People who need to go away.

Between switching from the couch in the front room to the couch in the back room, I periodically check the news. Frankly, there are a few people that I am sick of and I think that for the good of the nation, they should just shut up and go away.

1) Oil Companies. Bad enough your product pollutes the environment and funds terrorism, but the fact that it costs more to drive to the hood to buy cocaine, than to buy the actual cocaine is just insane. Oil companies are boasting record profits, much of it taken from the poor. If Robin Hood were alive today, he'd be hijacking oil tankers and distributing gas in the inner city. Something needs to be done about the oil companies. I understand, they're a business, they should be free to sell their products. But, what they sell is not an ordinary product. It is a narcotic whose addiction is driving the world at this point. Oil companies are little better than the drug pushers who reside on your street corner. The only difference is the drug dealers probably have better morals.

2) Leonardo DiCaprio. Aside from being a mediocre actor at best, Leo also is a die hard environmentalist. His next film project is a movie which talks about how basically screwed we are unless americans abandon air conditioning and quit driving cars. Rich Celebrities with no real understanding of the world irritate me as a general rule, but environmentalists tend to really get me going. One of the most irritating things about this movie is the fact that Al Gore already made this movie last year. Is there anything left to say? Earth getting hot (on average, an entire degree!), ice caps melting, world screwed. We get the picture. If most Americans didn't believe Al Gore (with good reason, he's a hypocrite and a nutcase) why would they listen to the guy from Titanic? Bottom line, most of America can't afford to go green on the level environmentalists want them to, and they get angry when rich people who have never sacrificed anything in their life, and for whom an environmentally conscious life style does not represent an inconvenience. Go away Leo, your movie will be fawned over by other rich yuppies who share your views and ignored by pretty much everyone else.

3) Jimmy Carter. Jimmy said today that George Bush was the worst president ever. Come on, Jimmy. You're just being modest. You were far, far worse. Not only was your foreign policy a total disaster (except for the egypt peace treaty, which essentially amounted to paying off a terrorist state to go away), but you also managed to botch every terrorist crisis you were faced with, have fuel shortages, high unemployment, AND stagflation. You're a nice guy Jimmy, but you were the worst president of the past century whose presidency didn't involve teapot dome. Essentially, George W. has written off the rest of his presidency, and it's pretty clear he's not going to do much of anything except veto bills that get us out of Iraq. He'd have to actively try to screw up the nation every single day for the rest of his administration, and even then he probably still couldn't equal the travesty that was the Carter Administration. Scoreboard, Jimmy. Bush is bad; you were worse. Shut your mouth and go away.

4) San Antonio Spurs. I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone outside of San Antonio who doesn't think your team is dirty. You guys did everything to Nash but order a "code red", A Few Good Men style. I kept watching post game interviews expecting Greg Popovich to scream "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!" You guys are a dirty team, Bowen shouldn't be allowed to play the rest of the tournament. You could spend an entire episode of sportscenter talking about the stuff that he did that didn't make headlines. His fingerprints were all over Nash's jersey. You can deny it all you want Tim Duncan, but your victory is tainted. You'll probably win the finals, which means of the three finals you've won, only one is legitimate. Congrats, bro.

5) Michael Moore. A movie that argues that the Canadian health care system is the ideal? That's high comedy. Having lived in a country with socialized medicine, let me tell you, we're better off. Also, yeah, Cuba has good health care, but they pay for it by giving up things like freedom, personal autonomy, and toilet paper (the government allotment is 8 squares per person, per month. Sheryl Crow would be happy). Mike, how do you lack the personal awareness to know that playing fast and loose with the facts is what causes people to ignore and dismiss you. Tell the whole truth, or just shut up.

Saw this on Page 2. Thought it summed up my feelings on the matter.

Running

Today's post is about my only hobby, running.

I looked at my blogger dashboard, and realized that I've now made 26 posts! That's a marathon, and in recognition of that, I went out and ran 14 miles in 95 degree heat. Also, I'm posting this thing that I fount on the internets and thought was pretty funny. Props to whoever wrote it, sorry I'm shamelessly ripping you off.

26.2 Ways You Know You Are A Runner

1. You know how many miles there are in a marathon.

2. Your weekly mileage is how much you run, not your commute to work.

3. You know how many miles you get out of a pair of running shoes.

4. You can convert Kilometers to Miles in your head.

5. You measure your running route in your car to get the exact mileage.

6. When someone tells you their age, you automatically know their Boston qualifying time.

7. You know Grandma's as the route from Two Harbors to Duluth, not the person.

8. You can drink, blow your nose and pee on the run.

9. The problem with the treadmill is there's no place to spit.

10. You have less than ten toenails and that's normal for you.

11. Body Glide is your friend.

12. Ibuprofen is affectionately known as "Vitamin I".

13. Navigating walkers, dogs and baby strollers annoys you because it interrupts your pace.

14. When you participate in an organized event, you know not to run in your race t-shirt.

15. You have a favorite energy gel and flavor.

16. The "Picasso" above your fireplace is last year's TCM poster.

17. You have pre and post race rituals.

18. The journal you keep is in miles and pace not feelings or thoughts.

19. When you look at the weather conditions, you calculate how many layers to wear.

20. The pride you feel after a good run is worth the pain it took to get there.

21. You have more t-shirts than you could possibly wear.

22. When you hear the word "bib", you think of race numbers not babies and Gerber food.

23. The "no carbohydrate diet" does not apply to you.

24. You know that Fartlek is not vulgar terminology.

25. A hill is an opportunity just waiting to be challenged.

26. You know the phrase "you're almost there" only applies when the finish line is in sight.

.2 Your vacation destination is determined by your race schedule.


"...a marathon is twenty miles of hope, six miles of truth...."



If you want to run, run a mile. If you want to experience a different life, run a marathon.

I survived!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Didn't think I'd make it, but I managed to survive a year in law school. I took my last final earlier today and I've never studied so hard in my life. Here's the rundown on tests and how they went.

First Test: Civil Procedure

The bad thing about a good teacher is that everyone actually learns, so competition is more intense. I felt good about this testbut so did everyone else. Plus, last semester, my buddy Caleb knew this exact subject backwards and forwards, and taught it to me the day before the final and I got a better grade than him. Thus, there is negative Karma attached to this subject and I am not confident in my performance.

Predicted Grade: B-

Second Test: Property

This test was crazy. I mean just unreal. There were 9 different people I had to keep track of and just thinking about it made me dizzy. Also, in retrospect, not paying attention in class and not reading the assigned cases for the entire semester may have been a slight tactical error. However, the teacher is probably one of the nicest professors, and unlike most of my prof's I believe he might actually have a soul. This leads me to believe there might be a generous curve.

Predicted Grade: B-

Third Test: Constitutional Law

Four months and I honestly can't tell you anything about Con Law. Nothing. Have no idea what is in the constitution, no clue how that document applies to law in general. I do know that Roe v. Wade does not find a fundamental right to abortion. Unfortunately, that question was not asked on the test. I had no idea what any of the answers were and couldn't even begin to answer them. My answers were mostly incoherent and my analysis was nonexistent. On the bright side, everyone else in the class felt pretty much the same way.

Predicted Grade: C+

Fourth Test: Contracts

You know that you are going to get a bad grade on a law school test if you finish early. It will be a miracle if I pass this test. This test is best described as the spawn set forth from the unholy union of Satan and the Beast. I'm pretty sure it was worth 666 points, for a total of 66.6% of my final grade. I was so stressed about this test that I briefly went crazy and hallucinated that I could breath through my eyelids and every time I blinked was like an asthma attack, and it was still more pleasant than taking this test.

Expected Grade: Couldn't even guess.

In other news, I've actually decided to use my facebook page, so if you have facebook I will be keeping up with you there.

Also, Rocco Deluca and the Burden are my new favorite band. Their single is spinning on MTV and their CD is that good. There is a shortage of good slide guitar players in my generation and this dude is sorely needed. Derek Trucks can't be carrying the legacy by himself peeps! Anyway, the band is good, though they are probably more famous for their manager. You may have heard of him, he's on a little show called 24, playing the rather minor role of Jack Bauer. That's right, Jack Freaking Bauer, when not attaching electrodes to the swimsuit areas of terrorists, manages Rocco Deluca. If you've ever wondered what the dude grooves to in the car on the way to foil an assassination attempt while saving his inept daughter from mountain lion attacks, now you know. Listen to Colourful and see if you don't feel like you could take on the terrorists singlehandedly.

I'm finally listening to Fall Out Boy's last album. It's been on my list of things to listen to for literally months (the CD's been out long enough to have 3 singles!). I'm listening to it as I type. It's pretty good, I'd rate it as a better album than From under a Cork Tree, but it's still not as good as Take This To Your Grave. I should probably have made it a point to listen to this sooner, but these guys are too mainstream to make it a priority. I honestly wish the band hadn't gotten so big, and part of me wishes they would pull a Pearl Jam and maybe lower their profile. Still, as long as they keep punching out catchy songs with witty titles I'm there. Memo to their guitarist: Washburn Guitars? Are you kidding me?

All right kids, I am off to Bakersfield on Saturday. I may blog while there, but make no promises.

Music this month

As a service to the community I periodically post about tunes that I have been rocking out to lately. Here's what's kickin' on Brad's mp3 player this month

Kissing the Lipless, The Shins- This song may have officially replaced New Slang as my favorite Shins song. Great song for that little extra boost on the treadmill. I realize that I've mentioned this before, but people who don't like the Shins are probably child molesters and you should avoid them, or if you can't avoid them, you should publicly ridicule them. Go buy Chutes Too Narrow right now if you don't own it already. Too cheap, contact me and we will work out a Pando.

Introduction, Voxtrot- Voxtrot is one of those bands that I like on some days and love on others. Still, this song is awesome. "Your sun sets when my sun starts to shine" is just good lyric writing and moody introspection at its best. I know everyone is talking about Kid Gloves, but Introduction is just a better song.

Lazy Eye, Silversun Pickups- I'm almost embarrased to write about this song as it has basically crossed over into the mainstream and everyone knows it now. Oh well. As far as bands who sound frighteningly like smashing pumpkins, Silversun Pickups do it best. As long as Billy Corgan insists on wantonly violating his legacy, they may even be the closest thing we will ever get to a new Smashing Pumpkins album.

Typical, Mute Math- This is my absolute favorite new band. Period. They just freaking rock. If this song had been released in 1994, back when mtv still occasionally played music videos, it would have topped the charts. This whole album sounds like it could have been released in the 90's back before music died and went to hell. I cannot use strong enough language to say how much I like Mute Math, if they were a WWF wrestler from the 80's, they would be Hulk Hogan before the NWO debacle. They're that good.

Hang Me Up to Dry, Cold War Kids- Another song that has recently gone main stream. I swear I liked them before they broke out. Any song that dares to include an intentionally out of tune piano part automatically gets my vote.

Flathead, Fratellis- Certain people who shall remain nameless inform me that they are not fans of the Fratellis. I can't understand that. These guys remind me a lot of the Arctic Monkeys, which is a good thing. Flathead is another great, upbeat song for running. It will make you run faster. You know what else makes you run faster? EPO. But Fratellis are cheaper.

When God Made Me, Neil Young- Go ahead, try listening to this song and not be moved. I dare you, I double dare you.

Fields of Gold, Eva Cassidy- Sting who? Put this on the list of covers that are better than the original.

Needle in the Hay- Elliot Smith. I can't remember if I put this song on my last list or not, and I'm too lazy to look. It deserves another mention regardless. With the exception of Nick Drake, no one writes songs that capture outright despair as well as Elliot Smith.

Ooh La La, The Faces- This song freaking rules. It's a shame that the faces aren't paid more attention, they are every bit as good as some of the bands from the same era that receive way more attention. Plus, their drummer was tapped to replace Keith Moon. I defy you not to hit the repeat button and start singing along. Plus, the views on dating expressed in thsi song closely mirror my own.

Cryin', Aerosmith- If I ever have a rock band, I'm going to release a song that is based on Pachelbel's canon in D and make no attempt whatsoever to hide it. It's really impossible to screw up a song that is based on a masterpiece. Just off the top of my head, Oasis, Blues Traveler, and Green Day all released songs in the 90's based on Canon on D each of those songs were good. However, Cryin' is my favorite, if for no other reason than it had an awesome music video starring Alicia Silverstone back before Batman and Robin, AKA Batman: the Faggening ruined her career. There's no way to describe how hot Alicia Silverstone was back when I was in high school. There is no one to compare her to. I encourage you to check the video on youtube. It also features a prominent member of the Lost cast and Steven Dorff before he snorted away his career.

Pictures of You, The Cure- No, I didn't just break up with anyone, I just really like the song. Cartman was right, Disintegration was the greatest album ever.

A Thousand Kisses Deep, Leonard Cohen- One of the greatest song writers ever. Hallelujah is covered by essentially everyone and their dog (John Cale and Jeff Buckley split my vote for best cover of that song) but the man has written other songs, and this is one of his best. Listen to the words and you'll see why Bono worships the man.

Intervention, Arcade Fire- Yet another indie band that has started to gain mainstream acceptance. Neon Bible gets all the attention but this song is better. If you don't agree then you are wrong. Intervention is the Golden State Warriors to Neon Bible's Dallas Mavericks

That's it peeps, Two more finals next week and then I'm done. I'll blog about finals next week and maybe talk about Lost. Go buy Mute Math.