The 15 on 15 -- Top 15 Movies

I'm jumping on the bandwagon. The idea comes from Derek, who along with Ruvym and Ariel (and now Brooke) have posted their top 15 movies of all time. What follows is is a list of my favorite fifteen movies, not what I consider to be the "best" movies of all time (aka, I did not evaluate exclusively on quality of acting, cinematography, script, etc.). These are movies that I personally enjoy, and to me have a high "rewatchability" factor. Repeat viewing was an important factor in making this list, which adversely affected two groups of movies: recent releases and suspense/thriller/plot twist movies. A few movies that I enjoy that belong to those categories are included in the honorable mentions after the list. Now without further ado, my top 15:

15. Monty Python & The Holy Grail -- Wacky British humor, and eminently quotable. Absurd? Undoubtably. Hillarious? You bet.

14. Aladdin -- My vote for best Disney animated film. Casting Robin Williams as the voice of the geenie was a stroke of brilliance.

13. Hamlet -- Yes, the four-hour epic Kenneth Branagh version. Marquee cast, beautiful sets, and accurate down to the Bard's last line.

12. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (extended edition) -- Okay, so there are three movies here but I justify it as one entry because a) J.R.R. Tolkien intended it to be one story not three and Peter Jackson filmed all three at the same time.

11. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- A breathtaking piece of work visually - the martial arts scenes seem more poetic than belligerent. I recommend watching it with the original Mandarin dialogue and English subtitles. Dubbing would detract from the movie.

10. Pride and Prejudice (BBC miniseries) -- Another long piece but only because it does right by Jane Austen and remains faithful to the book. Often imitated, never duplicated. Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy.

9. The Shawshank Redemption -- A movie about hope and the triumph of the human spirit. First and foremost, this is a great story. It's well paced and very thought-provoking. There's a reason that so many people list Shawshank as one of their favorite movies.

8. Jurassic Park -- What can I say, I like dinosaurs. The T-rex scene is still one of my all-time movie favorites.

7. The Cutting Edge -- Practically obligatory for any ice skater. Sure it's a cheesy romantic comedy (and incredibly unrealistic on several levels), but anyone who's been in the world of competitive skating will appreciate the in-jokes and portayals.

6. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- Best of the series. Sean Connery makes the film, and he and Harrison Ford have an excellent rapport.

5. Amadeus -- An interesting take on the life of Mozart as seen from rival composer Antonio Salieri. Great music and a great movie.

4. A Few Good Men -- Come for the law drama, stay for the snappy (and quotable) Sorkin dialogue. For me, this movie has become practically synonymous with undergrad mock trial (mostly thanks to Derek). But much like Law & Order and almost any other lawyer movie, don't try this at home (er, at work?).

3. The Mask of Zorro -- A fun, fun movie perfectly complemented by popcorn. This is a great example of the Hollywood summer blockbuster. Swashbuckling s-word action? Check. Explosions? Check. Dashing rogue hero seeking revenge? Check. Compelling villians? Check and check. Sultry spanish dance scene? Check. And CZJ is easy on the eyes too.

2. Star Wars: Episode V --The Empire Strikes Back -- It was hard to pick one Star Wars movie for the list, and it's a close call between Empire and A New Hope (or just plain ol' Star Wars to most people). I like many elements from both movies, but Empire seems to age like a fine wine - I appreciate this movie much more now than I did when I was younger. I feel like I get a slightly different twist every time I watch it, and not just because of the prequels or the fact that George keeps changing things. I prefer the original or the '97 special edition.

1. Casablanca -- A timeless classic with engaging characters, a touching love story, and a wonderful non-stereotypical Hollywood ending. Also very quotable.



Honorable mentions (in random order):
Sabrina, Serenity, Pirates of the Caribbean, When Harry Met Sally, Contact, True Lies, Goldeneye, Gremlins, The Matrix, 12 Monkeys, The Usual Suspects, Sneakers, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Chicago, Roman Holiday, Some Like it Hot, High Fidelity, Ronin

A few harmless flakes

That's right, we're talking snow.

We've had a few snowfalls this year in South Bend, but yesterday was the first significant snowstorm of the season. Up until then we've had maybe an inch or so of accumulation and lots of flurries (some have remarked that the flurries seemed like "movie set snow"* -- the kind that just seems to hang in the air). Yesterday's storm dumped several inches (maybe 9"?). Brooke told me this morning that it took her 45 minutes just to dig her car out of the snow. What a great kickoff for finals season here at NDLS.

As the storm headed east, Derek had to spend the night in a hotel rather than head home. His car was covered in snow, though that's nothing compared to the cars here in the Bend. Things got even more interesting further east -- Honor experienced an interesting phenomenon known as "thundersnow." This is the first I've ever heard of such a storm, but then again I'm not much of a weather nerd.

It's been more or less clear all day today, and when I don't have to be out trudging around in it, the snow is pretty to look at. With a little imagination, I can picture myself in a cozy little ski village rather than here in Indiana. A day of skiing (and perhaps some après-ski) sure beats studying for/taking finals. And by skiing, I mean downhill skiing, not cross-country. I'll let gravity do most of the work, thanks. There's also a part of me -- call it my "inner child" -- that would rather be fashioning snowman works of art. After all, that too would far beat the whole finals rigamarole. But at least this time next week I'll have another semester of law school behind me. We're supposed to get a few more inches of snow tomorrow, but hopefully things will be clear for the drive back to Ohio.



* Take the movie snow challenge! Name each of the following movies (by leaving a comment or emailing me), based on these snowfall images:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

First person with the most correct wins a prize of my choosing.

Get those Tostitos ready...

It's official: Ohio State and Notre dame will head to Tempe, Arizona to duke it out in the Fiesta Bowl. It's a can't-miss game for an "Irish Buckeye." It'll be an interesting matchup, and one I didn't expect to see for a while.

In anticipation of the occasion, here are links to each school's fight song:

First, Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame...
Then hear the Buckeye Battle Cry!

For more news on the BCS bowls and the impending OSU-ND Fiesta matchup, check out Brendan's blog.

Sopranos in the Stacks

The ND Law Library staff has apparently become so fed up with the behavior (specifically, not adhering to the law library rules) of some law students that they've resorted to threats and beatings. A recent email sent to law students explains:

Turns out [Day Access Services Supervisor Mary] Cowsert told [the law student] she always “gets upset” when students don’t observe the rule about cell phone use in the library. She then followed up her statement with a right cross and a left hook. As [the student] hit the floor, she finished him off with a swift kick to the mid-section.

The email concludes with the following thinly veiled threat:

Students who enjoy maintaining possession of their teeth or who prefer their brown/green/hazel eyes to “black and blue” ones should follow the library cell phone rule.

Is it just me, or does this sound more like South Jersey* than South Bend?



*I apologize in advance to the fine people of the state of New Jersey.

Psych LOTD

I think I may have read this article before...

Irish-Buckeye Fiesta?

Ohio State and Notre Dame both had good seasons this year, and both ended with 9-2 records. Both are BCS eligible, and could end up facing each other in a bowl game this year -- the Fiesta Bowl. That would be quite the matchup for an "Irish Buckeye."

Should OSU and ND duke it out in the Fiesta Bowl, my loyalties would be divided between my alma mater (OSU) and my current school (ND). I didn't expect such a situation to arise, since the two schools weren't scheduled to play each other (during the regular season, which schools have some control over) for any of the three years I'm here in South Bend. But the general rule is that your alma mater trumps all. [Of course, I feel that there should be some exceptions to this; if OSU and ND were scheduled to play during the regular season, and ND was on a possible national championship run whereas OSU wasn't, I think I'd have to root for ND.] So if Ohio State and Notre Dame are selected to play in the Fiesta Bowl, I'll be sporting scarlet and gray. Although I may wear some Notre Dame apparel as well. Fortunately for my ND friends, I'll be at home during the Fiesta Bowl and not around to harrass them when OSU wins. :) Although I'll have to make a note to avoid wearing my OSU shirts and sweatshirts for a while at the beginning of next semester if the two teams do play over break.

Despite the divided loyalties thing, I'd actually look forward to such a pairing. It's sure to be an interesting and exciting game between two very good teams with different playing styles. But perhaps the biggest benefit of an OSU-ND matchup is not having to switch channels during the game to check up on both teams.

For those interested in sports stat stuff: The Fiesta Bowl has been kind to OSU in recent years; they've been to Tempe twice in the past five years (2003, vs. Miami; 2004, vs. Kansas St.), winning both times. One of those wins was for the 2002 National Championship, where the Buckeyes bested Miami in double overtime. Notre Dame's last two trips to the Fiesta Bowl (1995, vs. Colorado; 2001, vs. Oregon St.) were considerably less successful: both were losses for the Irish.

Munch and crunch time

I hope everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving. As usual, I didn't get as much work done as I would have (ideally) liked, but I did get some stuff done. I also got to catch up with parents and sister, relax a bit, eat plenty of food (two Turkey Days, actually), and most importantly, spend time with Honor. I have a lot to be thankful for this year, and she's definitely at the top of my list.

But unfortunately, it's now back to work. And it's a bit more than the daily grind, as finals are fast approaching. But at least it's good to know that in three weeks time I'll have another semester of law school behind me -- it'll be the halfway mark of my legal eduacation.

Pillaging, plundering, and litigating

As I've posted a few times before, I really think a career in pirate law would be incredibly exciting. Think of it: sailing, sunny and exotic tropical locales, payment in rum and Spanish doubloons... what's not to like? Adding to the allure of this swashbuckling vocation is the opportunity to make commercials like this. Yarrrr... so who want's to join me floatin' law offices?

Feeding the Blog Monster

"Bloggy"

To all of you out there racked with disappointment because of the lack of recent posts, rest assured that new posts will be coming soon. Until then, I leave you with this portrait of Bloggy the blog monster, an internet dwelling creature that draws sustenance from the ramblings of the world's bloggers. In order to better acquaint you with this character, Bloggy recently agreed to sit for an interview. An excerpt of that interview follows.

Mr. Bloggy, is it true that your very existence depends on the posting activity of the blogging community?
Bloggy starve with no food. Bloggy want eat.
Do you bear any relation to Pac-Man or The cheat?
Me Bloggy. Me hungry. Feed Bloggy.
Your torso looks like a Pollock painting gone terribly awry. Is it true that you are actually a malevolent piece of fuzz and/or lint?
FEED BLOGGY! (unintelligible) Bloggy eat now... Bloggy eat interview! (unintelligible crunching and munching sounds)


Okaaaaaaaaaay, yes I am insane. Anyway, I hope this little piece of utter randomness tides you over until my next *real* post.

Boston Saga, Part 4: From Asia to Italy

Honor and I spent Friday afternoon exploring Cambridge and poking around some of the shops. We had lunch at a nice little Chinese restaurant called Hong Kong (aka "The Kong"). The food was really good, and there was plenty of it. Later that night we had Indian food at a place called The Bombay Club. Again we were served a large quantity of excellent food.

After sleeping in on Saturday (a pleasure in which we law students don't get to indulge too often), we set off to explore some of Boston. First we visited Chinatown, where we had dim sum at Chau Chow City (why is it that practically every other Chinese restaurant feels obligated to make a bad pun with its name?). I've had dim sum on several occasions, but never had I been responsible for ordering the food. For anyone's who's not done dim sum before, you have to understand that this is not your typical dining experience. You don't get menus; instead, waiters/waitresses come by with carts of different small dishes, and you pick out what you want. I recognized a few things from prior dim sum outings, but I was mostly flying blind. Still, Honor and I did pretty well. Notable highlights: the sticky rice and meat cooked in lotus leafs, steamed pork dumplings, and red bean buns. Disappointment: shrimp still in their shells, with all legs still attached.

Saturday started out as cold and drizzly. The weather only got worse as the day progressed. We spent most of the afternoon ducking in and out of shops. In Chinatown, Honor and I visited a Chinese grocery store (she'd never been in one before) and a kitschy little store that sold the cheesy knick knacks that you usually only see in Chinese restaurants. When we got downtown, we went to a few clothing stores where Honor looked for a new coat. Alas, we weren't able to find anything to her liking.

Then it was off to the North End and Little Italy. Along the way, we experienced the wind tunnel known as Congress Street. The combination of wind, rain, and cold was absolutely brutal. We stopped at a gift shop along the Freedom Trail to get our bearings and thaw out a bit. Unlike the micro mini umbrella Honor had purchased* (generally ineffective against the typhoon conditions of Congress Street), the laminated (and thus, rain-proof) map of Boston proved to be an excellent investment.

We continued our trek to the North End and after braving more of the wind, rain, and all-around lousy weather, we found ourselves in Little Italy. We decided to warm up and dry out a bit in an Italian coffee shop. We sipped our coffee, chatted, and had a good time. Eventually the coffee shop began filling up, and we decided to free up a table and leave. We weren't quite ready to have dinner yet, so we perused a CVS for a little while.

Our original plan was to have dinner at Pomodoro, but it was really crowded and there were people waiting outside in the rain for a table. So we went down the street a bit and had dinner at Piccola Venezia instead. We were told it would be a half hour wait, but at least there were some open seats indoors where we could wait. We only had to wait for fifteen minutes before a table opened up. The food was very good, but the portions were large (and we were still a bit full from the dim sum), so we took a good portion of our dinners home in boxes.

Our trek home was, if anything, colder, wetter, and windier than anything we had experienced all day. By the time we got home, we felt a glass of wine would really hit the spot. But in opening a bottle of Spanish wine, the corkscrew broke off in the wine cork. I've never seen anything like it. After about half an hour (maybe longer) of chipping away, we finally got to the wine. Thankfully, the wine was very good and worth the effort.

Sunday morning was fairly uneventful. I retrieved my wallet, and Honor and I had a light breakfast in Harvard Square. We said our goodbyes, and I boarded to subway back to South Station to catch the train back to South Bend.

*I confess that I more or less recommended buying the small umbrella. I figured it would fit in her law school bag better (her last umbrella had fallen out of one of the side pockets). Plus it was kind of cute. Anyway, I must admit that it was not one of my better suggestions.

Boston Saga, Part 3: The One L Crucible

I got to sit in on a few CivPro classes with the legendary Arthur Miller (note: not the playwright). If you've ever read One L by Scott Turow, I think the evil Contracts professor was modeled off of Miller. (I also envisioned the Contracts professor in The Paper Chase.) It was interesting sitting in on the class, and rather enjoyable (although I attribute that in large part to the comfort of knowing that I would not be called on). I found the Thursday CivPro class to be fairly benign, especially considering Miller's reputation.

But on Friday, the gloves came off. Friday also happened to be Harvard's Alumni Fall Visit day (or something), so the back of the classroom was filled with (mostly not-too-recent) graduates of HLS. Many of them were now prominent lawyers and judges, and many of them had had Miller when they attended HLS. Given this audience, it seemed Miller felt the need to "show off" a bit. And by "show off" I really mean "be sadistic to some 1Ls." I felt bad for the poor soul who was the day's cold call victim for the Erie case. But I must say the student took all of Miller's jabs in stride. He even managed to engage in a bit of witty repartee himself, though Miller took care to have the last word in every exchange. But by far the worst comment of the day was, "Whatever happened to the vaunted interdisciplinary education of our Harvard law students? Did we make a mistake in admitting you all?" It even made me cringe. Frankly, law school (and especially the first year) is hard enough when you're asked questions out of the case and the following notes. Some of Miller's queries came from beyond what students should be expected to know (and yet he made it seem that the answers should be obvious). It's the kind of "hiding the ball" stuff that drives many a 1L crazy. I can only hope that Professor Miller eased up a bit once his audience of alumni departed.

After CivPro Honor and I went out to lunch with several of her classmates. Alas, I was ID-less at the time and could not partake of the lunchtime spirits. Honor assured me, however, that the Pumpkin Ale was quite tasty. (And it was -- I did sneak a sip.) Though I didn't get a chance to talk much with Honor's classmates, they seemed like a good bunch.

Once lunch wrapped up, Honor was off to her Legal Research/Writing class. I waited out in the hallway and did some reading. After that, we went to a "happy hour" held on campus - basically a kegger sponsored by the Students Against Domestic Violence group. We felt very safe drinking in the courtyard that had been designated a "Rape-Free Zone." Thursday night we had dinner at a cool little Thai place.

Happy Halloween

Generally I'm not a fan of dressing up pets. But this was just too funny not to post. (Picture taken from this site.)

It also provides a perfect segue into my next story. Professor Velasco made it totally worth it to go to BA this morning. He came into class wearing a Darth Vader helmet (the new one that comes with sound effects). After striking a few classic poses, he took off the helmet to start class. But even this was part of the show; because of the way the helmet is constructed and Prof. Velasco's prefered "hairstyle," his unmasking played out very much like the end of Return of the Jedi. It was undoubtedly the most amusing BA moment of the semester.

Boston Saga, Part 2: Lost and Found

As I crossed to street to greet Honor (in Harvard Square), my wallet slipped out of my back pocket. Honor saw it fall, and immediately let me know. I retrieved it and, genius that I am, I put it back in the same pocket. We headed off, leaving Harvard Square to go to Honor's dorm. We decided to take the scenic route through Harvard Yard (where, surprisingly, no cars were parked). About ten minutes into our trek, I realized that I had once again lost my wallet. Leaving my bags with Honor, I retrace my steps hoping to find my wallet where I had dropped it. After a fruitless search, I returned to where Honor was waiting, and enlisted her help in going over our steps again and adding a second pair of eyes to the search. Again, we found nothing. I had been in Cambridge for less than an hour and already lost my wallet. Unbelievable.

Upon reaching Honor's dorm, I called the Harvard Police and the Cambridge Police to let them know I had lost my wallet. I described it, and then left my name and cell number in case it turned up. I also cancelled my credit card. Still, I was thinking about what else was in my wallet: cash, some gift cards, my student ID, and my driver's license (which incidently has my SSN on it). It's actually amazing to me how much of my life is inside my wallet. So there I was in Cambridge with no way to prove who I was and about $1.50 to my name. Thankfully I was with Honor. She was very helpful, understanding, and supportive. I can't imagine what I would do if I had lost my wallet while travelling/staying on my own.

As the weekend progressed with no word from the police, I really began to worry. Not only would it be a hassle to replace my various IDs and such, I could easily become a victim of identity theft. Ironically, I had been reading all about phishing and online identity theft (for my Cyberlaw paper) throughout my trip.

Then Saturday night, I got a call from my mom. She had received a call from the Harvard police that my wallet had been found. (The call actually came on Thursday afternoon. My mom was out of town at the time, but my dad was home. He has a habit of never answering the phone, but I don't know why he didn't call be after hearing the message (assuming he even listened to the message, that is).) Interoffice communication must have broken down, and they ended up calling my mom instead of me. I got in touch with the Detective who had called my mom, and picked up my wallet Sunday morning. It was completely in tact, cash and all.

So this little crisis had a happy ending, and I was only inconvenienced for a few days. I'm not sure who found my wallet and turned it into the Harvard police, but this is proof that there are good people out there. While it's unfortunate that this happened, at least it's reaffirmed by belief in the goodness of human nature.

*Note: My trip to Boston was actually really wonderful, despite the impression you might get from reading the first two posts about the Boston Saga. I'm just retelling events in a more or less chronological fashion, and as you can see things got off to a bit of a rocky start.

Boston Saga, Part 1: Derailed

The day before I left for Boston, I saw an ad for this movie. Meanwhile, Honor had been reading some of the train accident cases for Torts. Though these less-than-auspicious portents might worry the average traveler, I intrepidly headed out to embrace my train destiny.

Things started out a bit rocky. I had thought that the Amtrak station was at the South Bend airport; it's not. Oh, there are trains that leave the airport - the South Shore line with service to Chicago. Not what I was looking for. So I arrived at the airport about 45 minutes before my train was scheduled to depart only to realize that no train bound for Boston (via Albany) would ever be leaving from the South Bend airport. A sense of dread overtook me as I started back to my car. Fortunately, I knew Meghan was in town for the week and she was far closer to an internet-connected computer than I was. She was kind enough to look up where the actual Amtrak station was and give me directions to there from the airport.

Fifteen minutes and fifty cents later, I arrived at the South Bend Amtrak station. Which is basically a shack in the middle of nowhere that just happens to be next to some train tracks. I picked up my internet-purchased tickets from the window and found out that the train was running a little late. This was not terribly surprising, as many people I'd talked to had warned me that Amtrak is notorious for running behind schedule.

My train was scheduled to depart at 9:25 pm. Actual time of departure: 11 pm. So I'm running about 90 minutes behind. But no worries, the connection in Albany is guaranteed.

The train was nice. The seats are larger than airline or bus seats with a lot more legroom. The seats can be reclined quite a way back. There are even footrests. And there's plenty of room for your luggage.

I drifted off to sleep for a few hours. At about 4:30 am I woke up and realized the train wasn't moving. I looked out a window and realized that we were at a train station, so I figured it was just a scheduled stop.

I had just started to nod off again when a conductor began to address our car. It seems we weren't as far along as I had thought we'd be -- we were only in Toledo. Additionally, we would be in Toledo for much longer than the time generally alotted for the stop. A freight train ahead of us derailed, and was blocking us from going any further east. The conductor explained that he didn't know much more at that time. Depending on the extent of the derailment, we might be bussed elsewhere. Great. As we waited for more information, the conductor told us we'd be free to get off the train and wait in the Toledo station. I was still sleepy and fiarly comfortably situated, so I elected to stay put.

A short time later, the conductor once again addressed our car. The Toledo station had all the necessary equipment on hand to put the freight train back on the rails, but it would take some time. On the bright side, I wouldn't have to take a bus. But it did mean we'd be running WAY behind schedule.

The train was supposed to depart Toledo at 1:30 am. Actual time of departure: 10 am. I'm now running 8 1/2 hours behind. Lovely. It's about this time that I began to really regret taking Amtrak. I should have just sucked it up and bought a plane ticket.

After talking to a conductor, I found out that no matter how late we arrived in Albany, there would be a train to take me to Boston. So at least I don't have to worry about missing my connecting train and being marooned in Albany.

At around 1 pm (the time my second train was supposed to be leaving Albany), I called Honor to let her know that I'm running way behind schedule and wouldn't be getting into Boston that night. It looked like we had made up a little time, and now were only running 8 hours behind. So I told Honor that I'd give her a call when I got to Albany, around 8:30-9 pm.

But somewhere between Utica and Schenectady, more delays cropped up; signal "difficulties" brought our train to a crawl. At 9, I call Honor again and let her know that I'm still not in Albany, though I'm getting closer. We arrange to meet in Harvard Square early the next morning.

We finally pulled into Albany at 10 pm. We're back to 8 1/2 hours behind schedule. But at least there was a train there waiting to take me to Boston. That train pulled out of the station at about 10:30. After settling into my seat and giving my ticket to the conductor, I leaned back and drifted off to sleep. This leg of the journey went remarkably smoothly. We even made up quite a bit of time. According to the schedule, the second part of my trip was supposed to last 5 hours, 20 minutes. So I was expecting to get into Boston at 4 am at the earliest. Instead, we arrived at about 3 am. But at this point, the made-up time was of little consequence. It just meant I'd be waiting around the Boston's South Station until the subway opened up instead of sleeping onboard the train.

I killed about 2 hours at South Station, doing some reading and playing around with my laptop. Eventually one of the train station shops opened up (au bon pain) and I got some breakfast. A little after 6 am, I headed down the stairs to the South Station T stop. After an uneventful subway ride, I finally arrived at Harvard Square. I waited for a few minutes on a bench outside the T until Honor showed up. Although I arrived at Harvard Square about 11 1/2 hours later than I originally planned, it was all worth it when I saw Honor walking toward me.

Update snack

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but alas the drought will last a little while longer. Consider this post a little tidbit to hold you over. Of course if you get bored with checking for new posts here, feel free to peruse some of the blogs over on the right. Brendan and Derek tend to be far more prolific in their updates.

Now for a quick whirlwind tour over what's been going on:

Callback interview - I enjoyed the trip out to D.C. I really liked the firm. That's all I'll say here; if you want more details, be sure to contact me via email, IM, or in person.
"Thanks, Danny. I love Washington." -- Col. Nathan Jessup (A Few Good Men)

College football - Ohio State got off to a rocky start but ultimately prevailed over Michigan State. Notre Dame played its heart out against USC but lost in the final seconds. The hardest part of swallowing the defeat was the fact that the officials let the clock run out, so ND fans thought we'd actually won the game. Side Rant: I'm tired of hearing USC fans saying that ND played its best and was still beaten by a USC team that wasn't playing its best. Even if I buy the argument that USC isn't playing up to its potential, so what? Let's face it, USC has been scraping by. At best, they're (lazily) doing just enough to get by the teams they face (with the help of a few lucky breaks here and there); at worst, USC just isn't the team USC fans keep saying it is. My take is that USC is no longer the powerhouse team they were last year, and they are definitely beatable. We're halfway through the season, and frankly I'm not all that impressed. USC will get its comeuppance soon.

Chillicothe, OH - Still boring. But sudoku is pretty cool.

Skating - Yesterday I returned to the ice after a nearly two month absence. Luckily, I can still skate, and even remember my dances. I need to work on stamina though... maybe I can hit a few sessions during the second half of the semester. If I feel bold, I might even try jumping. I just have to put 911 on speed dial first.

Boston, MA - In a few hours I'll be boarding a train headed to Boston, via Albany, NY. It'll be a very long trip (I won't arrive until tomorrow night), but it'll be more than worth it. And I have plenty of work to keep me busy along the way. I'll get to check out Beantown, stroll through Harvard, and most importantly, see Honor. Fortunately the Red Sox are done for the season, so there won't be any baseball craziness in Boston this year. Look for a Boston recap when I get back next week.

The wonders of modern marvels -- Cyberlaw QOTD

"TiVo changed my life!" -- Prof. Bellia

Our professor then went on to explain how useful TiVo was for situations where you have to put your children to bed during a Boston Red Sox game.

When a student pointed out that that shouldn't be a problem anymore (since the Red Sox are out of the playoffs and therefore done for the season), Bellia retorted, "It's a good thing you're auditing this class."

A pat on the back

Funny clip of the day.

Thanks to Nugatory for the tip.

Great Bilbo's Bones!

...or alternatively, Concerning Hobbits.

Today's "Truth is Stranger than Fiction" story will probably be of interest to LOTR fans.

A 12,000 year old jawbone discovered in a cave in Indonesia adds to evidence suggesting the existence of a separate species of early humans. Most anthropologists believe that a diminutive hobbit-like species of humans lived on the island of Flores, apparently stranded there along with a whole host of miniaturized animals, including dwarf elephants. However, some scientists have proposed a different theory -- the specimens recovered are simply bones of modern humans who suffered from microencephaly (a broad genetic disorder that results in small brain size) or dwarfism. You can read the full story here.

I think the next time I want to make fun of someone for doing something dumb I'll have to ask them whether they suffer from microencephaly.

From the random holiday files

Happy Columbus Day.

The benefit of being a judge or some other government employee is that you get random holidays like today. Unfortunately I still have class.

Razzle-dazzle weekend

"I Strenuously object? Is that how it works? Objection. Overruled. No, no, no, no, I strenuously object. Oh well if you strenuously object, let me take a moment to reconsider."
-- A Few Good Men

Just a quick post as I take a break from my trial prep for this weekend. It's going to be an all-Trial Ad, all the time weekend. I'll be in a total of four trials, two as lawyers, two as witnesses. Ah, just like the ol' mock trial days.

The two "important" trials are the ones in which I'll be a lawyer (as this is all part of a law school class). Saturday afternoon I'll be defending a liquor store which allegedly knowingly sold alcohol to someone who was allegedly intoxicated. (Note the use of "allegedly," the defense attorney's favorite word.) Then Sunday morning I'll be prosecuting a former police officer who brutally shot her boyfriend twice in the chest. (Note the absence of the word "allegedly.")

My co-counsel for both cases is Kristine, another former mocker. We're something of an unholy alliance -- she's a Michigan grad.

My witness roles: a police officer (somewhat less shady than Officer Gerch -- at least I won't be accused of planting evidence) and a Belgian marketing director.

It's like Mock Trial: Gold Edition -- now with all new features: juries and real judges!

I'm looking forward to it: the rush of adrenaline as you start an opening or closing; the satisfaction of pinning down a witness on cross; the momentary panic of an unexpected response; nervous pacing during the breaks... Ah, good times.

And I'm sure there'll be a number of interesting moments (think neglify, pot machines, and pits of shale -- if you're not familiar with these stories, I'll have to fill you in sometime) over the weekend. Look for a highlight reel of memorable moments sometime next week.

"The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am."

Okay, so I'm not the only one who thought Harriet Miers resembles Emperor Palpatine -- a poll over at Wonkette had a similar result...

Cyberlaw QOTD

S: “If you type a law firm’s name into a search engine, you often get a sidebar that asks, ‘Need an attorney?’”

P: “What we really need is a sidebar that will ask, ‘Need a job?’”

Turkey to join EU?

Apparently it's a distinct possibility. The European Union has opened membership talks with Turkey. Turkey's actually been interested in joining the EU for some time, but EU member states Greece, France, and Austria have always blocked any negotiations for admitting Turkey.

The possible inclusion of Turkey in the EU raises an interesting question: How does one define Europe? As I see it, there are two main possibilities: geographically and culturally.

As you can see in these maps, Turkey rests predominantly on the Asian continent. Okay, so a small portion of Turkey is in Europe. But really, geographically speaking, Turkey is in Asia. Ah, but Turkey is culturally more similar to Europe, you say. Well, if we're going to play that game, maybe the EU would like to admit Australia, which still has close cultural ties to the UK. So how does one solve this riddle? Assign various points depending on cultural similarity and geographic proximity? That seems like it might work, even if it turns any intuitive definition of Europe on its head.

Maybe it's time to just abandon the old nomenclature and come up with a new name for the Union. Anyone have an interesting idea? [NOTE: I am personally disallowing "The Union Formerly Known as EU" or any ridiculous symbols.] Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Scoring the scores

AFI has recently released yet another one of their "Top Lists" for a random category in films. Personally, I think the fact that AFI keeps coming out with these things suggests that the stuff coming out of Hollywood these days is sorely lacking. We'll know things are really bad once AFI releases the "Top 25 AFI Film Lists in Movie History."

But back to the point at hand, the new list is for the top 25 movie scores. Topping that list is... Star Wars! Including that score, John Williams has two others in the top 25: Jaws (#9) and E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial (#14). The full list is here. I've seen 8 of these. How many have you seen?

Harriet Miers nominated to SCOTUS

Today President Bush nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, where, if confirmed, she will replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Miers is currently White House counsel, and has never served as a judge.

People all over the political spectrum have been a-buzz over the nomination. Right-wingers are outraged that Bush didn't pick a more staunchly conservative judge with a clear judicial record. Some of them are undoubtedly afraid of a Souter-esque flip. From the other side of the aisle are cries of cronyism and a general lack of credentials for the position. (See e.g., Derek's latest post)

It is by no means unprecedented to nominate a non-judge to the Supreme Court. In fact, according to Emily, it's only a recent trend to tap judges for the nation's highest court. It would certainly make things a bit easier to know a potential Justice's views before they take the bench, but that doesn't mean that someone who's never been a judge can't be a good Justice. Personally, I'm a bit concerned with any Bush nominee because it is unlikely that anyone he nominates will hold the same views that I do on how best to interpret the Constitution. If anything, a lack of a clear judicial record demonstrating determined conservatism/originalism/strict constructionism (is that even a word?) gives me a bit of hope that a Miers may have a different outlook. But of course, it's impossible to say. What one does as a lower court judge may not even be a reliable indicator -- Souter had a judicial record and still managed to "hoodwink" the Right. And it's important to remember that a lower court justice is compelled to follow SCOTUS precedent in a stricter fashion than Supreme Court Justices are.

I guess that, like the Far-Right, I'm a bit surprised that Bush seems to be showing some moderation here. I understand the concerns and fears of the Left, but it could be worse. Overall, I'm pretty much with the vast majority of people on this one -- I just don't know yet.

As one might expect, Brendan has excellent coverage over on his blog.

On a lighter note, I have to say Miers looks a little scary. This picture was the first I'd seen of her; I'd heard the name before, but I guess the White House counsel doesn't pose for pictures too often. At first I thought it might be a bad picture, but then I found this. And Brendan's post a couple of weeks ago about Roberts's eyes got me thinking of a certain passing resemblance...

I really don't mean to pick on Miers though; certainly we all wrinkle with time. And I remain undecided as to what I think of her as a SCOTUS nominee. There's very little to go on right now -- which is why we have nomination hearings, after all.

Football, friends, and fun

Last night ND won big over Purdue, 49-28. I watched the game in the Community Center, where again (alas!) there was no food. Where exactly is my $20 activities fee going, if not to free food at the games?? The best part about watching the game there, though, was getting to hang out with John and Julie who came over to watch the game. (Apparently, Hooters was too crowded. Heh.)
Ohio State had the week off, so they should be fresh for their first away game, against Penn State. It looks like Joe Pa's managed to scrape together a decent team this year, so that should be an interesting game to watch.

In other randomness, here is a good reason not to blog about work.

And mostly for Derek, this is an excellent example of an instance where one really needs to put down the shovel.

Thanks for stopping by

I recently signed up for one of those monitor-your-webtraffic whatchamacallits (yes, that is the technical term, btw), and it's been far more entertaining than I originally anticipated.

First off, I get far more hits per day than I originally thought. Granted, I suspect most of these are the same ten or so people coming back to compulsively check my blog to see if I've updated yet -- and then leaving seconds later disappointed that I haven't added something insightful or witty for ages. Let me take the opportunity now to apologize to anyone who's been left in a lurch because I've failed to post something entertaining. The upside for those of you who stop by is that this new monitor-your-webtraffic thingamabob will probably encourage me to update more often, if only to see the effect on daily traffic.

Additionally, I have plenty of random visitors. Most of these are, I'm guessing, poor souls who stumbled upon this site due to randomly clicking on a link from one of my fellow bloggers (Brendan, Derek, and Brooke are my most frequent referrers). In addition to these visitors, there are also some people who happen upon my blog due to a google search gone terribly wrong. I looked into this, and was amazed to discover that if you perform a google search for "Bummer of a birthmark, Hal" or "ICBING," my site tops the results.

But wait, there's more! The cool monitor-your-webtraffic doodad also lets you know the location of your visitors (based on ISP address). I've had visitors from coast-to-coast here in the states, and even from such far-off distant lands as Brazil, the Netherlands, Norway, and the Phillipines. Arguend-Ho has gone global!

Bright orange irony

Sorry for the absence. I've been pretty busy this week, with a pretrial conference and order for Trial Ad and the MCA brief due today. (Why MCA? Moot Court Appellate.) The best part of turning in the rough draft of the brief, aside from not having to work on it for a few days, came from a fortuitous coincidence in scheduling. But to fully appreciate this, I have to lay out some background...

The brief for MCA is about the Solomon Amendment (10 U.S.C. 983 for any law nerds out there) which conditions federal funding to colleges and universities on providing military recruiters with equal access (as compared to other employers) to that institution's campuses (campi?) and students. Law schools with Non Discrimination Policies do not want to accommodate and assist military recruiters because of its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy (10 U.S.C. 654) which discriminates against homosexuals.

This isn't really a problem here at ND, which to my knowledge does not have a Non Discrimination Policy that includes homosexuals. In fact, the school refuses to recognize AllianceND (a student group that represents ND'’s gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender/queer/questioning community) as an official student organization.

Today happened to be "Orange Shirt Day," where students who disagree with ND's policy wear bright orange shirts (new link - old one broke) with the slogan "GAY? Fine by Me." written across the front. So I got to turn in my brief (for the government, supporting the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment) while wearing a "GAY? Fine by Me." T-shirt. Ah, the irony.

(This message brought to you by the Society for Liberal Increase in Prolific Use of Parentheses (SLIPUP))

When Irish (Buck)eyes are smiling

It was another good day in college football. First, Ohio State crushed Iowa 33-6, then ND beat Washington 36-17.

Unfortunately, there was no free food at the community center for the game (what gives, people?).
But there will be food tomorrow night at a Cyberlaw makeup class.

And now it's back to incredible amounts of moot court and trial ad. Fun, fun.

P.S. ...and Michigan loses! The trifecta is complete.

A random insight

Most law students are horrible at predicting how well they did on their law school exams. Apparently, they are also horrible at determining how well an interview went.

Or maybe it's just that the "callback process [is] rather like the AP football polls- so random at times." -- Kate

Irish Football

Well, tomorrow is the first ND home game, and after winning two games on the road against (arguably) respectable opponents, the atmosphere here is bound to be high spirited and all-around crazy. I skipped out on the big pep rally this afternoon, but I did get to see the ND band perform and rally the cheers of students and visiting alums alike. Emily regaled me with stories of the band (she's a band alum from her undergrad days at ND), and we discussed everything from the personality traits associated with various instruments to why all the tuba players are named Hank.

It'll also be my first time attending a game here at ND (Unlike last year, this time around I bought season tickets. All the cool kids were doing it. I decided to draw the line when they started talking about some bridge off of which they were planning on jumping. I'm not that much of a lemming.) ND is playing Michigan State, so all the fans who have balked against the new "The Shirt" (because it's yellow) will show up in green. Granted it's probably a different shade of green as compared to Michigan State's colors, but it's still going to be a bit weird.

Hopefully Michigan State will put up a good but ultimately futile fight. After the game, one of my 2L classmates, Dmytro, is hosting a big party. Apparently jello wrestling is to be one of the featured events. Since Brendan will undoubtedly be there, camera in tow, to document the festivities, I strongly encourage anyone contemplating a future in public office not to participate.

Mixed results

It's been a day of highs and lows for an Irish Buckeye.

First, the Irish pulled off a 17-10 victory over that team up north. ND's proving to be quite a team this year, winning its first two games, both on the road. The Irish defense looked particularly good today. After this game, all I needed was for my alma mater to win to seal a very nice college football trifecta.

But Ohio State just lost a very close game to #2 Texas. A record crowd turned out to see the night game at the 'Shoe, and the Buckeyes led for most of the game. But the team seemed to self-destruct in the last few minutes of play, allowing OSU to, as Derek might say, snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. OSU's defense played very well, but the offense struggled. Still, with just over two minutes to play, all OSU needed was to get down the field and score a field goal. But it wasn't to be as OSU's one turnover of the game, a fumble by Zwick, pretty much sealed the game's fate. OSU's tough loss, combined with losses by Michigan and Iowa today, made it a rough day for the Big Ten.

Still, it was a great day of football. ND won, and even though OSU lost, it was a good, close game.

Return of the sprinklers

Yes, the dreaded scourge has returned to the campus of Notre Dame, and with a vengence. After lulling us into a false sense of security by not popping up during the first two weeks of classes, these watery menaces have once again reared their ugly heads. Be it morning, noon, or night, none are safe from the sprinklers. As always, they are not content to merely water the grass; they insist on cutting off pathways and flooding low-lying sidewalks. And while I've been mostly successful in navigating these misty obstacle courses (due in part to practice in the dungeons of Super Mario Bros.), one never knows when one will be ambushed by a particularly cunning sprinkler head's surprise attack.

Yes, the well groomed green lawns of Notre Dame are a sight to behold and make for attractive recruiting posters. Parents and alumni love to see the magnificent grounds. But lurking below the surface lies the sinister truth -- the sprinklers are waiting...

Mr. Loy, our new celebrity...

Although he hardly needs any additionaly publicity, my fellow classmate Brendan Loy (how cool is it to have your own Wikipedia entry?!) has hit the big time. As many of my readership are undoubtedly aware, Brendan runs a little blog during spare moments here at NDLS. His blogging efforts ran full force during the hours before Hurricane Katrina hit. His site was a remarkable repository of news, links, and insightful commentary. His blog garnered a lot of attention, and traffic at his site soared (in fact, he's had to switch to a back-up site due to all of the web traffic).

He's already been on several radio talk shows, been the subject of several newspaper stories -- both local and national -- and recently appeared on MSNBC. They're all running with the tagline that he's a self-described "weather nerd" who tried to warn of Katrina's landfall while government officials dropped the ball. To see some of the press he's received, look here.

Anyway, a hearty congrats to Brendan on his success, though I'm sure we all wish it could come at a happier, less tragic time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

In addition to surving her first week of law school, Honor turns 21 today! Though I wish I could be in Boston to help celebrate, I'm there in spirit as you and your classmates enjoy spirits.

(Ba-dum-bum-ching... yes, that was bad, I know.)

Once again, Happy Birthday! All visitors feel free to leave Honor a message in the comments.

A long overdue post

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, I promise. But my first semester of 2L has picked up a bit, and I've been pretty busy with that. And when I'm done working, it's been difficult to muster the energy to think of something interesting to write here.

A couple of big events warrant mentioning, though. First off, a little bit of college football. Last weekend was the season opener for both ND and OSU. And as those of you who follow such things already know, both teams won. Though he doesn't have a recap of the game, Derek was there. For an interesting description of the trials and tribulations of attending a game at the 'Shoe, see this recap from a recent alum (worth a read even if you're not a football fan). I didn't watch the OSU game, but I did get together with a few friends to watch ND beat Pitt. Although it got off to a rough start, ND ultimately prevailed with a whopping 42-21 victory. Both OSU and ND have tough games tomorrow: ND faces Michigan (boo, hiss), while OSU faces #2 Texas. Brooke is throwing a little get-together for the game tomorrow, so we'll be rooting for the Irish. Hopefully I'll be able to catch some of the OSU game later.

On Thursday, Brooke, Kristine, Meghan, and I joined Professor Dutile and his wife for dinner at the University Club. We had bid on this dinner last spring at the Women's Legal Forum auction, and finally got around to scheduling it. I had a blast. Prof. Dutile was his typical hysterical self. His wife is a wonderful woman and very engaging. The food was really good too. We talked about everything from Hurricane Katrina to Crim Law (albeit sparingly) to each of our respective backgrounds. It was a lot of fun, and I'll be looking to bid for the dinner again if it's offered this year.

As for a few more mundane matters... classes are going well. Trial Ad remains fairly intensive, as we've now received our cases for the trials next month. Kristine and I will be working together on a criminal case, for the prosecution (that sound you hear is Derek's jaw dropping open in disbelief). It's an interesting case, but we've been busy rewriting portions of it to conform to a gender switch between the perpetrator and the victim. (I'll leave the "alleged" tag to the defense attorneys.) Cyberlaw remains very interesting, and I've started to do a little background research into topics on which I might write my paper. Evidence hasn't been quite as thrilling as I expected, though I'm sure it'll pick up soon. It is interesting to see how things really are, and just how bad some of the evidentiary objections/arguments were back in mock trial (though I'm still a big fan of 404(b) -- prior wrongs/acts not admissible to show conformity of action therewith -- what can I say, I'm a dork). And then there's Moot Court Appellate. It's a big class, much bigger than I anticipated. It's a one credit pass/fail class, but it's also a competition for ten spots on next year's Moot Court teams. It looks like an interesting case, though I'll be representing the side that I don't really agree with at the moment.

Beyond classes, OCIs have been progressing along. I've had a few interviews and some more coming up, but that's all I'm going to say here.

All systems operational

My new power cord arrived today, and I am now officially back online. Score one for Dell tech support. That's it for now. More posts to come soon.

Technical difficulties... please stand by

I had intended to be a bit more active in posting, but I've been temporarily derailed. For no apparent reason, yesterday the AC adaptor to my laptop stopped working. I've gone low-lech for the next few days until a replacement is sent. (I'm currently posting this from the law school computer lab.)

Fortunately, that should be pretty soon. I called Dell support yesterday and with any luck they've already shipped a new power cord my way. As much as some people may complain about technical support lines, Dell was pretty good about the whole thing. Sure, I may have been talking to someone in Mumbai, but if Dell still manages to get me a replacement part without much delay, I'm happy with their service. And I won't even quibble over how long they kept me on hold listening to muzak.

With any luck, I'll be up and running by Friday, and I promise a new post about something soon thereafter. Until then, feel free to browse some of my friends' blogs at the right. In particular, Brendan has been posting excellent coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath in New Orleans.

Back in the trenches

Yeah, I know, it's been a while.

Classes have started back up here at NDLS. I survived the intensive week of Trial Ad, and even had a lot of fun doing it. It was just like mock trial all over again... only there are a few things I need to change ("You must unlearn what you have learned") -- those bad habits that mock trial teaches you because it's more about performance (Razzle Dazzle...) than actual trial work. Still, there's an undeniable thrill of giving an opening or closing, or getting up to do your cross examination, or even make a clever point on redirect. Good times.

It feels a bit strange being a 2L. All of a sudden there are a bunch of 1Ls running around, and they look pretty stressed out about law school already. It's hard to imagine I was the same way last year. The rest of the law school tends to look upon the 1Ls with something like bemusement. Classes seem less stressful now, in part because we know what to expect, and (at least for me) in part because we weren't assigned much reading for the first class. Both of my classes today, for example, were the "hand out the syllabus and introduce the course" variety as opposed to the "let's get started, Mr. Ho will you discuss the first case" variety. In short, very different from the typical 1L first class scenario. It's nice to be able to ease back into the law school groove.

That's not to say that 2Ls aren't experiencing their own brand of stress. Interview season has begun, so there are 2Ls dashing around in suits interviewing for a position in nine months that may lead to an actual job twenty-one months from now. You know, something that will help pay off the mountains of debt we're all accumulating. It doesn't matter that we've barely started our second year of law school, we're expected to land a job now. No pressure, or anything.

I'm pretty excited about my class lineup for this semester. In addition to Intensive Trial Ad, I'm also taking Evidence, Cyberlaw, Business Associations (BA), and Moot Court Appellate. I'm in class by 8:30 everyday, but at least I finish early (9:50 am) on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Finally, it's been nice to reconnect with my classmates. And instead of seeing everyone at once, I've been catching up with my comrades in arms a few at a time over the past few times. It's pretty much just as you'd expect a sequel to reintoduce the main characters. Everyone seems to have had a great summer, and most people seem happy to be back. Of course that will likely change a bit as soon as the good weather is replaced by snow and howling winds cutting across the South Bend tundra...

Chauvinistic Chocolate?

This is a chocolate candy bar that they sell out of vending machines here in London. Seriously, who in marketing thought this was a good idea? Doesn't this exclude a large portion of the typical target demographic for chocolate? Or is this a blatant attempt at reverse psychology, a ruse designed to ensure that women actually buy it? Is the idea to create an artificial demand based on the premise that people always seem to want what they can't have?

Sing a song of...

...none the richer.

My apologies for this really bad before and after.

Return to space

The Space Shuttle Discovery had a successful liftoff today. Despite numerous glitches and delays over the past two weeks, it was by all accounts a picture perfect launch. Discovery's launch marks the first shuttle launch in over two years; NASA had grounded the shuttle since the Columbia disaster in Feruary 2003. Discovery is set to conduct a number of experiments and rendezvous with the International Space Station to drop off supplies and perform repairs. The mission will last 12 days.

Full story here and here.

UPDATE: Not so perfect? NASA is currently analyzing some video footage that appears to show debris falling off Discovery during liftoff. First reports suggest that none of the debris hit Discovery. Falling debris hitting the shuttle during launch has been blamed for the Columbia's destruction as it reentered Earth's atmosphere. More details on the debris at CNN.

UPDATE 2: Pictures here.

UPDATE 3: More (and better) pictures here, including a photo of the shuttle hitting a bird during takeoff.

Another incident in London

There have been additional "incidents" in London this afternoon. Three Tube stations have been evacuated, and there are reports of another incident on a bus. No reports of injuries thus far, which is a relief. The BBC is speculating that these may have been "dummy explosions." Eyewitnesses have reported hearing explosions and smelling smoke. There's also been one report of shattered windows on the bus.

Once again I was at the school as all this transpired. I was actually about to head home when I heard the news. I'll stick around here for a little bit to see if I can learn more. For more, click here.

It's been two weeks to the day since the three Underground explosions and the explosion on the bus in Tavistock Square.


UPDATE: BBC now reports one injury. They're now describing the incident as "minor blasts."

UPDATE 2: There have been reports of armed officers surrounding University College Hospital. BBC reports that one of the suspects (involved in the Warren Street Tube Station incident) may have escaped there.

Tony Blair has met with the COBRA committee (COBRA = Cabinet Office Briefing Room A), the UK government emergency-response team, and expected to give a statement soon.

UPDATE 3: A man has been arrested outside Whitehall, which has just been cordoned off. Whitehall is very close to Downing Street, and in particular, the Ministry of Defense Building. There are not many details at this point.

UPDATE 4: Tony Blair is now speaking. It doesn't sound like he has any more information than anyone else; he's asking the reporters to direct their questions to police and emergency personnel. Blair is urging calm, and states that he will return to his daily schedule. Blair was meeting with the Australian prime minister when the incident occurred.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard is now making a few remarks, explaining that terrorism is a global problem that threatens all free countries. He's also pledging Australia's support.

UPDATE 5: It seems everything is under control, though there still aren't many answers. Everyone's been encouraged to go back about their business, so I'm going to head back to the dorm. If I hear more I'll post further updates.

A few quick notes

Tavistock Square is once again open to traffic. We no longer need to carry passes to get back into our building.

Today, I went on a walking tour entitled 'Legal London.' It was arranged by the school and was very good. Alas, I did not have my camera along at the time. But I plan to recreate the tour in a few days and snap all the pictures I would have taken had I brought along my camera (and had the time to take all the pictures I wanted). Look for that in a few days.

Additionally, since a few people have asked, here's a rough idea of my post-London plans:
August 4: arrive in Columbus ~ 3:30 pm.
August 4-12: in Ohio; plans unsettled, but bound to include seeing Honor, catching up with friends, and preparing for 2L
August 5: my birthday; festivities TBA
August 12: drive to South Bend, move back into Fischer
August 12-13: reacclimate to living in South Bend
August 14: Trial Ad Intensive starts, kicking off 2L a week early

For additional information, leave a comment or email me.

And so it begins...

President Shrub has nominated John G. Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by Sandra Day O'Connor's recently announced retirement. I usually try to keep this site apolitical, but if anyone wants to start a discussion in the comments, I'd be happy to use it as a forum and share thoughts on the matter.

Quote of the Day

"Al[ex], if I ever run for a political office, I am going to hire you. I can't count the number of times that I've tried to make a point, only to have you say, 'What Derek meant to say was...' and be totally right."

I'm flattered, D.

Harry Potter Geekiness

July 16th is a big day here in London, as it marks the release of the sixth Harry Potter book. And because people are inherently impatient, that means that no one can wait until business hours and instead insist on getting the book as soon as the day officially begins -- 12:01 am. Not that I'm criticizing this, mind you. After all, this is coming from the guy who twice waited in line outside overnight for Star Wars tickets and saw the two most recent Star Wars movies at 12:01 showings. So keeping with such geeky tradition, I was among those who lined up to get the latest Harry Potter book.

After all, this is the country that spawned the series. It only seems fitting to join in on all the hoopla. When in Rome, and all that (only, of course, in London). A lot of bookstores were doing the midnight promotion, but we (that's Liz and I) decided to do this in style. We headed down to Piccadilly Circus to Europe's largest bookstore, Waterstone's. The queue wasn't nearly as long as we expected, and there weren't too many people dressed up for the occasion (actually, I think more Waterstone's employees were dressed up than customers). There was one group of very spirited and vocal young ladies ahead of us in line, but all in all it was a fairly calm affair. One of the highlights of waiting in line was that we got free Waterstone's ponchos (a glorified garbage bag, really) that people could wear while standing in the queue. If you used your imagination, you could consider us a large group of dementors. Or it can double as a Nazgul costume for your next LOTR party.

Waterstone's also organized the event very well. The queue moved about in an orderly fashion. There were no mobs, no chaos, no generalized pandamonium. Once they opened the doors and the line started moving, I was able to get in, purchase my book, and get out very quickly. And now I'm among the first to own the book, hours ahead of everyone home in the States. Ha!

The walk back was particularly entertaining since Liz and I decided to wear our garbage bags home. The number of looks and comments we got (all good-natured) was really quite amusing.

Pictures of it all are here.

New Pictures Up

I've posted another round of pictures, which detail an outing from last week. I had originally trekked out to St. Paul's Cathedral to see Kofi Annan speak, but wasn't able to get in. Instead, I went with a few other people to explore some of the South Bank and see the Tower Bridge.

New Information

Okay, so no sooner do I make a post indicating that the authorities had ruled out the involvement of suicide bombers, the story did a complete 180. They now think that last Thursday's blasts were the result of suicide bombers. Evidence collected at the scenes, searches at other locations, and CCTV footage have led authorities to conclude that the men responsible for the attack were British nationals. Personal belongings of three of the four men were recovered from blasts sites. Those three are presumed to be dead, but authorities are not certain of the fate of the fourth man.

I have to add a quick note here. I don't mean to be overly morbid, but just because they've found belongings of these men doesn't strike me as conclusive proof that the men themselves are dead. Is there any physical proof that these men actually perished in the explosions? One might argue that leaving personal belongings suggests that the attack was a suicide bombing because otherwise the belongings would point to the perpetrators. But if it leads authorities to assume you're dead, what better way to get away with it? Using a false identity (combined with substantial alterations to appearance -- after all, they've been spotted on CCTV), it would now become much easier to get out of the country if you're presumed to be dead.

Anyway, that's the latest. You can read the full story here.

Quick Update

A measure of normalcy has returned as everyone settles back into the day-to-day routine of classes. Some people spent the weekend abroad, visiting other European cities, but many of us were more or less holed up in Connaught Hall for the weekend. Tavistock Square is still cordoned off so that the police can conduct forensic examinations. There's no official word on how long this will take. Until then, we are now issued day passes so that we can come and go from the dorms. There are signs posted asking all residents to return by 11 pm, but I'm not sure how strictly that policy is being enforced.

London seems to have returned to business as usual. While last week's bombings immediately draw comparisons to 9/11, there is a marked difference in reaction. Part of this may be due to the famed British stoicism, but there are other factors to consider. Londoners are more familiar with this kind of terrorism from dealing with the IRA. After 9/11, many countries have created plans for dealing with such attacks. Finally, the scale of the operation was much smaller than the 9/11 attack.

As of yet authorities have not found those responsible for last Thursday's bombings. They have ruled out suicide bombers as the culprits, so the terrorists are still at large. It is unclear whether they are still in London, but the threat level has been elevated and some are concerned that additional attacks may occur if the terrorists are not found. As a result there have been a number of false alarms over the past few days. Nevertheless, we're getting by okay. One always hopes for some excitement when traveling abroad, but this is one type of excitement I could definitely do without.