I Don't Know Who Is More Morally Bankrupt

Check out this article where Uri Geller (slight fame in 1970's for trying to convince people he could bend spoons with his mind... of course it turned out to be a hoax) claims to have invented, and is attempting to patent, the idea of a reality show where people compete to win a baby they can adopt. Sounds stupid right... who would want to infringe that patent and actually show an adoption reality TV show? Fox, Maybe. Or TLC (as a sort of fucked up "Baby Story"). No, "respectable" news show 20/20!

Curious person that I am, I looked up the patent application, just for shits and giggles, and there are a few reasons I don't think Uri is going to win here:

First, you can't collect damages on a patent application. You can only sue on an issued patent... and his application hasn't issued yet. Since the show is airing tomorrow night and Uri's patent hasn't issued, Uri's screwed.
Second, although technically anything that can be made, sold, or used (including a process of a realty TV show) can be patented, as a matter of public policy I hope the patent office rejects this idea just on general principal, and because the only real difference between Uri's process and a normal, multi-couple adoption process, is that his process is done on a TV program... which on its own should not be enough to be patentable. An process that is not new does not suddenly become new because you put it on TV.
Third, he filed the application in 2001, and it still hasn't issued. Although some patent applications do take 3 years or more to get through, this generally means that the patent office is saying "No."
Forth, Uri's a freakin' idiot. I hope his attorney charged him a lot of money to write the application.

Speaking of his attorney, I really can't believe he would take on this case without at least a little bit of guilt for his part in the degradation of society. Let's hope so.

I can't really figure out who is worse, 20/20 for airing a show where a 16 year old choosing the adoptive parents of her bastard child, or Uri Geller, who's trying to patent the idea.

No cavities!

I had a dentist appointment this morning, and it went well (see post title). I also had a really productive day of work yesterday, so my docket is a little lighter... although I need to keep it up for the rest of today and get some stuff out of here.

I finally got a packet from Minnesota acknowledging my seat deposit, plus a whole bunch of other information... including a free T-shirt! I know it cost them about $2, and I'm shelling out several dozens of thousands of dollars to go there, but it's still nice to get a free T-shirt. How do you think credit card companies get so many people to sign up?

Anyway, so I get to spend the next month or so filling out forms and signing up for an e-mail address and getting a physical (Hooray [sarcasm]), and all the other wonderful tasks associated with the few months before starting at a new school.

In house hunting news, I called a mortgage lender in Minnesota today to set up a meeting about getting pre-approved for a mortgage, and he faxed me a whole bunch of forms for the pre-approval. Yea, more paperwork to fill out! Exciting shit!

Arrested Development Petition

Please join me in signing the Save Arrested Development petition. As I mentioned last week, it appears that Fox is trying to send another great, funny show to the syndication scrapyard because they haven't promoted it enough (I've only seen commercials for "Arrested Development" on Sunday evenings, when I'm already watching Fox anyway).

Please sign the petition... or better yet, watch the reruns this summer so the show's ratings go up, so Fox doesn't even have to make a choice between money and quality (because, as we know, Fox will always pick the former to the detriment of the latter). I guarantee watching the show is worth your time. That is all.

Busy Busy Busy

I have a lot of work to clear off my desk before I can waste too much time posting (like now)...

No new law school news. I wish Minnesota would send me some information in a brochure with a photos-of-smiling-students-and-other-photos-of-students-studying-hard-but-not-so-hard-that-they-can't-smile -and-yet-other-photos-of-students-in-suits-at-moot-court-or-working type format. Good times.

I Am The Whitest Man Alive

This may be my most embarrassing post ever... but I think everyone could figure out I'm white (as in Caucasian). Well, I am prefacing this post by saying I am basically a poster child for a white guy (at least a suburban white guy)... meaning I'm as white as Wonder Bread (like so white I'm transparent), but that I still like a lot of things from Black culture, the most recognizable being rap music, which, to a certain extent, I do like.

Anyway, I was watching the new Chris Rock special on HBO with my wife a couple days ago, and he was talking about the song "Get Low" by Lil' John, and how it is a song that makes rap music hard to defend. Now, like most people, I've heard this song about 10 Bazillion times on the local Top 40 station, but unfortunately had a very misguided interpretation of the lyrics. The following is a transcription of a typical attempt by me and my wife to sing along with the chorus (if you're less white then me, and could figure the lyrics out right away, then please refrain from laughing so much that you can't read this post 'cause you are blinded by the tears streaming down your face), Ahem:

To the window! To the Wah! (shut up, I know, I know)
Til' the sweat drip down the bah! (I said shut up)
To the bah skeet skeet skeet skeet skeet skeet, OH skeet skeet skeet skeet (ironically, I got skeet right... but had no fucking clue what it meant... so I just assumed I was wrong about this lyric, but was happy in my ignorance).

So anyway, we were watching Chris Rock, and he informed us that in fact the lyrics were:

To the window! (Ha! I was right) To the wall! (OK, not really close, but not bad for my white ear)
Til' the sweat drips down my balls (WTF!!!, OK, I can hardly be blamed for not getting this right... you see, I use the more colloquial "nuts" when referring to testicles, and I was a little shocked to learn that a rap artist would use "balls," which seams very 3rd grade to me)
Oh skeet skeet skeet skeet skeet skeet, OH skeet skeet skeet skeet (WTF again! you mean I was pretty much right about the skeet?!? Could he be talking about skeet shooting? Does Lil' John have a deep seated hatred for clay pigeons?)

At which point Chris Rock repeated skeet about 600 times, which made the audience (mostly black and less white folks than me) go crazy... which led me to believe my whiteness was making me miss out on a joke. So, super nerd that I am, I had to look it up on the internet. And I'm happy to say, I now know what "skeet" means in the rap vernacular (although I am too bashful to just post it)... which of course means that either the definition will change, or "skeet" will be replaced by a different word, because the whitest MF¹ in the world² cannot be up on the lingo.

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¹What are you looking at the footnote for? You know what a MF is
²That's me

This Is A Shame

According to this article (Chicago Tribune) a women took this picture of U.S. soldiers caskets being brought home, which eventually was published in the Seattle Times on Sunday. On Wednesday, the woman and her husband were fired over the picture.

I can understand some anger over the fact that the picture was printed in the newspaper because it might unfairly bias people against the war (you know, people who forget that in wars, people die), but the fact that this woman, and her husband, were fired merely because she took this picture, is despicable. Especially since it is a very powerful picture that people should be able to see.

I truly hope that in this downtrodden economy, this woman and her husband can quickly find a job so that they don't end up destitute because of a narrow minded policy that undermines freedom of speech.

Part 2, Simply Irresistable1

I got another e-mail today giving me more money (actually reducing the amount I actually owe the school)... but this time from the chosen University of Minnesota. It still isn't a full tuition scholarship (which I did turn down from another school... not bragging, just showing you how stupid I can be), but it isn't a kick in the face with golf cleats either, so I'm out ahead.

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¹ This is a song, or at least a video, that belongs on the top 10 worst songs list... not Ice Ice Baby

I Guess I AM That Irresistible

I got an e-mail yesterday from one of the schools I rejected asking "Would additional scholarship or grant dollars cause you to attend Rejected School of Law?" I've got to admit, it was pretty flattering. I'm in the middle of a bidding war. Although I'm about 99.9% sure that it wouldn't change my mind about where I go to school, I can't say that I wouldn't look at the figure.

I just wish all these schools had been falling over themselves to have me in the first place. It's nice to feel wanted.

Worst Songs

What does it say about you if you really like 7 or 8 out of the 10 Worst Songs Ever? (according to Blender Magazine, article from Chicago Tribune) The only one I really agree with is "Achy Breaky Heart" (# 2) and possibly Eddie Murphy's "Party All The Time" (# 8). Here's the list:

Blender Magazine's Top 10 Worst Songs (Unreasonable Comments in Parens)
1. "We Built This City" - Starship (Classic '80s Anthem)
2. "Achy Breaky Heart" - Billy Ray Cyrus (Sad, very sad... but kudos to Billy Ray)
3. "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" - Wang Chung (Another timeless 80's anthem. It was mentioned in a Cheers Episode for God's sake)
4. "Rollin' " - Limp Bizkit (OK, so it's not that original... but it's got energy)
5. "Ice Ice Baby" - Vanilla Ice (I defy anyone to not sing along when they hear "Alright STOP... Collaborate and LISTEN!")
6. "The Heart of Rock-and-Roll" - Huey Lewis and the News (What's wrong with this one?)
7. "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - Bobby McFerrin (You have to be pretty cynical to not like this song)
8. "Party All The Time" - Eddie Murphy (Yes THAT Eddie Murphy... yeah, it's really bad, but still catchy)
9. "American Life" - Madonna (I don't actually know how this one goes)
10. "Ebony and Ivory" - Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder (Again, what's wrong with this one)

I agree a lot of these are fluff songs ("Don't Worry, Be Happy," "Ebony and Ivory" don't think I don't see you shuffling your feet) or songs that blatantly cashed in on current pop culture (Wang Chung, "We Built This City," "Ice Ice Baby," I'm looking in your direction), but they're still all good in their own way. If I really thought about it, I bet I could come up with some way more deserving songs (That dumb ass Milkshake song comes to mind, or just about anything by Wilson Phillips). I'm sure y'all could come up with some good ones yourselves (I've got comments for all your nominations). I suspect that, like most entertainment writers, these people are hacks that couldn't cut it as musicians themselves and are bitter that these seemingly fluff filled songs that were so successfull. Any thoughts?

Questions

Here are some questions that have been rolling through my head:

• If I can't concentrate on my work writing patent applications, which has become an epidemic for me, how will I be able to muster the energy and concentration for law school?
  
• How can my boss not see that I'm not nearly as productive and efficient as I used to be?
  
  • If he really doesn't, is he not paying attention?
    
  • If not, was he ever paying attention in the first place?
    
  • If not, does my work actually suck, and law schools is an incredibly dumb venture for me?
  
  
• How in the world are Wife and I going to be able to afford buying a house on her salary, when we are just now figuring out how to live without accruing debt on my salary (which is considerably bigger than hers)?
  
• How can the members of the blogosphere not recognize my brilliance and flock to my blog in droves?
  
• Why does life seem easier for stupid people?
  
  • Is it because their tiny brains can't understand the problems that are associated with life?
    
  • Or, is it because smarter people take more responsibility for their lives, and hence their lives are more stressful?
    
  • OR, is it because smarter people are just more neurotic, and life really is easier?
  
  
• Why am I thinking about these things?
  
• Why can't I be happy with what I have?¹

I think that's all for my random questions. Thanks.

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¹ Actually, I am happy with what I have... for the most part, I just forget sometimes that compared to most of the world (like 99.9%), I have it incredibly fricken' easy. I have a lovely wife, a good job (for now), I'm starting law school in the fall, my parents are still happily married, I have a great family (both on my side and on my wife's), and I get to be near them next year for support during school... plus I'm not lying in a dumpster having to beg for change to buy a McDonald's McRib sandwich (always a plus).

Message to Fox

Dear Fox Television:

Whose bright idea was it to put 24 on last night instead of Arrested Development? I hope it was a retarded monkey that was just giving you a breather... because if you are about to let another brilliantly funny shows go down the tubes because you don't know how to market a good show, a la The Ben Stiller Show (cancelled, then won an Emmy), Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and your biggest blunder Family Guy (thank God someone had the bright idea to sell the DVD's, otherwise it wouldn't be coming back for you to fuck up again). I'm sure there are others, but these are the three that jumped into my head.

I know that you have more episodes of Arrested Development, and I know you know that it's funny. So why would you put a Drama/Action TV show on your comedy night? Normally I would give you the benefit of the doubt... except for your courageous list of fuck ups (see above). Please try to think before you start messing with your scheduling.

Sincerely,
The Unreasonable Man

P.S. Have more episodes with Buster. That twitchy bastard is hilarious.

Buffalo Wings & Vodka

I've been reading Buffalo Wings & Vodka and it's feakin' hilarious. I've only read up through July of last year, so don't ruin it for me.

Working While In Law School, Law Review, etc.

I had a nice long chat with my boss Monday about working while in law school and law review, among other things. He suggested that working part time, even during the first year, might not be such a bad thing because it would keep me working in the law as it is currently practiced, instead of just the theoretical study associated with law school (especially during first year)... that, and he felt it was a lot easier for a 1L to get a job during the year than for the summer after first year. He also offered to write introduction letters to people he knows in several of the firms up in Minneapolis (which is very, very nice of him). I still don't know what to think about the working part time thing. All I've heard is "You shouldn't work during first year," "Law school is such a different environment, you should use the first year to get acclimated," etc. The problem is, most of this advice is being given by people assuming that they are talking to someone coming straight out of undergrad who has no experienced with a real work load. I have... I just don't know how comparable the work load in my law firm is to the work load in law school. Does anyone have a thoughts?

I also couldn't resist a brief discussion about something President Bush said during his press conference on Tuesday. He said "I didn't see -- I mean, I didn't have that great sense of outrage that I felt on September the 11th. I was -- on that day, I was angry and sad. Angry that al-Qaida -- I thought at the time al-Qaida, found out shortly thereafter it was al-Qaida -- had unleashed this attack." (emphasis added by me) (Quote from the text of the press conference printed in the Washington Post). The reason it drew my attention is because the position the Bush administration has been taking is that the White House had no way of knowing the al Qaida was going to strike inside the U.S. (although this argument has obviously been eroded over the past week due to Condoleeza Rice's testimony and the release of the August 6, 2001 "Presidential Daily Briefing", (from CNN.com)). However, in this quote, the President has admitted that on Sept. 11, 2001, after the attacks, he was mad at al-Qaida specifically. Either Bush was psychic and just happened to be mad at the same people who he ultimately found out were responsible for the attacks OR the information the White House had before 9/11 pointed to al Qaida so strongly that Bush was sure they did it as soon as it happened, hence his anger. I think it's funny, because it looks like Bush realized he was making a mistake and caught himself in midquote (he paused and said "I thought at the time al-Qaida, found out shortly thereafter it was al-Qaida") so as to try and make it sound more like a "gut feel." Maybe I'm reading into it too much, and more than likely nothing will come of it, but I thought it was funny that the President of the United States was not better prepared.

Looking At Houses

My wife and I have decided to become members of the landed gentry and purchase a house (or townhouse, or condo) when we move back to Minnesota for law school. We figured the way interest rates are right now, and the prices of real estate in Minnesota being fairly low (at least compared to Chicago), buying a house won't cost us much more per month then renting, so we figured we will buy a home and build up some equity since we want to settle back in Minnesota anyway. That, and it increases my chances of qualifying for in-state tuition at Minnesota for my 2nd and 3rd years if I own a home and pay property tax in Minnesota.

So, because my wife and I were in Minnesota visiting family for Easter anyway, we took the opportunity to begin our house hunt and go to a couple of open houses. We looked at 3 townhouses in the southern suburbs of Minneapolis, and they were all pretty nice. Although all three were a little farther from either the law school or my wife's job, or both, then I would have liked. As much as I can handle a long commute, I want to avoid it if possible. Thankfully, the definition of a long commute in the Twin Cities (anything over 30 minutes is considered a near eternity) is much different than in Chicago (30 minutes is considered nothing, it isn't considered long until it is over 1 hour and 15 minutes, each way), so it still wouldn't be too terrible. However, if we can find a place that is less then 20 minutes for each of us, and is affordable, I think we'll be set (assuming its a nice place). Now all we have to do is find a realtor, get approved for a loan, find a house, make an offer, get it accepted, close, and move in. That won't be too stressful... Right?

In law school news, I received a gracious letter from the University of Iowa College of Law saying they have removed my admission, as I requested in my rejection letter... I sure hope it was the right decision turning down that generous scholarship. Oh well, nothing can be done about it now.

Final School Gets Back to Me

Last night I got a decision from the last school on my list (Virginia)... and I was waitlisted. I kind of expected it because it took so long I knew I wasn't an automatic admit or an automatic ding. I figured it was taking so long because I kept getting knocked back into the "decide later" pile (in admission mumbo-jumbo this is called a "deferred decision") because they wanted to see what the rest of their applicant pool looked like (basically waiting for better people).

I'm a little disappointed, but not really. Virginia is a great school with a great reputation, and it is in a beautiful area of the country, so in that respect, it sucks. But, I didn't particularly want to live in Virginia permanently (although I would prefer it to California or New York) or to work in D.C. (which I'm guessing is the final destination for a lot of UVA Law grads), and I my wife really didn't want to live in Virginia, so in that respect it didn't really break me up too much.

I also say that my seat deposit check was deposited by Minnesota, so I will probably start receiving a flood of information from them, which is good because I have about a thousand questions that they need to answer at some point, including their help in how the hell I'm going to pay for this place (I know, private loans, but I need some help on how to get them, etc.) I'll keep you posted.

Hey, look at that, a post without anything political. Well, I can't have that. Check out this article by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo regarding Bush's vacation time while in office. All I can say is I wish I had a job where in the past 3 1/4 years I could take 500 days of vacation... wait, 500 days? That's over 1 and 1/3 freakin' years of vacation! That's almost half the time he's been in office! OK, 40% of the time... but still, that's a shload¹ of vacation... and not a bad salary to boot.

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¹ A contraction of shit load... yeah, my first footnote!

Apology

I apologize for the overly political slant this blog has taken... particularly if I have offended anyone. It's difficult for me to not speak my mind, and even more difficult because this is fairly anonymous (made doubly anonymous by the fact that I know of only two people that actually have read this... thanks Ditzy Genius and Musclehead) do I have less control over the venom that has been spewing from my fingers. In case you haven't noticed, I don't like Bush, but I will try to tone it down a little, since this is supposed to be a blog about law school. Thank you, have a nice day.

Stupid Quote Part 2

I thought this was stupid when Bush said it, and I think it's stupid now that Condoleeza Rice is saying it. During her testimony, the National Security Advisor said "Had we thought that there was an attack coming in Washington or New York, we would have moved heaven and earth to try and stop it" (from the CNN.com article about Rice's testimony). Go ahead and look back at Bush's quote... now look at Rice's again... do they look a little similar? Do you think the administration has its talking points coordinated?

The Bushies need to quit denying that they were at fault long enough to realize that no one is accusing them of causing the 9/11 attacks, or even that they could have stopped them. The commission is merely trying to find out what went wrong.

To me it sounds like a teacher asking her class if they know what happened to the cookie that was on her desk, and the troublemaker in the class says "I didn't eat it!" (thus providing strong evidence that he did in fact eat the cookie) even though the teacher didn't ask "George... did you eat the cookie?"

Ohhh-Kay?

I was sitting in bed last night reading at about 9:45 (I know, I'm a little nerdy for going to bed that early, but I need at least 6 hours of sleep a night, and I prefer 7 or 8, plus it takes me about an hour or more to actually get to sleep... so I go to bed early), and my cell phone rings. My wife is out of town visiting family (it's her spring break) and so I assumed it was her. Nope. The caller ID says "Private Number," which is never a good sign, because I don't know anyone who has a private number that isn't already programmed into my cell phone. Anyway, I decide to be brave and pick up.

Me: "Hello?" [translation: who the fuck are you?]
Lady on Phone: "Is Unreasonable there?"
Me: "This is Unreasonable" [wondering why a woman who is not my wife would be calling me at 9:45 at night]
Lady: "This is Professor Inconsiderate (name changed to protect the inconsiderate) from the University of Minnesota Law School"
Me: "Oh... hi" [wtf?]
Prof. Inconsiderate (or Prof Inc): "I'm calling to see if you have made your decision on law school and if I can answer any questions about U of Minnesota" (translation: please come here and give us your money), plus a whole bunch of other stuff, talking really fast so it's hard for me to get a word in
Me: "Actually I have decided to go to Minnesota, I sent in my seat deposit last week"
Prof Inc: "Great!" (false excitement) "Do you mind if I ask you your reasons for selecting Minnesota" (perhaps her name should be Professor Pushy as well).
Me: List of reasons
Prof Inc & Push "Well great, I'll see you in August"
Me: "Yeah. Uh, good night?"

OK, so maybe I'm being a little hard on Prof Inc & Push (especially since she was just doing what Minnesota asked her to, and because she's not on this blog to defend herself), but I was slightly annoyed. I know most of the people she is calling are probably undergrads who would just be getting around to thinking about studying... you know, after this next shot. But still, some of us work (including Prof Inc & Push herself).

Also, if Minnesota is anxious enough for me to go there that they would have someone call me... why weren't they anxious enough to pony up a little more cash to sweeten the deal?

Maybe, I'm just too cynical... you think?

Obsessive-Compulsive Much?

Here's a random Favorite Simpson's quote:
Homer: No beer and no TV make Homer something something...
Marge: Go crazy?
Homer: Don't mind if I DO!!!!
- From one of the many Treehouse of Horror episodes

For the most part, I think I am a fairly normal guy... but I underestimated my Obsessive Compulsive tendencies, especially in relation to the veritable smorgasbord of mania inducing stimuli that comes with the Law School Application Process. Even though I've selected my school, I still feel compelled to race to the mailbox everyday to see if my rejects have sent me more generous scholarship offers to try and woo me back, or a if a letter from a Trinity school arrives say "We mixed up your file with some schmuck's and we meant to admit you... please come here. Please, Please, PLUH-EAAAAASE!" (I know neither will ever happen, but it's nice to dream). I also have become obsessed with making sure my seat deposit check clears, so I check my bank account every day to see if that $100 has come out of my account. I guess my problem is once I get an idea in my mind, it is very hard to get it out.

Case in point: I really, really, Really, REALLY, REALLY want an iPod... but I can't bring myself to plunk down the $300 to $500 it would require (and if I did buy one, I would probably buy the 40 Gig, $500 version, even though I probably don't have anywhere near 40 Gigs of music, including all my CD's). I can't justify paying that much when there are alternative mp3 players for half that price, i.e. the Dell Jukebox (although none of these alternatives are nearly as cool as the iPod... but Dell's is at least close). The only line of defense I have for my minor OCD is to allow myself to read up on the iPod as much as I want, but put off buying it for as long as possible. That way I'll stay obsessed with the iPod, and won't move on to something else expensive that I don't need. See what I mean, I just wanted to give you an example, and I've rambled on for several minutes.

Anyway, that's enough for now. I hope I haven't scared you off.

Stupid Quote

Here's one of the stupidest quotes I've ever seen. President Bush said "Make no mistake about it; if we had known that the enemy was going to fly airplanes into our buildings, we would have done everything in our power to stop it" (from this CNN.com article). My only response to that is "I should fucking hope so!"

Mr. President, no one is accusing you of knowing exactly what al Queda was going to do, and then not trying to stop it. They aren't even saying you should have known exactly what al Queda was going to do.

No one, except those with sick imaginations, could have actually predicted that terrorists could hijack planes, fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and that both towers of the WTC would collapse because of it. The point is that there was increasing evidence of a monumental terrorist attack, and you didn't change your way of thinking.

You really must know you are guilty as sin if all you can say is "We didn't know they were going to fly planes into our buildings."

What a swell idea

Again, I fear that I may be making this into a political blog when I truly want it to be about my law school experience... but unfortunately my internal "mute" button seems to be malfunctioning.

President Bush is still committed to handing over Iraq in June despite the increasing violence and rioting (both stories from Chicago Tribune). Doesn't this seem a tad imprudent? I know Bush wants to convey to the world, particularly the Middle East, that the U.S. is not an occupational force trying to take over an Arab country... but is pulling out of a country that has shown NO signs that it is capable of controlling its own people really a good idea? What's to stop another Saddam-like dictator from seizing control of Iraq once we're gone? Or worse, what if someone who actually would build Weapons of Mass Destruction and try to use them on the U.S. (which, I think most of us can agree, Iraq did not do under Saddam) came to power? Under Bush's "doctrine" of preemption, wouldn't we have to go back into Iraq, because then it actually would pose a threat to the U.S.? My guess is no, because when a country actually poses a nuclear threat to our shores, we ignore it (a la North Korea).

On a less political note, my wife and I went and saw Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind over the weekend. I thought it was very, very good. Weird, but very good. After the movie, while I was waiting for Wife to finish using the rest room, I heard about a dozen conversations about the movie and how different it is (which is true). Charlie Kaufman (the screenwriter) definitely has an interesting way of telling a story (he's the guy who wrote Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.). If you like intelligent movies, or just weird ones, you will probably like Eternal Sunshine.

The Gopher Women put up a valiant fight, but couldn't get it done against UConn last night. UConn kept them off their game, and Minnesota couldn't keep UConn off theirs. Oh well, they were still fun to watch during the tournament. At least I have the baseball season to keep track of now. For those of you scoring at home, my teams are the Cubs in the NL and the Twins in the AL. This could be the Cubs year, although Sports Illustrated is picking them to win it all, which can't bode well for the Cubs. GO CUBBIES!

Fun Little Exercise

So I this little test from {Memory's Outbox} (among other places). So here's the first 25 songs that popped up randomly on my mp3 player

1. Pink - Don't Let Me Get Me
2. Aida (the Elton John Musical) - Act 2, Radames Letter
3. Elton John - Crocodile
4. Foreigner - Hot Blooded
5. Prince - Cream
6. Dave Matthews Band - Tripping Billies
7. Dave Matthews Band - Dancing Nancies (Live at Red Rocks)
8. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
9. U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name
10. George Clinton (and Parliament I think, but it might be P-Funk) - Do Fries Go With That Shake
11. Phantom of the Opera - All I Ask Of You
12. Merry F--king Christmas - Mr. Garrison (South Park)
13. U2 - Beautiful Day
14. Linkin Park - One Step Closer
15. Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds - Satellite (Live at Luther College)
16. Rent (Musical) - I'll Cover You
17. Billy Joel - You're Only Human (2nd Wind Song)
18. The Monkeys - Valerie
19. Groove Armada - I See You Baby (Shakin' That Ass)
20. Starship - We Built This City
21. Aerosmith - My Girl
22. Crazy Town - Butterfly
23. The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
24. N*Sync - It's Gonna Be Me (I'm embarrassed to admit)
25. Stroke 9 - Are You In This?

Damn I have some weird taste in music.

Virginia Is Really On The Ball [Note: This is sarcasm]

I sent in all of my applications in late October and early November. Virginia confirmed my application was complete on Dec. 12 (that's how long it took for my undergrad school to get the verification form to them), and I checked on their website's application monitor today, and they FINALLY sent out a decision... 112 days later. That is so ridiculous it's ri-cock-ulous (excuse my vulgarity, but I am pissed). A lot of good their decision does me now that I have sent in my seat deposit to Minnesota (on a related topic, I sent my seat deposit to Minnesota). OK, rant complete. Good day sir (or madam)... I said GOOD DAY SIR.

Thanks

Thanks to Musclehead for helping me get comments on this page. I've added a link to his blog here and in my blogroll.

Waiting For Lunch to Arrive

My boss decided to buy the office lunch today (we're a small office, so it isn't a huge investment for him), so I am waiting for him to pick it up... I though blogging would fill the time nicely.

I've been reading from.it.to.ip (maybe) recently, which is nice because her situation is similar (although still quite different) than mine. Anyway, I've added a link in the blogroll.

Death To Song Lyric For Today

I realized that I was becoming to gimmicky, and it was taking too much time, so I have removed my "Today's Question From My Jeopardy! Desk calendar" and the "Song Lyric For Today" features, at least for now. Maybe if I get A comment saying someone actually reads this blog and likes these features I may resurrect them, but until then I don't have the energy or time to think up what song lyric applies to my current state of mind.

I'm happy to know that my chosen school is still in the top 20 in the latest U.S. News & World Report Law School Rankings. I know, I know... the rankings don't actually reflect how good the school is. But you can't tell me they don't matter. The schools themselves talk about the rankings so much, even if only to say that the U.S. News rankings aren't a true ranking, that they must have some importance. Plus, you know the ranking (which generally equates to reputation) matters when you're looking for a job. If the rankings didn't matter, everybody who had a statistical shot wouldn't apply to Harvard, Chicago, Berkeley, etc. every year. Anyway, I should get to work. I'll blog more later.

I HAVE COMMENTS NOW!!

I don't have to be a slave to the non-comment allowing ways of Blogger anymore. Horay!

Now, if I could just get some readers to fill in some comments.

WTF Happened to My Home State?

I come from Minnesota, that northern state most people wouldn't dare visit in January, despite all there is to do there. Minnesota is historically one of the biggest Democrat bastion in the country. It's the only state to vote for Mondale in 1984 (course Mondale was from Minnesota, but still 1 democratic state vs. 49 republican states). Now, apparently it is such a battleground state, that Bush is sure he can carry it in November... see the Minnesota House Democratic Caucus' web page on this. My question is, WTF happened to make the most democratic state in the union (except for maybe California) into a Bush supporter. I hope this is just desperate attempts by W. I sure am glad I'll be a MN resident then so I can vote in this "battleground" state instead of Illinois, an almost guaranteed democrat state.

While I'm on my political rant (hey, until I have some more law school stuff to talk about, I guess I'll use this forum to spout my unsolicited views)... remember that kid in elementary school who if you picked on him at all, he ran to the teacher or the recess monitor to tell on you (hell, for about a year, I pretty much was that kid), well, our "Presidential" leader is now that kid, at least according to this L.A. times article (Kerry Aided by "Illegal" Soft Money, GOP Claims). Bush's campaign is saying that because independent organizations like the Media Fund and MoveOn.org are only running negative ads against Bush, then Kerry is getting an unfair advantage and they even went so far as to say that Kerry is part of an "unprecedented illegal conspiracy" to coordinate with these groups in their attacks of Bush, which would be in violation of recent campaign finance reform laws

(Don't even get me started on how little these laws have actually done to reform campaign finance... I mean Bush was able to build up something like $6 ka-jillion and Kerry somewhere are 30 to 35 bucks).

This is another fairly transparent claim, which would pretty much be impossible for Bush to prove even if it were true, which was made not because of evidence they have, but because they no the accusation itself is enough to confuse some of our, how shall I put it... less intelligent voters. But, as we saw in yesterday's post... negative adds work.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Today's Question From My Jeopardy! Desk Calendar - Category: Britannica for $400... On April 1, 1980, this British TV network, tongue in cheek, announced that the Big Ben clock was going digital... My guess, I only know of one British TV network, the BBC

Answer: What is the BBC? (acceptable the British Broadcasting Corporation (of course it's acceptable, that's what BBC stands for))... $1800 for the week.

Song Lyric For Today
I'm gonna rock you like a baby when the cities fall.
We will rise as the buildings crumble,
float there and watch it all.
Amidst the burning, we'll be churning
You know, love will be our wings
The passion rises up from the ashes,
When the world ends
When the World Ends - Dave Matthews Band

My nightmare is coming true, the beginninging of the end of "The Simpsons." I hope this is just an April Fools news story, but I fear that it isn't... Doh! "Simpsons" cast holding out, although I have to say $360,000 per episode sounds like an awful lot to me. I mean, I love the Simpsons, but ONE-THIRD of ONE MILLION DOLLARS... PER EPISODE!. I got into the wrong business.