the USA. For the record, I am rooting for a Germany-France final...which will essentially be a referendum on the future of the EU. In the alternate, my team preferences are 1) USA 2) The Netherlands 3) ING-GA-LAND.

OK, this is the end. The broadcasting package that ESPN/ABC put together for the World Cup is just atrocious. If anyone in the rest of the world had any idea what these clowns were saying, they would be rolling on the floor laughing. The first day was dominated by bad analogies to mainstream US sports. Today, one of the announcers just said, as the audience watches Jan Koller (Czech striker) writhe in pain as he is carted off the pitch after what appears to be a horrific hamstring injury, "well, too bad for him but this has to be good news for the US side." Completely tasteless.

Possible alien abduction?

read it here.

Good lord, this has to be one of the most tragic news stories of the year

In case you were wondering how one family could bury what they thought was their daughter while another family sits vigil by a comatose woman they thought was was their own...only to find out months later that the identities were reversed, you can read about it here. Just don't even attempt to think about how mangled these poor people had to have been. Wear your seatbelts kids.

Sue Bar Bri, sue them now

join the class action here. although I doubt that they'll ever be able to prove this "gentleman's agreement" with Kaplan. if they can, then someone really fucked up in the document management at bar bri.

Frank Bruni: Close but No Cigar

Here is a great article writing up NYTimes foodie-in-residence Frank Bruni's fast food trek across the United States. Let me first say what I loved about the piece:

1) props to Whatabuger...this Texas chain has it all. I had seen ads on some national cable channels and wondered what the hell it was. While visiting The Revolution is Not a Dinner Party's Irregular Heckler JTB in Houston, I got to try this gem. Whataburger is cheap, very good, and fast...while nothing stands out as the best ever, the whole package is clearly superior to almost every other chain in the country.

2) Wendy's gets high marks in the top 10 list....I love Wendy's and it was a central part of my childhood. As you can see from this map, I grew up equidistant between 2 Wendy's (Mt. Lebanon allegedly has an ordinance that forbids fast food, so the locations are all on the border of my town). One of the most embarrassing things that ever happened to me was when I thought I left my retainer on my tray at the Wendy's in Castle Shannon. Back at that time, Wendy's distinguished itself not only with its superior food product but also a liberal policy regarding self-bussing of trays. This particular Wendy's had a mentally challenged man who would clear the trays. After the retainer was declared missing, we rushed back only to find out that the trays had been bussed. The poor guy went through the entire garbage can looking for it. No luck. We left, and cruising back home on Bedling Road, I reached into my pocket and realized it was there. My dad made me go back and apologize. He is a good man. I am an idiot.

Two other wendy's anecdotes:

I, me, yours truly, INVENTED the use of the chili sauce in the gold packet on the chicken sandwich (great on the fries too). The manager at the Greentree location picked up on the idea and started pitching it to other customers.** Its just a small skip and jump from that to the ridiculously successful spicy chicken sandwich. For the record-skip the spicy and get the regular chicken sandwich with EVERYTHING EXCEPT TOMATOES....this means, in Wendy-talk, that they put everything (except tomato) that would go on a hamburger on the chicken sandwich...more institutionally challenged (read: urban) Wendy's have a big problem with this and the counter people will refuse to hit the "everything" button, interpreting "everything except tomatoes" to mean "everything that would usually go on a chicken sandwich (lettuce, tomato, mayo)hamburger." This retardedness results in a sandwich which is just lettuce and Mayo, you don't want that. You want ketchup, mustard, mayo, pickles, onion, and lettuce....often at the urban Wendy's you have to recite these things while the people look at you like you are insane. Don't even try pointing out the "everything" button, they don't like that. Anyway, get the sandwich as above and smother it in the chili sauce. Bliss in a bun, I tell you, bliss in a bun.

Second, at Tufts, Wendy's were more hard to find. Luckily, the Revere Beach Parkway location was just far enough away for a good drive letting the muchies build up. We would get baked and drive past the Orange Line, arriving at Revere Beach practically frothing at the mouth. One time, Dre, Edsall, and I were waiting in line and Dre (who looks like an overgrown skater boi) was told by two locals, "you aren't from around here, are you?" Before Dre could respond, the same guy threw a sucker punch at the group in front of him, resulting in a minor brawl that almost stopped us from getting bliss in a bun. (follow-up...last fall, I was at the now defuct Wendy's on 6th Ave. and some hate-filled racist got furious about his sandwich not being right...he called the counter people "monkeys" and threw his fries and his hamburger at them, then he picked up and threw a chair...it was out of control).

Bottom line, I take Wendy's seriously and I'm glad Bruni gave the Chili some love. However, the chicken sandwich really is the best.

3) I'm glad Bruni recognized the superior product turned out by Baja Fresh (a formerly Canadian chain that was bought by Wendy's...I f'ing love Wendy's)

Now to the screw-ups in the article:

I don't think Wendy's got enough love. It really is heads and tails above the other national burger chains. A more glaring mistake was the love heaped upon KFC. I like KFC-who doesn't?- but the simple, undeniable fact is the Popeye's is SO MUCH BETTER. I only learned to love Popeye's in Washington D.C....the Popeye product there is better than everywhere else. But, when you get a good Popeye's and its churning out fresh chicken, there is nothing better. Bliss in a bucket, I tell you, bliss in a bucket. If, dear Bruni, you need more than unsubstantiated superlatives, here it is. Popeye's has a spicier batter and the chicken is plumper.

But, more importantly, I think Bruni missed the whole point that I have gained from a lifetime of eating fast food around this great nation. The really interesting thing is that fast food, despite the fact that its supposed to be consistent across geography, actually varies tremendously by location. A McDonald's in Queens is not the same place as a McDonald in my leafy suburb. Inside of the tight strictures of the "rules" of chain life, each location takes on a character of its own. Some are fun, others are depressing. Some serve fresh burgers, others serve 3 hour old burgers. Some are willing to throw out old fries, others will serve them until someone yells about the shit they were served. Fast food is not a homogeneous experience, the familiarity of the "rules" actually allows an aware eater to gain a great deal of info about the location of the chain and the people living there. The "rules" of the chain actually make the little difference more acute. Loving places serve loving Big Macs. I know this sounds insane, but I'll stand by that observation. You're not going to eat a bad fast food meal in a town that cares about hospitality and customer service. Unless you're in an airport, then all bets are off.

P.S. you can see what I feel about In-n-Out burger here.

** check out this ebay "I want it now" posting to see just how popular said chili sauce has become in Pittsburgh. You can find other lovers and haters of the gold packet sauce via this google search.

NY Times Book Review goes lowbrow for the week...

...here are the results of a poll of the literati as to the best novel of last 25 years. The article is being published this Sunday in the Times Book Review. The winner, sadly imho, is Beloved. I don't know how they can, in good conscience, pass up Roth for Morrison. (I loved Underworld, but I understand that it was destined for the number 2 slot). I don't think there is any question that Phillip Roth is the greatest living American writer. I guess American Pastoral isn't "big" enough for the win. But, that's the beauty of the book--it has the page turning qualities of a detective novel with the lyric language of Faulkner and the thematic content of Dostoevsky. American Pastoral isn't confusing, it is a straight attempt at the great american novel, without whistles or bells. And it comes as close as anything I've ever read to hitting the mark.

Also, its fun to note that Jonathan Safen Foer WAS a judge by Norman Mailer WAS NOT. ouch. double ouch.

GET READY KIDS.....

...its Billy Corgan's Indie Rock Summer Camp (its about appreciation).



Here's some background reading. Highlights:

BC: How old are you?

Pitchfork: I'm 29.

BC: Oh, that's the tough one. Twenty-eight to 31 is the tough period.

Pitchfork: Really? Great.

BC: You have to be really careful because it's so cataclysmic, so life-altering. People do really dramatic things like get married, or they'll get divorced. Your chances of committing suicide go way up. It's basically psychic death. You see the signs of it around 27, and you're still on the out-end of it around 31. Everyone I've talked to who's gone through that and come out the other side walks out of it like, "MY LIFE IS GREAT."

Pitchfork: Like a molting process.

BC: Absolutely, but it's really beautiful. And you see people who don't go through their Saturn Return properly-- my ex-bandmate D'Arcy is a classic example-- and they're like, trapped in hell. They're like in a suspended state; they freeze, because they won't go through the act. They'll do anything to avoid the psychic death. But you have to go through it. That's why 14 and 15 are such terrible times. Saturn Return is just the return of your planets to their original position.

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Stay tuned for class schedules and locations!!

Sunrise, Sunset (Law School Remix)

Well, stick a fork in my law school career...its done! I'm actually about 350% happier overall than 3 days ago. A great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Everyone pray I didn't fail Evidence.

Here's a photo from Barristers Ball (at tavern on the green):



Here's what the graduation ceremony (5 hours long) looked like:

Awesome story in the Post Gazette...

Pictured above is Andy Warhol's older brother.... how amazing is that? Score one for "nurture" in the ole debate. Did Andy record his visits home? Oh to be a fly on the wall for that Thanksgiving dinner.

The picture comes from this story in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Warhola (given name) is one of the old-timers they dug up to talk about the Babe's last three home runs, which were hit at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

Strange Things Happen in the Night

Walking home, I saw they are installing scafolding over the sidewalk around the corner of 4th and Bowery (currently a parking lot, the placeholder of urban design). I have no idea what they will build, but its probably gonna suck. I'll get pictures tomorrow.

Something about May Day spurred construction because by the time I got to 6th St., I saw they had closed down the street at Second Ave.



It turns out they were digging a giant hole (Notice the big tube, it's sucking up excavated dirt)...



...and filling it with huge transformers....

Nice Pick Pulitzer Peeps

You know something important is going on when the Pulitzer gives two awards (feature writing and photography) to the Rocky Moutain News for the same article ("Final Salute"). Check out the photos here...the one of the plane (shot #3) is pretty amazing. In our sorrow for the fallen let us not forget to offer up a hearty "fuck you" to George Bush. Fuck you George. Fuck you.

New York Times Most Popular

Checking out my new homepage (goodbye Drudge, thanks for the fish), I saw this. In keeping with my general "if its good enough for Hitler" approach to line-drawing in the context of Affirmative Action all I can do is shrug. However, I'm pretty sure modern-day America version of Dante's Inferno will have some space on hold for Alen Moldawer. Call it The Ring of Rushing Everyone else Down in a Race to the Bottom. I have no problem with mr. Moldawer's point, "you can bet that any advantage we can take we will" argument. Its just the idea of ordering the kit and swabbing the cheeks that seems so unseemly.

Wife: "Oh Alan, no, this is ridiculous"

Moldawer (unpacking swabs): "What if they're Indian?"

Wife: "what if they're Indian, come on, you think that chart that you just pulled out of a mail order box is going to make them Indian?"

Moldawer (moving briskly to the door and yelling): "BOYS, get in here!"

Wife: "I asked you a question"

Moldawer: "look, honey, this isn't going to change anything...they'll always be our kids, you know that"

Wife: “God damn it Alan, of course they are our kids, why are you doing this?”

Moldawer: “They don’t mind”

Wife: “Of course they don’t mind, you told them it would help pay for college”

Moldawer: “it may”

Wife: “How?? you’re going to make them write a letter or some essay about how, even though they just found out they are Indian, they are really excited to explore their roots??”

Moldawer: “is that really so much”

Wife (hushed but angry voice): “yes! Maybe they don’t want to explore their roots, maybe they like being white…maybe they don’t want to go to some meeting to accept a check…sitting with all the other Indian kids…if they’re part black, you’re going to send them to a NAACP meeting?”

Moldawer: “Why do you always make me the bad guy?? I love them, I want them to go to whatever college they want to go to…can’t we at least find out.”

Wife: “What was it, two months ago, when you found out about all the financial aid, that’s when you suddenly cared…or maybe you always cared”

Moldawer: “that’s sick, don’t you trust me”

Wife: “we can pay for college, this is some stupid battle you’ve dreamed up because you always hated special treatment for minorities”

Moldawer: “I JUST WANT TO FIND OUT…..BOYS, GET DOWN HERE!”

Two great songs, one abuse of police discretion

"London's Calling" and "Immigrant Song" are two of my fav's...remind me not to share that to anyone in the less sophisticated parts of England. Read about it here. This reminds me of the excellent kittens animation involving "Immigrant Song" which is here. Obviously the kittens are a tad dated at this point, but its a classic.

Here's a pretty great picture of fellow law student Rob Silvers being attacked by an elephant during his spring break trip to South Africa.

James Gandolfini off the wagon.....not news to me.

Gawker and the Daily News are excited about this report that James Gandolfini (of Tony Soprano fame) is drinking again. This is supposedly "news," but I was at 7B in February and Gandolfini was there, drinking. The best part was that I was playing the Soprano's pinball game they have when I noticed him. Even better, I was playing the best pinball of my life. People were stopping their conversations to watch my multi-ball prowess.

I was in Vegas last weekend, first time I've ever cashed a thousand dollar chip, so that was awesome. Pictures to be posted soon.

UPDATE: I rag on gawker a lot, but this was really good stuff. Shows the difference between the professional bloggers and us free-lance types.

Girls Who Like to Party and Take Photos of Themselves...

....can be seen here. I've said it before, I'll say it again--the youth are out of control.

UPDATE: here is the best of the bunch, at least the best I've found so far. Feel free to leave links to your fav in the comments section. Girls, if you are out there....please email me, I have a rather clean bathtub you can share any time.

UDPATE 2: This one is pretty great too.....

George Steinbrenner is a Fucking Loser

Let's face it--no one really likes George Steinbrenner. Yankees fans offer up all these half-defenses for his absurd behavior and greedy worldview, but I think 100% would swap owners in a heartbeat if they could be assured of the same level of financial commitment to the team. Everyone else who likes baseball hates the man. Some sports fans who secretly despise the sport of baseball like Steinbrenner because he embodies the inequities that are ripping the sport in two. Others find him, "funny." That's his support, and its tepid to be sure.

I don't think I've ever mentioned George on this site before. Probably because he is too easy a target. However, last night George shat the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back on to the isle of Manhattan.

I know most people don't watch the World Baseball Classic, however its their loss. Most of the games have been awesome, and there's not going to be fun, intense baseball like this for 3 months at least. Plus, the U.S. is doing horribly, which is kind of awesome. In order for the U.S. team to advance, Korea had to beat Japan last night (or Japan had to win after letting up more than 8 runs, but that's another story). Even without the U.S. team interest, the Korea/Japan game promised to be a classic...I can't think of two nations that hate eachother more or who take sports as seriously. There's an argument to be made that various Scandinavian countries hate eachother more, but that's kind of a friendly squabble among Aryan brothers....Korea/Japan is a knock-down battle ripe with historical intrigue and genocide.

So, great game, huge implications for the U.S. team....of course it will be on TV live, right? Well, in MOST parts of the country that is the case. However, in Manhattan (where Will&Grace is on channels 19 and 20 at the same time EVERY single fucking night) there was no Korea/Japan game. Why? Well, most of the games are carried live on ESPN and the other 14 are broadcast live in syndication via Disney affiliate Buena Vista Television (I guess ESPN had too much invested in yet another boring ass poker show to commit to the whole deal). ESPN Deportes also carries a lot of games, but Time Warner is too cheap/racist for that. Japan/Korea fell under syndication. Unfortunately, Yankees broadcast partner WWOR, which is the local syndication outlet for the WBC was only carrying six games. Remember, of course, that Steinbrenner did everything in his power to stop his players from competing in the WBC. Coincidence, i think not.

Point being, Steinbrenner is a manipulative, conniving, bastard who throws money around to get his way like a petulant 16 year old rich girl. Grow up George.

Korea won 2-1 in the ninth inning after a nail biter of a great game. The U.S. has to win tonight to advance. Funny how people get apoplectic about poor Bode Miller, but when our roided up superstars can't even win at our own game everybody just shrugs.