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.