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Monday, May 31, 2004

Happy Birthday to Moi

Do I feel any older? That's a bad question to ask after spending 12 hours at the track yesterday, dodging tornadoes in a 2 hour traffic jam with a very witty, intelligent, red-head female in my lap. She was pretty comfortable all things considered and that was the important thing. I'll be honest, I didn't mind at all either :-) . The sunbrun and sore muscles are an interesting reminder of one of the most interesting 500 races I've ever been at. Thankfully, the aspirin is kicking in finally. Oh, back to the original question: I do not attribute any aches and pains I currently possess to any feelings of more age.

Today has two parts: celebrate with family with Shriek 2 and a cookout, then head up to a friends for a Memorial Day/post Indy 500 party. Oh this will be a long day.

TTYL, I'll give out the good stuff later tonight.

EDIT: Shrek2 was hillarious. I'm not sure which scene-stealer was better, Eddie Murphy as Donkey or Antonio Bandaras as Puss'N'Boots. The parental units provided a very nice cookout afterwards. Sometimes a charcoal grilled hamburger and hot dog can't be beat.

I managed to get over to a friend's for a final Memorial Day picnic in the early evening. Many other friends were there, but many had already left. There was yet even more hamburgers and hot dogs. Aye, yi, yi! They did have a suprise for me: a birthday cake with my name in icing and everything! Woo-hoo my birthday is being mourned across the entire country with cookouts! (Just kidding folks. Please remember my sarcastic sense of humor)

The weather today was perfect. Sunny, with lots of white puffy clouds, mid-70s in temperature with a strong breeze. The last day of May had the weather that the vast majority of the month had missed. It was a pretty good day.

PS: yes I did blow out ALL of my candles.
PPS: it's good to know that most people who don't know my age think I'm in the 26-28 range :)

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Saturday, May 29, 2004

Greatest Spectacle In Racing

While Kelly may be right in how the Indy 500 is not as lusturious as it once was, I am still going to it. Wake up is 4:30am for picking up people, beating the rush, and tailgating.

I gotta wake up in 5 hours. Good luck to all the drivers. May all of us be safe, but enjoy the race.

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Friday, May 28, 2004

Houdini Act

I'll be busy with Note editing, partying, more partying, going to the race Sunday, more partying, celebrating my birthday on Monday, more partying over the next few days.
Little if any blogging for you then. TTYL!

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Cult Of Personality

I don't need TV Guide, but sometimes you see an article on the cover and figure eh, why not? The cover this week had "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" You know I had to grab that one, right! I especially like the ploy of multiple covers and the encouragement to collect all 4! How many people actually do that? Though I'll have to admit that if multiple covers were in that checkout line..umm..X-Files with Dana Scully versus Buffy...tough choice initially, but I gotta go with brains, red hair, and a gun versus valley-girl, ditzy blonde with a sword. Though a friend in Cleveland might disagree with me. Let that be a lesson to you women: brains are sexy!!! *sigh* why do they never believe me?

Regardless of my fantasy ramblings do you think it is a bad sign when 10 of the top 25 are shows that I truly loved and enjoyed, especially the top 4? Since you, my loyal and not so loyal readers, know me I'm pretty sure that you all know I march to my own drummer. Besides, cults flow downstream. I love my cult shows; I have cult of personality which allowed me to collect a few first years last year, and as long as I don't make them drink kool-aid then everyone is happy.

So what are your favorite shows? No Lawren, Sex And The City didn't make the top 25. The Simpsons did though at #6.

EDIT: Can't find a link to the top 25 so I'll just list them. Why? Because the fabulous Kelly P. asked. Even I've never heard of some of these shows.

25: Freeks and Geeks (1999-2000)
24: Absolutely Fabulous (1994 - present)
23: Forever Knight (1992-1996)
22: H.R. Pufnstuf (1969-1971)
21: Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1975-1978)
20: Twin Peaks (1990-1991)
19: Dark Shadows (1966-1971)
18: Doctor Who (1963 - present)
17: The Avengers (1966-1969)
16: My So Called Life ( 1994-1995)
15: Quantum Leap (1989-1993)
14: Beauty and the Beast (1987-1990)
13: Babylon 5 (1994-1998)
12: Family Guy (1999-2002)
11: Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-1999)
10: Pee-Wee's Playhouse (1986-1991)
9: Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
8: The Twilight Zone (1959-1964)
7: The Prisoner (1967-1968)
6: The Simpsons (1989 - present)
5: Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-1974)
4: Farscape (1999-2003)
3: Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
2: The X-Files (1993-2002)
1: Star Trek (1966-1969)

Future Cults in Waiting are suggested to be
Alias, 24, and Stargate SG-1.

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Thursday, May 27, 2004

The X Files

A great case of unknowns is happening with my neighbor. When the cops were there last time I thought it was a burglary or something. Now the cops were back this afternoon and when they're wearing their vests that ID them you know it's a bad thing: FBI, Customs, Post Office and local cops. That is a lot of heat to bring down.

Do I live next door to a terrorist? I'm just curious.

Needless to say many of the neighbors were outside gawking about, wondering what is going on. Hell, I'm wondering what is going on!

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Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Someone got a job finally

No, it wasn't me. CAG finally found a job now that her medical residency is winding down. Very few benefits, but high salary. As she referred to the situation, "as long as you aren't married or have kids, then benefits aren't that important." It took me a minute but then I realized she's right. Beside if you thought law school debt was bad, then you haven't seen medical school debt. YIKES!

She asked me to help her move. She already made the requisite offer of food and beer so she knows the moving protocols. A weekend in Chicago sounds appealing later this summer. It's the closest I'll get to a vacation this year.

So if you're in the Joliet, IL area in the fall and you need an internal medicine doctor I can refer to you to one. She knows her stuff, but you'll need to disregard her bedside manner.

Now if only a few other people I care about, including myself, were also gainfully employed. What a crappy economy...stupid economic trailing indicator!

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Far From Home

If I read the blogs correctly concerning takeoff, and the fact that there are no reports of plane crashes I'm assuming Kyleen and Heidi are safe in China by now for summer classes. Sadly the psuedo-commie government of that country blogs internet access to Blogger so they won't be able to see my concerns.

I'm glad you two landed safely. Have a good time in China, but will be glad to see you when you get back.

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Can't smackdown the uppidty students anymore

Indianapolis Public Schools have voted to abolish the paddle when disciplining students. The paddle was always a last choice of disipline, not the first. Though I'm sure many a teacher just wanted to lay the smackdown on a well-deserving disruptive student. My take: a lot of students won't care about being shunned, timed out, or continuously being told to sit down and pay attention. Those students do understand pain and will want to avoid it. I'm not advocating beating the crap of them, but one good swat with the wood gets children to ponder their actions.

I think we are becoming a wussified society and are continuing to raise children that don't understand that actions have consequences. Look at some of the stupid things many adults do now. Dr. Spock screwed up their lives I fear.

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Angel – Not Fade Away

Warning: I’ve had a week to work on this post a few paragraphs at a time. Because of that amount of time it is very long! You got to avoid homework somehow and having access to parts of scripts online makes cutting and pasting pretty easy. However, the post is NOT solely about the series finale episode. Throughout this rambling dissertation you may find things of interest including commentary on society, psychology, television viewership, and human beings in general. At the end you’ll either think you’ve wasted 5 minutes of your life or go ‘Wow!’ I leave that up to you. BTW: the rerun of the finale Tuesday night was still as powerful as the first run I thought.



First off, the ratings are up significantly, the critics are raving about the quality of the show, yet the WB has cancelled Angel. F*** the WB! I can live without The West Wing, though I would go into political drama withdraw. I never even got into Smallville until I was in France and it was one of the few things I recognized on TV over there. It’s amazing how you can follow the basic plot of a Smallville episode even when you don’t know French. If it wasn’t for my theory that Clark Kent should just finally shag either Chloe or Lana, or both if he’s really smart, and get on with his life I wouldn’t even watch Smallville. I managed to avoid the first two seasons of it. I’ll admit the quality of Enterprise did improve this season, but the mighty Trek franchise has fallen greatly. If Enterprise were cancelled I would consider it a mercy killing.

But Angel was different; it had the perfect mix of relevancy, pop culture, history, drama, witty one liners, heroic speeches, character growth and development, hits of fantasy, and dramatic death of heroes and villains. It all began in the middle of Season 2 of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. With a title like that how could a show be any good? Not only was it far better than my expectations, but it was a show that could entrance the audience into watching. It was a show that assumed the audience watching it had a brain and would have to pay attention beyond that night’s show. Things weren’t nicely wrapped up in 42 minutes of air time sans commercials. When I heard Angel was going to spin off into his own series I was concerned. The constantly brooding love sick puppy of Buffy Summers didn’t seem enough of a character to spin off. Yet in the beginning I preferred it to Buffy. Angel seemed more ‘adult oriented and serious’ to me. Series creator Joss Whedon was a genius and the Whedonverse expanded nicely into L.A.

Here it is, five years later for the soulful vampire and his cohorts. Those who never understood the appeal of the fantasy world to explore our own humanity I feel sorry for. I will never be able to explain it to them that the use of the fantastic can be a better tool to explore the mundane than a more conventional setting. Sometimes it is good to see ourselves through the eyes of others and we learn more about ourselves that way. And now, here is my reaction to the final episode of the best series currently on TV.

First off, one major flaw: what happened to the use of the letterbox format? I was so used to it that I failed to notice the last few episodes were in the conventional 4:3 format. Unless you have a small TV letterbox format rules, especially for grand epics. Just my opinion and I hope when Season 5 comes out on DVD that maybe it was filmed in letterbox so I’ll have the option of seeing it that way.

Next, it was great to see every major character and several of the supporting ones have at least one great scene. For once everyone was used effectively I felt. In the end Not Fade Away truly dealt with the most significant characters, Angel himself and Wesley. For the past few months I have been screaming that Alexis Deniof has been a fantastic, though heavily underappreciated, actor. These past few weeks I’ve come to notice that Amy Acker is a superior actress as well. Fred was such a nice girl who was pretty much the same every day, that you could never see Amy stretch herself. With Amy playing the angry blue smurf god-queen Illyria, with pieces of Fred’s persona slipping in occasionally, these past few weeks have demonstrated that Amy Acker can mix in and project the multiple personalities of the role with great effect. Can one be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for one-third of a season? Anyone who can show the confusion of a god learning her humanity fully deserves an award.

The Fang Gang has made their pact to defeat the completely out of nowhere evil incarnate Circle of the Black Thorns. I guess when JW knew the series was being cancelled he had to pull something out of nowhere to arrange a climatic end. Such a dark circle of master puppeteers running much of the evil in our world deserved more of a ramp-up. It makes the really useless episode of Angel and Spike trying to resolve things with Buffy in Girl In Question that much more horrible in scope. One more episode to develop this Big Bad would have been useful.

To fight evil always involves a cost, the cost of hope for Angel to become human again. Signing away the Shanshu Prophecy to maintain his cover with the Circle is the death of hope, just like the Circle wanted it to be. Are any contracts in the Whedonverse not signed in blood? I’m just curious.

The Gathering of Forces

What a dialog between Angel and Lindsey to get him to fight for the Fang Gang. Yet I was in shock when Lindsey agreed. The man has only been trying to kill Angel for 5 years now. Why agree? In typical Lindsey fashion it came down to being where the power is. You’re the vampire with the big brass testes!

I want you, Lindsey. *suddenly realizes that didn’t come out right* I'm thinking about rephrasing that.

Live the day as if it were your last.

It’s a bad sign when the boss vampire says that you should take the day off before you’re killing evil later that night. How everyone chose their last day was either to take himself back to his beginning or to resolve an issue of his life. Lorne sang his heart out at a karaoke bar. Good bye Andy Hallett, we’ll miss your pipes. Spike drinks a few shots of liquid courage and ends up at a biker bar poetry slam. Now that was funny! Gunn heads back to the old ‘hood and helps out his foster sister(?) Anne at the shelter. Angel found his son and discovered that the memories came back. It’s amazing that Connor Mk II is actually a character to care about. Mk I was whiny and always competing with daddy. Connor Mk II understands the sacrifices make for him. It was good to see both of them accept that.

Wes and Illyria end up together so Wes can nurse her wounds. Their relationship, for want of a better word, has been the highlight of the last third of this season. Their conversation was amazing writing, with direction that showed the depth of their relationship.

I: Angel told you to do whatever you wanted today. Tonight you may be dead. I am not what you want.
W: No.
I: They why …
W: Don’t I go off and have one last perfect day? Smell the flowers, or skydive, or have a go with Mistress Spanks-a-lot or whatever the hell one's supposed to do in these situations?
I: Mistress who?
W: There is no perfect day for me, Illyria. There is no sunset, or painting, or finely aged scotch that's going to sum up my life and make tonight any...there's nothing I want.


When she offers to be Fred again, you can see something in Wesley’s face. Regret, pain, a glimmer of ‘maybe this once’…I don’t know, but it was a powerful shot to see.

I: I could assume her shape. Make her come alive again this once for you. But you would never ask me to.
Illyria turned her head away in rejection. A god has come to fear rejection from a mortal man. Until then I was not sure that Illyria loved Wesley. After seeing that I know that at least she loved him in a form that she was capable of. Whether it is because Fred’s experiences are within her or because she has evolved in her time among humans I don’t know. Yet love is such a powerful emotion it affects us all, even a god.

W: First lesson a watcher learns is to separate truth from illusion. Because in the world of magics it’s the hardest thing to do. The truth… is that Fred is gone. To pretend anything else would be a lie. And since I don’t intend to actually die tonight I won’t accept a lie.

Whoever wrote the underscore to the scene was a true artist. The notes carried the weight and emotion of the scene perfectly. That was the great thing about the Whedonverse, the music never seemed out of place and it was always perfect for the scene.

Job Assignments

This may come out a little pretentious, but one of you will betray me.
Spike's hand raised up so fast he broke the sound barrier. These two are never going to like each other. I loved how Spike had such an unfair advantage fighting the Fell Brethren. They don’t want to hurt the baby in his arms. They want the holy vessel in the bassinette with nary a scratch.

We only got to see the significant parts of only two fights: Angel vs. Hamilton and Wesley vs. Vail. I wasn’t sure Adam Baldwin was acting when he played Hamilton. I’m not slighting Adam Baldwin at all. That character is so calm and collected all the time. When Hamilton got in the elevator to kill Angel, that look on his face was: pick up suit from dry cleaners, return phone call, kill Angel, get a party gift for the Senior Partners. It was so business as usual, and he was still nicely dressed.

Right before the fight that was classic Harmony. Angel should have killed her for betraying him, but gives her a recommendation instead. I would say Harmony has to be the most incompetent vampire out there, but she’s still alive…or undead as the case may be.

The people who don't care about anything will never understand the people who do.
Yeah, but we won't care!


Hard to beat that logic.
Oh Hamilton it was good of you to finally die, but you were well dressed. What I would give to look that good in a double breasted suit.

Lorne and Lindsey win their fight, but Lorne shooting Lindsey on Angel’s order was totally unexpected. Lindsey was so mad that it wasn’t Angel killing him. Now his death was truly meaningless because ‘a flunky’ did it. Angel always did consider Lindsey a little man. Though he didn’t die, Lorne is a tragic loss. He just gave up and walked away from the fight.

At the other main event, Wes isn't doing very well against Vail. I would like to note that if your magic isn’t being an effective weapon then a knife should not be your backup weapon. Have a gun up your sleeve instead of a switchblade when trying to kill a demon! At least Joss Whedon learned that if you’re going to kill a major character give the man a proper death scene. Wes manages to knock out Vail after receiving a mortal knife wound, with Illyria coming in just a few seconds too late, and paves the way to one of the most touching scenes I’ve ever witnessed.

I: I can't help. You'll be dead within minutes. *a pause* Would you like me to lie to you now?

So simple a line said with a lover’s tenderness. The smurfette assumes the form of Fred one last time. It’s a shame that the idea comes out of two dead lovers of Fred and Wesley will finally be together, but we know it’s a lie because Fred’s soul was consumed in Illyria’s birth. Even in death, Wes is cheated from being with his love. How tragic is that? So typical of the Whedonverse: to not give hope. Illyria, as Fred, still cries after his last breath. A god cries for the death of a man; the power of love crosses so great a chasm to allow her to feel human. Yet there are things more powerful than love.

Vail: How very touching his meaningless death was, but this fight was never for mortals. Take your best shot, little girl.

The shot of ‘Fred’ pulling her arm back, with eyes narrowed and mouth tensed, captured perfectly the desire for vengeance fueled by the power of love and grief. *Great job Amy Acker* Our most powerful emotions are not love itself, but the things fueled by it. We can do anything when our passion fuels it. On the plus side the slow-mo shot with her morphing back to Illyria and that punch imploding Vail’s skull was wickedly cool.

As for the ending I have mixed feelings about it. You have Angel, Spike, a very wounded Gunn, and Illyria in the alley with the army of darkness heading towards them, a dragon above them, and what the hell was that 40 foot tall shadow horned thingy in the back of the pack!!! The series simply ends on that note just like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid! Part of me says that was very dramatic, but the other part of me wonders what happened. Sets up potential movies later I guess.

So now an inspired drama is gone and I mourn the loss. It wouldn’t be so bad if I thought there were other quality shows to take its place, but there aren’t. Instead of a show to inspire us to be more than what we are, a show that asks the audience to think about it, a show that explores the depths of our souls, we’ll have 21 ‘reality’ shows that often explore the depravity and shallowness of ourselves. How else do you explain ‘The Swan’? I refuse to be pandered to as a lowest common denominator.

In a dark and uncertain world we needed shows like Angel to remind us that Champions do exist and can be made from ourselves. Champions rise to fight the hard battles, to defend the weak, to make the hard decisions. Champions inspire and force us to claw up the mountain. Champions remind us that to accomplish great deeds will require great sacrifices. Champions show us that we can be better than what we are and that some things are bigger than us, but we are a part of that big picture. Sometimes one person or a group of people can effect change on the big picture. In the end Champions provide hope, and I don’t see enough hope for everyone now.

We should not rely on a Champion to save us, though that is a common belief. We should become that Champion. Be the change you want to see. No matter the odds sometimes you need to fight for what appears to be a hopeless cause because if nothing we do matters, all that matters is what we do. In the end, those were the lessons of the TV show Angel.

As Lorne said: *deep sigh* Good night folks.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2004

Good Bye Dr. Steven Franklin



Richard Biggs of Babylon 5 and Days Of Our Lives fame died this Saturday at age 43. Though very few details are available it occured quickly. He woke up, got out of bed, and immediately fell down. The paramedics on scene suggested a stroke or aneurysm.

The man did great work and Dr. Franklin was a fantastic character study on B5. He may not have been a Hollywood classic actor, but he was classic to me. Stories of his kindness on set are common and a reflection of the fact he was a good man. Age 43, way too young.

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Happy 2,000th!

Just a quick blurb before I read for Sales. Sometime late last night Confessions had its 2,000th visitor!

*blows party favor*

April 19th was the 1,000th visitor so the pace has picked up a little bit. I suspect Confessions will be more busy once the fall semester begins. People may think of me as that ranting and raving 3L who is spouting off again.

Happy Reading all. Do you have any requests?

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Why I will NEVER be a corporate lawyer.

Business Associations II is proving to be a most difficult class. They say you didn't need BA I to take BA II, but sometimes I wonder. It actually isn't the law that is the problem, though I have problems with it. It is the fact patterns. Director of Business A forms Business B, which will be a shell company, to merge with Business C ... argh!!!!

I feel like I need an MBA to understand the business transactions that are the heart of these cases. At least when the prof goes over the case in class and explains the business part in real English, after several questions by classmates, then it makes a little more sense. On the plus side I don't appear to be the only one in class wondering WTF!

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Monday, May 24, 2004

In Case You Missed It The First Time

The WB is showing the Angel Series Finale again Tuesday at 8pm. This means I need to finish up my review and analysis for the finale when I saw it last week. I've been busy, but I take my craft very seriously. Even if you don't care for the show the post should be interesting as it will tie in philosophy, psychology, and whatnot.

Please just watch the show so my references will make more sense to you okay!

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Are We Learning Yet?

Woo-hoo! It took about 45 minutes of digging through FAQs on Haloscan, but I have learned Trackback! It only took 3 tries before I got it work properly. Now I have a more formal way of citing to people. That law review indoctrination has gotten to me: cite to everything!

Speaking of law review, my Note has come back to me from the publisher. I need to compare their version with my version and make sure they didn't create errors. The conversion from Microsoft Word to Corel Wordperfect, including all the different sized margins and fonts, is well known for making lots of errors. I guess I'll start that project tomorrow.

Wow, by early fall at the latest I will be an official published person. In the future someone could cite to my Note. That is a scary concept. My Note is somewhat timely as part of it deals with the issue of Iraqi sovereignty and the President finally outlined the plan to transfer power to the Iraqi people today through a draft UN Security Council resolution. My Note had some different ideas, but maybe it could be applied in the future.

Oh BTW: a law student writes a Note with the capital 'N'. A person with the J.D. degree writes an article. Tradition. Hopefully you learned something today as well :)

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It LIVES! The FrankenRanger Monster LIVES!

It was a dark and stormy night. At least last night was. Those were nice 100 year old trees. The differental, rear axle, and brake cables from a donor Ranger arrived last Friday. You think they could have coated it in primer or something to make it look better.

The transplant operation started sometime after 9 this morning. Supposedly they had to use the paddles three times to resecitate the Mighty Green Ranger, but the operation appears to be a success. Now that is is rebuilt, is it faster, stronger, and more powerful? No f***ing way, but it is a lot quieter now at speed. I forgot how quiet it is acutally supposed to drive. The only thing louder than the dying diff at speed was those damned cicadas! At least those things should die off soon.

The really good news, not as expensive as initially quoted. At least some things can be pleasant when undergoing major repairs.

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Sunday, May 23, 2004

It's A Small, Small World

I like to learn something everyday. There is something called 'Trackback' next to the Comments field. I had no idea it does. Imagine my surprise when I was scrolling down the screen and saw I had one. As the Help function in Blogger proved useless I've figured that when someone links to someone else's post, such as mine, it shows up as a Trackback informing me that I have been linked. Cool, I am citeworthy it seems.

It appears that a lawyer on the Missouri/Illinois border was informed of Sapere Aude and our student blogs at IU-Indy. Notes from the (Legal) Underground proves to be an interesting read and Evan noted some interesting posts and one of mine made his list. Appearantly I am "self-deprecating."

Here is the embarassing part and the second thing I learned today: I knew, in general, what self-deprecating meant, but I looked in a dictionary to double-check. I'm okay with it. I would rather be self-deprecating than egotistical and self-centered any day. You got to be humble in this world.

EDIT: Okay, I have learned what a 'Trackback' is, but not how to employ it. Putting in the trackback URL did not link the post I wanted you to see, but there was a 'Permalink' option. That seemed to work. I was a PC hardware and software tweaking god, not a programmer. HTML still baffles me in many ways. :( If I learned how to get it to work properly would that be the third thing I learned today? Forget it I need to read Business Associations for tomorrow. I'll tinker later.

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Saturday, May 22, 2004

Art of Driving!



I ended up going to Chrysler's Art of Driving at Indinapolis Raceway Park by myself. My buddy didn't know what he would be missing. Here's the funny thing: I love racing and I grew up about a half-mile from IRP. I could listen to the races just by opening my bedroom window, but until today I had never been on the actual grounds of IRP!

There was at least 120 men, women, and children there while I was there. AoD is a big marketing program, not a sales pitch. The concept is simple: these are our toys, come play with them. Aside from driving various Chrysler vehicles, such as the Crossfire Roadster, the Crossfire Coupe, the 300, Pacifica, Town & Country, and PT Cruiser convertible, you could also drive several competitor vehicles that were provided: a BMW Z4 roadster, VW Beatle covertible, a Cadallac CTS, etc. The convetible course was on part of the IRPs road course and the quater-mile oval track. The 300's course was an makeshift slalom down the side of the dragstrip and the dragstrip itself. Besides driving I got into the cigar tent, a food tent that offered wine-tasting and a decent lamb & rice pillaf lunch, some video rides, and golf practice.

Whenever you got into a vehicle you had a handler with you. The handler would answer and ask questions and provide the directions and rules of the particular course. They wanted to limit top speed to 35-40 mph, but that was flexible depending on the handler. In the Crossfire Roadster my handler got squimish when I hit 45 mph on the oval track. I rather liked the wind in my hair. In the Crossfire Coupe a different handler wanted me to stop, then floor it, and then once I hit 60 mph to let off the gas. He was cool! 215 horsepower is plenty in these vehicles. They cornered nicely and had fantastic breaks. The most important thing was the fact I looked fantastic in them!

I wish one of my Crossfire handlers was the red head. She was the type that Dreamweaver plays in the background for. Short, extremely cute, looked fantastic in khaki shorts and the gray Chrysler polo uniform, stepped out of a $35,000 convertible, real read hair and if she had at least 3/4 of a brain was the woman that would be in the passenger seat as I stole the ride out of IRP. Luckily for everyone involved I got the cute non-Dreamweavery brunette instead.



The 300 is the new large sedan. Extremely roomy, had nice luxury touches, handles very well for a large car, but can start for as little as $22K if you get the smaller V6. If you live in the flat midwest the 190 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque may be okay. I would recommend the larger 3.5L V6 that cranks out 250 horsepower. It was a pretty good ride. However, there is the HEMI! The 300C with the HEMI is Chrysler's new flagship sedan. It is WORTHY! It handled well. It breaked well. It has butt-warmers in the front seats. Chrome and brushed aluminum accents everywhere in the interior. But under the hood is 340 horsepower of Detroit muscle mated to a Mercedes designed 5-speed auto. The dragstrip had two runs of start, run to 40, and then stop. After the second run the handler knew what needed to be done.

Brian, this is stupid! We're on a dragstrip. You see where the concrete changes color? Just floor it and when you cross that change go ahead and slow down and hit the exit. These cars were meant to be driven

This man is a god. This man knows what the AoD is really about. I had my left foot on the brake and spooled up the HEMI to around 2,000 RPMs. I let of the brake and the 300C exploded off the line with fighter jet thrust! At 40 mph the tranny must have shifted and even MORE THRUST came on! I hit the color change where dragsters release their chutes and I was already going 75 mph! I let off gas and gently braked towards the exit. My only comments: car has a lot of pickup, and car needs a stick. The handler replied, yeah a stick would be good.

Mommy I want one of these! The test drives, the food, the wine, the cigar, it was all free! Chrsyler just wants people like me to rave about their toys to my friends and buy their products. The former has just been accomplished. The latter may take a lot more time. I've been around enough non-enthusiasts to know that I will get a complaint along the lines of "Oh you men, just want HEMI V-8 powered penises. You want gratification of your manliness." My response as I finish my wine and enjoy my cigar, "suck it."

You can go tomorrow if you want in on the fun.

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Friday, May 21, 2004

Indy Cultural Tidbit - Part Deux Celebrate Historic Irvington

Found this one and I had to share. Irvington is a historic neighborhood on the near east side of Indy. Lots of historic style houses and a town center still exist there including the renovation of an old movie theather into a coffee house, theather, and civic center.

If you're not doing anything Saturday from 8am to 1pm you can do walking tours, go to a vintage sale, and drop the kiddies off for kid activities. Best thing of all, it is free! Just head east on Washington St between Ritter Ave and Audubon Road. I may have a busy day before I do my test drives later.

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Indy Cultural Tidbit - Broad Ripple Art Fair

Broad Ripple is both a quant village in the north-central part of Indianapolis, and the king of all bar-crawls in the metro area. Broad Ripple is the eclectic, counter-cultural, artistic heart of the city. The 34th Annual Broad Ripple Art Fair is this Saturday and Sunday. $10 gets you in and all the money goes to the Indianapolis Arts Center, a not-for-profit that promotes the arts.

A shuttle bus from Broad Ripple H.S. and the Glendale Mall will get you to the fair at the Indianapolis Arts Center at 820 E. 67th St. Given the lack of parking in the village that is an excellent idea.

Bring an umbrella as rain has killed the fair the past few years and the weather report isn't looking too good for this weekend. I've never been to an art fair, does anyone want to go?

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Irony of law and culture

The link will likely work for only a day, but Gary Varvel's cartoon on the inability for Avon H.S. to have a prayer at this years commencment shows the irony in the potential lawsuit that prompted school administrators to yank the prayer.

Another bit of irony: if a student decides to say a prayer on his/her own at the graduation ceremony, that is protected by the same 1st Amendment that prevents the school sponsored prayer at the same ceremony.

Isn't law fun?

EDIT: upon further reading, the Avon H.S. claims that the school doesn't sponsor the prayer, that the students have always initiated it. The school simply lists the prayer in the program to honor the students' wishes. Ah, that is the key! Next time, lack of documentation will be your friend.

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Thursday, May 20, 2004

80's Cartoon Quiz

I never even watched half the toons they quized me on. However I must be a very good guesser OR I recalled just enough to get the answer right. I got 10 out of 10.

See what you get.

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Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby is untouchable. He is one of the greatest entertainers of all time. He is also very well educated as he has a Ph.D. His charity work is well known, and he is an all-around good guy. Bill Cosby has more than earned his reputation. I wonder if anyone at the NAACP will counter his slamming of black children being unable to speak proper English, societal values of possessions over education, and not taking responsibility for one's own actions.

Rather ironic it took place at a dinner celebrating the Brown v. Board of Education anniversary.

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Wednesday, May 19, 2004

To Be Early Is On Time ...

I used to always be early. That way if something goofy happened I was still usually on time. What the happened to that talent of mine?
Lately I've been falling asleep at 1 or 2 in the morning. So having a 3am interview was going to be interesting. I attempted to sleep. It was more like I laid down and sometimes work up every 10-15 minutes for a few hours. The alarm went off at 2am and I'm in the shower to wake up with the coffee getting ready downstairs. After one cup I figured it was timed to get dressed and pilot a 2,900lb steal capsule down the rain slicked roads. I knew approximately where the UPS place was, but I didn't know exactly where it was. The little customer service pick up place on 16th Street wasn't it. The warehouse distribution center down the road was, but I couldn't tell it belonged to UPS until I saw the cute brown van-shaped mailbox on the road. Once a double semi-trailer got out of the way I went in. It was 3:01am. The guard said I have just missed the guy I needed to talk to, but I can come back the next morning before 3am. Ummm..no thank you.
I attempted to sleep again, but I had a 9am to go to. My sleep cycle was all messed up and I kept waking up all the time. The one hour of continuous sleep I had was the hour after the alarm went off. I almost made it across town on time. Considering that I hit EVERY, and I'm not kidding, red light on Kessler Ave. I'm 5 minutes late and the group interview had started without me. I would have to reschedule. At least the walking into the temp agency office went well. Nearly 2 hours later and 9 forms later they seemed positive they could find a temp job for me. Thanks to the Yellow Pages I'll find a few more offices to walk into.

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That's just damned annoying

Umm...when you post a draft you've been working on the post will appear on the day you start writing it, not the day you post it :( I guess you're not supposed to let a draft ferment the next day. Okay you regular readers just go down a little to see new stuff!

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Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Mo' Money Please!

I need a job. I need enough money to get through the summer. Financial aid doesn't arrive until August when classes begin. I had a job interview today. That lasted all of 10 minutes. I just can't do telemarketing. I believe the Do Not Call List is one of the better ideas ever invented. I couldn't be on the other side making the annoying phone calls.

I have a job interview for tomorrow. It is a warehouse job. Full time, but 12 hour shifts. That would make the nights I have class very long indeed. I applied for a job at UPS as well. Package handler. The money is okay for part-time work and the hours are worse, but they only need you 20 hours a week, plus you don't work weekends. I just got a phone call to interview for the position. It's a 3am interview because the shift would be 3am to 8am. I need to be awake in 5 hours or so. Great.

Instead of doing pro bono work at the prosecutor's office maybe I should admit that I need two part time jobs so I can pay off the credit card. The Mighty Green Ranger had a weird sound and it is going to be a very expensive sound at that. Sigh. Maybe night classes, with the UPS job and another full time job. I can live without sleep as that is what 2Ls do.

Will someone please explain how a intelligent, 30-something, with nearly a decade of job experience is thinking that a early morning shift, part-time job for $8.50 an hour is a good idea? How did my life end up like this?

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Cost versus Value

Cost is what you put into something.
Value is what you get out of something.

The strange whining and grrring sound from the back of the Mighty Green Ranger was identified as a differential going bad. For those not familiar with car parts it is a very expensive sound to have. It is the piece of equipment that converts motion from the engine/transmission to the wheel that power your car. Hey, 152,000 miles isn't so bad. The diff did well, but it wouldn't make sense replace the diff. The repair cost isn't much less than the BlueBook value of the Mighty Green Ranger.

To all the lawdogs, that is the Kelly's BlueBook of automotive values, NOT the BlueBook of legal citations. I don't want you to confuse the two.

As MBA students will testify, it makes economic sense to simply get a new vehicle if the repair is nearly what the vehicle is worth. The cost is too much to justify. But what of value? The MGR is my only means of transportation. Indianapolis' public transit system, IndyGo, doesn't! I mapped out taking the bus one time just in case I had to. After walking 1/2 mile to get to the nearest bus stop, the ride would take nearly 90 minutes to get downtown. Not a viable option in the grand scheme of things.

As I have no income...still...I can't replace the MGR either. The cost of the repair would not get me a vehicle of equal value. At least with the MGR I know exactly what it has been through and that it is basically a reliable vehicle. All the parts that have been replaced over the past few years were parts that wear out and need to be replaced. As that no income problem still exists I can't obtain a vehicle with a higher cost either. With used cars $3,000 seems to be that bright line between eh, this will do okay for a few years and wow I'm really taking a chance with these four wheels.

The value, to me at least, of the MGR is nearly irreplaceable at this time so I'll pay the cost. The part will take a week to get in. The mechanics assure me that the differential has a few weeks left in it before it seizes up. I'm going to hold Bacon to that. So much for trying to get the credit card bill down by fall semester.

On the other hand at around 52 m.p.h. the whine sounds a lot like Airwolf :)

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Quotes from class

Not as good as a Karlson quote, but rather interesting.
From my Sales class:

If you think about it, it's a peculiar common sense rule!

One of my rules is:
Common Sense is an Uncommon Virtue!

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Monday, May 17, 2004

Grades

Many of my grades became available online. I took many classes that were purely Pass/Fail so I have many Satisfactories this semester. A little weird to see three 'S's on the screen. I probably got what I deserved in Trial Practice because I struggled mightily in that class. Admin Law...ugh...damned Chevron case. Always a bad sign on the day of the final exam when you realize that you suddenly have no idea how to apply a standard of deference.

Evidence isn't in yet. With luck I could pull off an 'A' in a four credit class and that would take some of the sting out of report card. Oh hell I should just start drinking now. Some people are on top of the bell curve. Others, like me, guard the flanks. I'm going to pray that top 50% is overrated anyway.

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Sunday, May 16, 2004

Really Stupid Question

I'm currently online filling out job applications from want ads I saw in the paper today and last Sunday. One company's form has the following question:

Do you enjoy working with people? Please do not exceed 75 words.

I'm going to answer YES because the form of the question requires a YES or NO answer. I don't need 75 words to say that YES I do enjoy working with people. Morans!

EDIT: Oh crap! You have to fill out the form first and then you get to useful info such as what the company is and the types of jobs. It is a sales job or a telemarketing job or something like that. Great, I'll get a phone call or email soon and I'm going to have to say I'm sorry, but I don't do sales or telemarketing so I'm not interested in your job.

There's another temp job that is at a place I used to work at 6 years ago. Only they do 12 hour shifts now. Unless it is on the warehouse side of the building doing a 9 to 9 shift the other job being 7-7 is going to conflict with summer school one way or another! Bloody hell, taking 2 bar classes in the summer was supposed to be a good thing! I need a paying job because I'm BROKE!

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Beyond The Glory

Broken bones heal.
Chicks dig scars.
Glory is forever.

On the swampy fields of Fishers two mighty teams of ex-band jocks converted a soccer field into a Band Football League Seniors Edition game. Our two-hand touch works fine given our conditioning and we've figured that the two hands don't need to be from the same person. I got revenge upon someone who I did a favor for and it was well-deserved. For once I threw a pick against him and HE went to the ground instead of me. It was SWEAT!

I only had two passes thrown my way. The first was 6 inches above what I could reach, but the second was in some ways the most important pass. It was the 2 point conversion that ended the game. The QB noted that no one wanted to play anymore defense so I had to catch it. What a nice floater into my hands.

Lessons Learned: Cleats help so much. Breaks for water are good. I need more conditioning, but so does everyone else.

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Saturday, May 15, 2004

Van Helsing

I think this is the first movie I've seen since LOTR: The Return of The King after my fall final exams. It's over the top and not that good. There was plenty of action, but somehow I just didn't care about anything going on. Dracula seemed more a comedian than a scary monster.

It has a few good lines, and I'll give it a Two and A Half Stars out of Five, but I'm grading on a lower summer blockbuster scale. Definately not a rush to go see type movie, either in the theather or on DVD. I knew I should have tried Man On Fire with Denzel in it.

Just as a reference point my Five Star Movies include Apollo 13, Road To Perdition, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Usual Suspects, and LOTR: The Two Towers. Those were movies that made me thing WOW, ROLL THAT BACK AND LET'S WATCH IT AGAIN! Tough curve for Van Helsing to be on.

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Freakishly Weird

I was pondering today about putting up a few more links of worthiness. A few weeks ago I saw a TV report about a small Indiana town that was going to cancel their band program for students past the Fourth Grade. This community canceled their choir program last year. I didn't have a chance to comment as finals were approaching, but I knew I needed to put up something referencing the story and VH1 Save The Music. I figured since I was going to tinker a bit today that I would finally add the link.

Imagine my extreme surprise when I'm checking up on the blogs and Lawren just posted on the importance of music to students and referenced Save The Music! In an era where it seems we as a society are failing to teach children how to read, write, and perform math all the concentration goes to fixing test scores and rankings. We forget that children are more than machines that are supposed to add, spell, and comprehend the English language. Schools are where the children are supposed to become aware of the world around them. Music and art feed their imagination and their dreams. When we fail to dream we fail to aspire to be more than what we are.

Lawren had this to say: I will not be successful because of my talents IN music, but I will be successful because of my talents FROM music. Here, here Lawren!

I haven't played on a regular basis in 10 years now, but I have an old dusty horm upstairs. Perhaps I'll say hi to her later today after I polish a few mouthpieces.

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Free Beer is Good Beer

Had a get together with friends tonight. At the end our host noted that beer was left in the fridge and that it wouldn't please his wife too well. As I was among the last to leave I agreed to transport it out of his fridge to preserve marital bliss.

Sometimes I am in the right place at the right time!

It's Michelob Ultra. Not one I would normally buy, but The First Rule of Beer is: What is free you can not complain about!
I've also invoked the Second Rule of Beer: What is left behind in my fridge becomes mine!

On another subject: I share my carport. I don't mind one of the neighbors using the other spot that belongs to an empty condo, but could you PLEASE not park your car in the middle? I actually squeezed the Ranger in, but had 3/4" from the passenger side to the support posts and about 3 inches from my left door to their left door! I squeezed the Ranger out to park in the back lot. Stupid inconsiderate neighbors! She had 3 feet on the other side. SCOOT OVER PLEASE!

EDIT: Upon further inspection I actually scaped the post with my sheetmetal! I scaped the hood with a barbed wire fence yesterday and acquire more scaped paint and sheet metal ding by seeing if the Ranger could squeeze in.

This just has not been a good year for the old Ranger :( It will fall apart like the Bluesmobile 2 weeks before I graduate!

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Friday, May 14, 2004

Updates and Formatting

Am I studying? Nope.
Am I sending out resumes or applying to jobs online? Nope.
Am I reading the paper to be current on news and information? Nope.

I spent an hour updating this blog. Still a work in progress, but I like the changes. Easier to read my interests and added a few friends.

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Thursday, May 13, 2004

A Question For The Readers

What do you think of the blog?

I average 24 reads a day and 27 page views a day. One day I'll find out what the difference is between the two. What does that mean? It's mostly friends (mostly, but not always, from school), law school classmates, and the occasional stranger who somehow finds this blog.
Given the fact I haven't told too many people about Confessions I suppose 24 reads a day isn't bad. It also is only 3 months old or so. Is that an infant or fully matured in internet years?

What purpose does Confessions serve? Some blogs are political commentaries. Josh's site is like that and it gets tons of hits. I've noticed the most common spikes are when I spout off on some political commentary. Yet I fight politics all the time with another online group of friends. I give as good as I get, but I don't want to overdose. Besides after a few posts it is pretty obvious where my political leanings are.

To me this is an artistic outlet combined with occasional serious commentary. A virtual eclectic potpurri into the mind of Brian. Oh aren't you scared of me now? Let me be serious for a moment though. Where else on the internet will you find the happenings of Indianapolis, insight into law school, an analysis of Angel (I know I'm two episodes behind. I promise to catch up over the weekend), automotive news and commentary, great drunken quotes, and historical knowledge. Wait until I get into other hobbies of mine!

So this goes back to the original question: what do you think of Confessions?

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Weird Stuff Next Door

I open my front door to dump a few things in my truck before leaving for the first day of my internship (unpaid of course) and I see a group of six people on the sidewalk with a few badges on their belts. As I go back to my front door to grab the last of my stuff a Marion County Sheriff's deputy asks me about my neighbor who I don't see, but the front door is open. Didn't explain why he was asking. He asked about knowing if there were teenagers coming and going.

Odd that it was a sheriff's deputy as this is a City of Lawrence jurisdiction and the questions didn't have a pattern. If I wasn't running late I would have asked a few questions. Amazing how once you see a badge you become the nosy neighbor.

I was gone from home for 12 hours. None of his windows are broken, no yellow tape blocking the door, some lights are on and I even hear some music coming from the upstairs bedroom window. But the air conditioning is on as I can hear it from his patio and those windows are open.

Something weird is going on!

EDIT: 5-14-2004
Happened to look past my living room window and saw neighbor with his golden retreiver puppy on a leash. Cool, he's not dead at least! I'll have to talk to him the next time I see him.

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Frasier Has Left The Building

Wow, 20 years of Frasier Crane. I remember when he first came onto Cheers and he got 11 years of his own show. I hadn't watched the last few years of Frasier. The quality had gone down a bit, I got busy working nights, then going to school. Even then, a bad Frasier was still better than 80% of most shows on TV.

I fell akin to Frasier Crane a bit. LLM once said that everytime she watched Frasier she thought of me. I just had some of those mannerisms. Who am I to disagree with her?

For awhile I had the Tennyson poem, Ulysses, that Frasier read at the end of the show up on the top bar of this blog. "To strive, to seek, to find, to not to yield" Kind of a motto.

Though it was time for Frasier to leave the building for a permanent shrine of honor on TVLand, I'll miss ya. Friends this, Friends that! I know which was the better show. The one that was brilliant and groundbreaking. The show that actually wanted the audience to be a little smart. I respect that.

"Thank you and good night!"

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Wednesday, May 12, 2004

And this is for Regular Unleaded?

My one politcal comment concerning this: to the crowd who screamed "War For Oil" last year I present Exhibit A: $1.99/gallon for 87 octane gas I paid last night.

The is now a year wait for the Toyota Prius hybrid. Sales have suddenly spiked. I'm assuming the Honda Civic Hybrid is becoming pretty popular as well.

However, if you're in the market for a new car and fuel economy is a concern then I present a different alternative: DIESEL! Due to slow revving nature of a diesel engine it won't accelerate like a gasoline engine usually. But your Zero to 60 time will be only a second or two less than the gasoline counterpart.

There are exceptions: the new Mercedes E-class sedan has a diesel option that make it faster than the 6-cylinder gas engine due to the amount of torque that diesel makes. If you can afford it ($50,000), go for it!

Horsepower is speed, but torque is work! Torque is great for hills. A gasoline engine will usually force you to downshif in order to climb the hill. Because diesels have much more torque you won't have to downshift to go up a hill. You can easily pass other vehicles as well because you won't need to downshift. Stomp on the accerlator and you'll get past granny and her Buick easily.

If you don't have 50 grand to blow, then Volkswagen offers a disel engine for virtually every model the sale in the U.S. A diesel Jetta/Golf will get an honest 50 m.p.g in highway driving if you drive the stick shift. Hybrids don't. Their unusual technology messes up E.P.A. fuel economy estimates. The Passat, extremely nice midsized sedan I would love to own, does offer a new diesel with 230 lb-fet of torque so it'll scoot! Downside is automatic tranny only.

Come on Detroit! Offer diesels in those trucks and SUVs and you'll get an automatic 10% increase in fuel economy. Besides, have you noticed that diesel fuel is around $1.70 a gallon? Better fuel economy and cheaper fuel that doesn't spike in price as badly. I'm seeing WIN, WIN, WIN here!

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Tuesday, May 11, 2004

The Silence Will Be Deafening

Overgrown fraternity hazing occurs in an Iraqi prison and the entire world seems to be in an uproar.

Al-Quida related terrorist group beheads an American prisoner, puts the video on their website and even holds the head in front of the camera, and the silence will be deafening.

Someone please explain that to me.

EDIT: By 'silence' I was referring to the 'Arab Street' such as Syria, Saudi Arabia, and other such Middle Eastern countries. You know, all those countries whose societies have created all these religious zealots that want to kill everyone differernt than them, especially us. If it fair to have the double standard? Of course not. Hence the point of this post.

I fully expect Americans to not be silent and based on news reports we definately are not keeping our mouths shut on this.

By the way: this nonsense about soldiers not being trained on the Geneva Convention on treatment of prisoners of war is total BS. All soldiers get some minimal training on POW treatment. They don't need to know the Thrid Geneva Convention backwards and forwards. That is what JAG lawyers are for. Perhaps these Military Police didn't get a level of training appropriate to their position, but they know enough not to do things like that. These yahoos lacked a moral compass to know not to do things like a fraternity hazing party against these prisoners. It is pretty simple: treat someone else how you would like to be treated in their position.

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My Poor Modem!

My desktop PC has been trashed since January. As my school laptop is the computer I use most often, because I'm never home, I didn't worry too much about the ol' desktop. Last week I decided to try to fix it. I was hoping to get Windows XP functional so I could recover files. Did I mention that I never figured out how to get the CD-Burner to work properly. WinXP has native support for burners my ass!

Anyway, it became appearent rather quickly that I needed the full reinstall. So much for recovering emails, address books, employment history, cool sound files, tax records, the good porn, old assignments, and other critical files were forever lost. Sometimes I think I should see if I can get that old tape drive to work under WinXP. It was slow, but if I only select the files I want to keep at least something gets backed up!

Here's the problem with a reinstall of WindowsXP, I want to install all the updates and fixes. Over the course of this week I've installed over 150MBs of updates through my old fashioned analog modem. No DSL or Cable Modems for me. I like the free stuff! Remember I'm po'! It took 5 hours to download Service Pack 1 by itself. It took 3 nights to get that puppy downloaded. Geez, 51MB through a modem.

I think the steam is still floating off the modem.

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Monday, May 10, 2004

Tales of a former 2L: The Long Version

Last year at this time I felt such a great sense of accomplishment. I had survived my first year of law school. Though exhausted I felt as if I had climbed a mountain. I had a little time off to enjoy and then I would be attending our European Law program in Lille, France. I knew I had transitioned to a 2L, a second year law student.

Why does the completion of my second year feel like dining on ashes? Last year I felt like I was working my way towards a goal. This year I feel I have more questions than answers. This year I know I accomplished so many things, yet I am strangely unsatisfied. Things were done, but answers were not found. It is a most unsettling feeling.

I wrote a 51 page Note. It is even being published. I have finished ALL of my required classes. I organized a trip to D.C. I took so many practical classes to gain skills, Mediation, Court Externship, & Trial Practice. That was part of the problem: I never had a day off. Maybe I only had one class a day, but it stretched across 6 days a week. I was often reading, typing, editing, prepping 7 days a week. I never had a chance to simply take a day during the week. I could never take a night off to see friends, drink beer, or simply relax at all during the entire semester. I haven't seen a movie since Lord of the Rings before last Christmas.

My Spring Break was hardly relaxing as long time readers will attest. I got burned out so quickly this spring semester. After Spring Break I limped the entire semester. Being dressed up, walking to court three or four days a week. Having to prep for an early Saturday class; having to be dressed up for that. Working Friday nights and dreading Trial Practice. That was a most humbling class. It is likely the single greatest source of my frustration. Learning how to conduct a trial is NOT a natural talent. No matter how hard I tried it seemed that I just fumbled my way through a class. The dream of law school was to be a criminal prosecutor. It was my way to build a better world through law. After Trial Practice, was it a simple first time at the bat and being bad with the required skills, or do I simply lack the talent of a trial lawyer? I can't be a deskbound lawyer because I can't write a legal brief worth a damn. If I can't be a trial lawyer then I'm screwed!

That is the ultimate source of these ashes I suspect. The original dream has some cracks in it. Not getting the prosecutorial internship job did not help. It hasn't helped that I haven't had a chance to stop and blow off school at all. Once finals were over for me I still had to write 2 memos for the judges in my court internship class. I emailed the last one at midnight, read for my first summer class today and then went to class for over 2 hours. No rest for the weary. Not anytime soon I suspect. People need to recharge. It's amazing what we can do when refreshened. I'm carrying the sky on my shoulders for a year now. I'm tired of it.

One year to go. Now I need to find some answers.

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No Longer a 2L: The Short Version

The judge for my Court Externship didn't need my memo until this week so I didn't start work on it until after finals were done 2 Wednesdays ago. I just emailed it in. This was my last assignment as a second year law student (2Ls for those in the know).

In less than 8 hours I have to be downtown for training with Chuck on the Domestic Victum Unit of the Marion County Prosecutors Office. At 5:30pm I'm in my first summer class. WHEN DO I GET A BREAK! Just a few days off where I don't feel guilty for not reading, researching, or typing up legal crap!

I have thoughts on finishing up the second year. I'll post them when I have a chance. Right now I have to decide if I want to sleep or start reading Business Associations. It is midnight, what a choice eh?

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Sunday, May 09, 2004

Happy Mom's Day

If you're too far away to go see your mom AND you forgot to send her a card at least call her (don't call collect!) It's the least you can do for her.

EDIT: Mom's Day was going to the west side and having dad grill hot dogs, brauts, and hamburgers. Mom got her card from me. She considers our adventure to the newly renovated Blocks Building (see Tuesdays post) on Thursday as my Mother's Day gift. It was free and I have no money so it worked out perfectly.

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Friday, May 07, 2004

Indy Cultural Tidbit: The Track

Continuing in a series to show outsiders who read this blog what there is to see and do in the Circle City.

I'm going to the track.
If you're a local you know exactly what the person is saying and where that person is going. This city has a heart and soul: the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You have to read that in the proper way; reverently, in a godlike voice, similar to the way you hear the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. IMS is the absolute one MUST DO if you visit this city. If you don't take the opportunity I have word for those people: communists.

Once upon a time Indianapolis rivaled Detroit as the automotive capitol of the world. The designers needed to test new parts or new cars. The manufacturers pooled their money and created the IMS as a test facility. Eventually IMS was opened to the public. Hot air balloon races, motorcycle races, and eventually a certain car race.

For one day of the year on Memorial Day weekend the world pays attention to the Indy 500. The event has become so big that it has become a month long festival for Central Indiana, think OctoberFest but not quite as much drinking. This Saturday is the Mini-Marathon which will run by the school and end with a loop around the fabled track. The Track itself opens Sunday for practice with all the pomp and ceremony that can be provided. Pole Day, Bump Day, Carburetion Day, FanFest, and the Indy 500 race itself. You can spend all afternoon in the IMS Museum (open all year), and when the track isn't busy you can get on a bus that will speed around the track to give you a flavor of what the drivers feel.

Current owner Tony George has opened up the to Nascar with the Brickyard 400 and to Formula One with the U.S. Grand Prix. Smart move Tony, great facility should be used more than once a year. Not-so-smart move is the Indy Racing League/CART-Champ Car split that has turned American open wheel racing into two mediocre series instead of one great series. That will be resolved in another year or two I'm betting.

Even if you don't like auto racing you'll like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (are you reading that reverently), the museum, and other related things. Come on over, turn the key, and rev up the heart of this city.

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Thursday, May 06, 2004

Art of Driving Roadshow!

OMG, OMG, OMG! This is going to be so cool! Chrysler is bringing tons of their cars to Indianapolis Raceway Park for driving demonstrations. You can pick the convertible options (Crossfire, PT Cruiser, Crossfire coupe, and PT Cruiser Turbo), the cargo hauler option (Town and Country minivan or Pacifica), or the 300 series (One 300C with 345 horsepower Hemi please)!

It was a tough choice, but I went with the convertible options for Saturday May 22nd. I'm guaranteed two laps at IRP and might be able to squeeze in another course if there is available room. Damn near went for the 300 though.

Note: those are my names for the courses, not the official event terminology.

This may be my only shot to ever DRIVE a Crossfire. They look so cool!

Edit: I'm doing the Top-Down Performance Course, Saturday May 22, 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM if anyone wants to join me at that time. Or you can do a nooner with the 300C :-) Mazda ain't the only one with Zoom-Zoom!

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Miller Time

1,323 games played. All with the Indiana Pacers.
Five time All-Star.
23,505 points scored.
All time leader in 3-point shots made.

Reggie Miller didn't complain when the team that got him to the NBA Final round in 2000 was dismantled.
Reggie Miller gracefully stepped aside to allow younger talent to develope. He didn't demand minutes, he didn't demand shots. Even when he was on the court he set up picks, passed the ball, and did all the things to help a teething Pacers team grow up and become the Beast of the East.

Many fans wanted Reggie Miller to take over the game, but he showed the new guys the future was them. But in page P2 of today's Indianapolis Star is the quote I've been waiting for:

"Do you still feel likeyou could take over a game if you had to?" he was asked.
Miller produced the same look he usually reserves for Spike Lee.
"Oh, yeah," he said quickly. "Absolutely."


Why are there tickets still available for the first two home games at Conseco? Go buy some and see the legend. You don't have anything better to do.

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Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Got Internship?

I got an email from the director of our Program in Law & State Gov't. I am hoping to intern within the state government for a fall class (3 credits no less). The Chief Legal Counsel of the Department of Natural Resources wants to arrange an interview. Cool. I have no idea what I'm doing this summer, but it looks like maybe something cool might occur for the fall. DNR wasn't my first choice, but everything in my top 5 was pretty interesting to me.

So of the things DNR handles specifically that I do like: Historic Preservation and Archeology, Law Enforcement (I'm betting I don't get a gun :-( ), Outdoor Recreation, Nature Preserves, and State Museums and Historic Sites.

I have a question for those of you who know me pretty well: do you think I would really fit in on stuff like this?

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Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Interesting, Very Interesting

I did my part today in upholding American tradtion, I voted in the primary.
Results so far are proving interesting.

Mitch Daniels is the Republican nominee for govenor by a landslide.
Mort Large and Andy Miller are in a dead heat for the privilege of taking on my Constitutional Law Professor in the highly contested Indiana 86th District.
The Libertarian I've voted for in every election, Andy Horning, now on the Republican ticket has soundly thwaped some other dude to take on Julia Carson for U.S. House of Representatives.
Professor Marvin Scott, with no challenger, is going against incumbant Evan Bayh in November for the U.S. Senate.

Looks like it'll be a very interesting political season in Indiana :)

Can an unconventional libertarian take out the Dark Lordess of my congressional district?
Will the Republicans put support behind anyone trying to take on a Bayh?
Can my Con Law professor who helped pass the worst property tax bill in a century recover and keep his seat in a district that had 300 to 400% property tax increases?
Will a former budget director for Pres. Bush be able to knock out a nice guy in the Gov's seat?
Can Marion County have an election without any controversy under the Clerk Doris Anne Sadler? These hiccups are starting to get annoying even though none of them are her fault in the least. Pretty soon we will resemble Florida in 2000 :(

EDIT: oh my a 30-plus year incumbant, Phil Borst the Indiana Senate Finance Chairman, is in a dead heat with (Bill??) Waltz, the first person to challenge him in a primary since Nixon was in office I think!!! Will the big man fall tonight?

If I don't find any kind of job this summer I may have to volunteer for Andy Horning. I really, really, really want the Julia-Dark Lordess-Carson out of a job! It really sucks to have no voice in Congress :(

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What classrooms do we need to go to?

To anyone taking summer classes on Monday: where is a list of the classrooms that our classes will be in? Inlow Hall is a rather large building and I don't want to wonder around all evening Monday to search for Sales or Business Associations.

Oncourse is of no help.

EDIT 5-5-2004: A stack of papers in the little entry room to Student Affairs has the locations, times, and professors teaching our classes. Problem solved.

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Do Over!!!

When one little bad thing happens that is life. When one little thing followed by another little thing followed by another little thing occurs you wonder what force of the universe you've recently pissed off?

Took 3 days to write a 4 page memo. Laptop mysteriously shut down. Ended up reinstalling Windows XP on my desktop computer, twice. Overslept from 6am to 10am. Had no cereal for breakfest. Had to get dressed in a dress shirt, tie, and jacket to deliver my memo to my judge. Drove downtown and discovered the City-Country Building was closed due to it being Election Day. Was at Bally's ready to work out and discovered I didn't pack my tennis shoes.

Somebody doesn't like me today!

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Monday, May 03, 2004

Vote Or Else!

The Indiana Primary is tomorrow. It has several flaws sadly.
One, it is open from 6am to 6pm only. If you're getting back from working late and have to pick up dinner for the family would it hurt anyone to have the polls open later to 8pm or so? Just curious.
Two, it also is not an open primary. You have declare a party and vote only for that party. Suppose you're a Democrat who wants to select a presidental candidate, but you really can't stand Gov. Kernan and want to select his Republican challenger? Nope you can't do that under our stupid system. Pick the race that is most important to you and just deal with the other candidates for the other positions.
Three, our primary is rather useless from a national point of view (POV). If you're Republican, no one is running against Pres. Bush. If you're a Democrat your vote is useless because Sen. Kerry had the delegate votes wrapped up in March. For Senate or House of Representatives there are no real challengers to the incumbants so you're voting for who they will face in November.
Four, due to the lack of challengers most posts don't have any opposition until you get to dog catcher or some other low post. I know County Clerk and County Commisioner are important to the people running for those positions, but to the average voter, eh!

And they wonder why voter turnout is so low? I think the forecast is for 15% of eligible voters to come out tomorrow. Ick!

Your vote does matter though. You are actually electing school board members. Go out an vote anyway. If anything it'll get you into the habit and you'll know where your polling place is. Besides, my number one rule is: If you didn't vote you're not allowed to bitch!

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Indy Cultural Tidbits for this week

If you're in downtown Indy during the week you can have guided tours of really cool buildings. The Dept. of Natural Resources is sponsoring guided tours of some historic buildings downtown as a part of Historic Preservation Week 2004.

Today was the Columbia Club (bummer that would have been cool), but later this week is The Block Building being converted into condos, the Federal Courthouse, the Indiana Statehouse, and the Indiana Reportary Theather.

The tours are free I do believe and the weather is pretty nice all week.

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It's The Car. Chicks Dig The Car.

A German car magizine has figured it out. What you drive does seem to have an effect on when you get laid! Great, yet another reason BMW drivers will have an inflated ego...among other things.

Does this data still work across the Atlantic Ocean? Just curious.

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They play when?

David Stern, the NBA Commish, is an ass!
Hornets-Heat go to Game 7 in round one. Round Two started yesterday for some teams, and the Indiana Pacers haven't play since Valentines Day because we keep waiting for somebody to win the Hornet-Heat series.
Dear Mr. Stern, we don't care about watching crappy first round games with no other competition for our TV watching time. Just play all the first round games at the same time and split to regional coverage. The ratings might actually go up because the playoffs won't take 3 years to play!!! The playoffs should not last as long as the regular season. Geez!

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Sunday, May 02, 2004

The Big Bang

Didn't really have time to comment on Saturday, but May 1st was the European Union's enlargement. 10, mostly former Communist countries, added to the E.U. on Saturday. Last year when an E.U. undersecretary spoke to us in Luxomberg she described this day as "the big bang."

As an economic and trade bloc I think the EU has been a big success since the end of WWII. Yet some countries want it to be more powerful and try to be a political and military bloc as well. I just don't see that happening. Look what happened last year. The countries that used to be under the yoke of communist USSR said, "Go America into Iraq" while the French Prime Minister said (and this is an actual quote to the best of my memory) "This was a perfect time for you to sit down and shut up!" With then current members United Kingdom and Spain also supporting our War on Terror I simply don't see 25 countries coming together on various foriegn policy issues to mount a common foreign and defense policy. The E.U. as a super-state: doubt it!

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Happy Birthday LLM

My best friend (among other things: like person most likely to snap my sanity and person I'm most willing to talk to and hear from) and I can’t hook up to celebrate her Big 3-0 birthday today. That is so wrong; I told her to ditch the family and have a fun time with me and a big chocolate ice cream cone and some margaritas but she didn’t listen to me as usual. I'm going to have to eat the chocolate ice cream by myself.

She didn’t like the idea of approaching 30. When it was my turn a few years ago I figured that since I am incapable of stopping (where are the cool superpowers when you need them) that I might as well enjoy the event. A modified Indy 500 sign, one keg of Killian’s Irish Red, a lot of friends, a lot of family, a ton of food, and my large glass beer stein marked my birthday. What a great time I had! LLM had the plane ticket to attend, but couldn’t at the last second. I guess that is fair: she couldn’t attend mine, and I can't attend her celebration.

As time stops for no one just enjoy it. Sometimes you know what you are doing and have a plan for your life, sometimes events beyond your control will sweep you up. A milestone birthday is what you make of it. Make the most of it.

EDIT: speaking of milestones I wonder if she remembered our oral contract concerning today? I'll soon find out.

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Saturday, May 01, 2004

The Good and The Bad

I love rainy mornings. The clouds keep the light out of my east facing bedroom windows. In the winter it is impossible to get me awake before 7:30 because it was so dark. Now it is impossible to sleep past 6am because of the sunlight streaming in. Those rain clouds though keep it just dark enough.
The rain also dampens the outside noise. Dark, peaceful, and quiet. Perfect for sleeping. Imperfect for letting me sleep past 10am. Yikes! Hopefully I'll get something useful done today. I still have 2 memos to write :(

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