“As I look out over this magnificent vista….”
I have no idea why, but this cracks me up every time I see it. The Mrs. found this last weekend, and I’ve watched a couple of times since, each time with the same result. Hopefully it tickles your funny bone like it did mine.
The alpacas are taking over.
If you have a friend that’s male, or know any males at all, then it’s likely that you’ve heard of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which apparently is the biggest video game sensation since Fred Savage and company wowed audiences in the amazing “film” The Wizard. If you think Modern Warfare 2 is going to take up your or a loved one’s time, wait until you see this. Apparently Infinity Ward is close to releasing its next groundbreaking warfare simulation. It’s so realistic, you have to see it to believe it! Check out the video and get ready to have your mind blown.
This week I started my seventh of nine quarters of law school. I am, officially, a 3L. I should be excited. I should be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In some ways, I am. I am aware that we are nearing the 250 day mark in the countdown until graduation. I know that in a year from now I will know whether I passed the bar or not. But there’s one big hitch that’s dampening my excitement about being a 3L. You see, at most schools, the 3L year is a year of relative ease, filled with many golf games and other relaxing activities. At the vast majority of schools, the most difficult times are behind you. The majority of your remaining classes are electives, so you get to set your own schedule with the classes that you want to take. The problem is, I’m not at most schools. I’m at BLS.
My eighth and ninth quarters will be filled by Practice Court (PC), that mandatory hell-on-earth experience that all BLS students get to participate in. Hundreds of pages of reading a night, the constant threat of additional work for giving a bad performance in class, and the general erosion of health and well-being. It’s basically the BLS contribution to the zombie invasion. There are definitely aspects of it that I’m looking forward to; I think the exercises will be a great experience and I’m thankful for the fact that we get actual practice at all of this stuff before being kicked to the curb. Everyone who goes through it also always says that it’s totally worth it. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s coming and it will be hard. So for me, the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the freedom that it is for everyone else.
The light at the end of the tunnel is a freight train, and it’s headed straight for us.
As this goes live, I am taking my last final of my 2L year. Ah, the joys of technology and delayed publishing. This had the makings of being a great punt return. Enjoy. When next we meet, I will be a 3L.
I’ve recently been poking fun at both Verizon and Microsoft for their ad campaigns that steal a line from Apple’s ads and attempt to make it their own (to varying results). I don’t think I’ve referred to the latest in this line, the “iDon’t” ads, which push Droid, Verizon’s latest answer to the iPhone. There are some parodies out there already, so I didn’t feel the need to address them directly. What’s funny is that we come to find out today that to have Exchange support on the Droid, you’ll have to pay an extra $15 on top of your existing data plan. Of course, my response was “iDon’t pay extra for Exchange support.” Hiyo!
But I digress. Today Gizmodo posted its review of Droid, and says “it’s the second best phone around, on the best network around.” Additionally, Windows 7 launched within the past couple of weeks, also to generally positive reviews. While there are aspects of the ad campaigns that I continue to find humorous, I am generally happy that both products are receiving positive reviews. Shocking, I know… From my writing, you’d think that I’m a complete Apple fanboy. While I don’t think I meet the complete definition of fanboy per se (complete diehard regardless of a system’s faults), I am an Apple lover and talk it up as much as I can. But their products aren’t without their faults, and I love seeing external pressure to improve.
That’s why I’m pleased to see Windows 7 and the Droid getting positive reviews. Competition is a good thing. We think of competition in the context of sports or battle and we think of one side winning and the other losing; but I don’t want either side to win or to lose. Competition spurs innovation, keeps a developer on its toes, forcing it to continue thinking outside the box and reinventing itself. As a result, we have better products, more choices, and, hopefully, more fun ads and ads to make fun of.
I have no idea how long this video will be online, because apparently the broadcaster has been removing it from various video sites today. So, I present to you the most nonchalant catch in a World Series game. Enjoy it… While you can.
UPDATE: They removed it. Bummer.
While I’m taking a brief respite from the insanity of finals, I wanted to wish everyone’s favorite prodigy blogger Micah a very happy birthday! Today he’s old enough to be certified as an adult in Texas! This is a momentous day indeed.
So, happy birthday, Micah! I hope that you have a fantastic day, that you slay Hänes the Bloodthirsty and vanquish the Lunch Lady! I’ll leave you with my favorite birthday toast, from The Count of Monte Cristo:
Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout, “Do your worst, for I will do mine!” Then the fates will know you as we know you: as Micah, the man!
This past weekend Twitter was taken over by a pretty humorous trend. Take a movie title, change one letter, and you’ve got #oneletteroffmovies. I added a couple of fairly uninspired ones to the mix, but Mashable had 20 or so that were quite good. All in all, there were some really funny movie concepts created just from changing one letter of the title.
Some of my favorites:
The Dork Knight
Pilates of the Caribbean
HoboCop
Apocalypse Not
The Hoarse Whisperer
Porn on the Fourth of July
Tree Romance
It’s law school finals time again… That magical time when students morph into zombies, a sunny day is seen out the window of a classroom or library and seems a distant dream, every highlighter in sight has run dry, and I set up shop and live out of the library. The only thing, I’ve SO much to do before I even get to finals. Right now I’m working on yet another research paper for a two hour class that feels like it should be four hours worth of credit.
I know this isn’t true, but with each writing I turn in for law school, I feel like my writing gets worse and worse. I’ve felt last satisfied with each paper. So each time I turn something in, that paper is the worst paper I’ve ever written.
Thankfully, the results haven’t reflected my feelings about them. Maybe I should never feel good about my writing. If I ever feel good about something I write for school, I’ll have to go back over it several times until I feel bad about. That’s a big if, though.
In other news, I’m absolutely addicted to the music of the TV show Glee. I’ve basically had a YouTube playlist of all of the songs on repeat all weekend. It’s fantastic fun.
This past Saturday, a fluke goal may have cost the Reds their hopes of a nineteenth English Premier League title. I realize that it’s still early and stranger things have happened, but the Reds’ fourth loss of the young campaign leaves them eighth in the Premier League table. Last year they lost two matches over the entire Premier League season and still only finished in second on account of the many draws that they suffered. This week they lost to Sunderland, 1-0, on a fluke goal that probably should have been disallowed. Sunderland’s Darren Bent took a strike at the Liverpool goal, not even five minutes into the contest on Saturday. The ball struck a beach ball that was sitting on the pitch in front of the goal, deflecting it past Liverpool defender Glen Johnson and keeper Pepe Reina and into the back of the net. In many respects, it typifies how the early part of the season has gone for Liverpool. Strange goal, lackluster performance following the goal, and a disappointing finish. Granted, the Reds were without their top two players in Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, but they had plenty of chances on goal.
Then we learned that the Premier League will not seek a replay of the match, something that has happened before when a refereee made a game-altering error. But for their part, the Reds chose not to press the matter. I think that’s a decent thing to do. Take your lumps, move forward, work on getting better.
As frustrating as the game was to watch and as disappointing as the result was, there was one humorous consequence to this loss. All of the major sports news outlets took time to cover this, many of whom did so in ironic style. Check out some of the headlines below.
Liverpool Deflated by Bizarre ‘Beachball’ Goal
Stray Beach Ball Punctures Liverpool’s Title Challenge
Life’s A Beach for Jubilant Bruce & Sunderland
No Excuses from Deflated Benitez
Reds Beached?
Darren Bent’s “beach ball goal” leaves Rafa Benitez all at Sea
