Thursday, August 30, 2007

This semester

Generally, I only blog when bored in class. It looks like I'll be blogging a lot this semester. Generally, I don't blog specific law school events because I know people from my class read this and I don't want to risk offending anyone. I'm making an exception because, well, I've quit caring.

Here's the rundown on my classes and my first impressions.

Evidence- Monday Wednesday at 3:00

The jury is still out on this class, but so far its okay. It earns bonus marks for the Professor having cancelled class this past wednesday and not marking two additional classes at 6:00 am in the morning to make up for it like a certain professor I had in the spring decided to do. The Prof. showed an incomprehensible film clip at the end of last class about a Southern guy who looked like an extra from "O Brother, Where Art Thou." Apparently the guy may or may not have killed his brother who was in great pain after having accidentally attacked himself with a chain saw several years earlier. I swear I am not making this up. The film had literally nothing to do with the class, but it one points for the unintentional comedy that came from interviews of really old rednecks who had obviously consumed copious amounts of spirituous beverages in their lifetime. Best part: When asked why the police would want to frame him for murder, the old gentleman smiles, showing his three remaining teeth, picks up a handful of dirt, points to a field looking suspiciously like a toxic waste dump, and says, "This land, this land here is what they are after." Camera starts to shake as newsman tries hard not to break out laughing.

Public Privacy and Defamation
Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:45 p.m.

Surprising good class. Cases involve celebrities, tatoo artists, scandals, etc. If nothing else, the case book is a juicy read. Plus, advanced torts are on the Bar Exam so it is at least useful.

Con Law II
Tuesday Thursday 1:30

I used to think that Con Law I was the most useless class ever, now I know I was wrong. I haven't actually opened the book yet because we don't really go through the cases. We just talk about the history of the law and our feelings. It's like being trapped in an episode of Oprah, only without the free pontiac. Add to that the fact that a number of people in the class make up for lack of thinking ability by vocally stating uninformed positions on whatever issues the class is discussing. Every time I leave this class I feel dumber. I just dread going because I know I don't get that hour and a half of my life back, and it is time I could spend doing something more enjoyable than sitting in that class, like bathing in sulfuric acid. It's just not a good class.

Wills Trusts and Estates
Monday Wednesday 3:00.

I love this class. It's useful, I learn things. I leave knowing more than when I went in. Why is it so hard to have a similar experience in other classes? The Prof knows his stuff and the textbook actually explains things clearly. Plus, every case is about people dying and the class is filled with lots of black humor. My twisted sense of humor thrives in this kind of setting and I love it. Plus, there are no class participation points so there is no need to suck up to the Prof., who has made it pretty clear he doesn't like people who kiss his butt.

That's the schedule for the semester. It's nice and lax which means I can get a job if I want, plus, I have time to run. If I get in four miles tonight, and get in my full run Saturday then I will hit 35 miles this week. And yes, it is 100+ degrees outside every day and no, I don't care.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Yo la tengo

Sorry to make two video posts in a row, but I stumbled on an old Yo La Tengo video that I had to post. It features the band as well as David Cross and Bob Odenkirk, who you might remember from Arrested Development and many a Will Ferrell movie. Check it out, its well worth a look.


Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Mother

This one's for you, mom.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Darfur

I've made the occasional reference to Darfur in the past, and for those of you who know me, you know that I feel strongly that the world's failure to intervene there is just unconscionable. It's one of the few socially responsible positions that I hold. I know a lot of people have no idea what's going on there and I saw a pretty good breakdown of the situation today and posted it on my Facebook page. However, I know that some people stubbornly refuse to enter the 21st century and sign up for facebook (I'm not going to mention anyone specific, I don't want to embarrass Michelle) so I thought that I would post the link here.

The situation in Darfur briefly explained:

http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/006/trans006tellmemore.html

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Why you may need a will.

So, in a rare moment of Social Consciousness, I've decided to actually tackle a serious subject in today's blog. I thought today I might show off a bit of the old legal education.

I'm guessing that most of the 3 or 4 people who are so beset by boredom that they read this blog are around my age. This means they are firmly in the mid twenties age bracket. People in their mid twenties tend to not have wills, and could probably use one.

A lot of people in their 20's tend not to have a will because they figure, "hey, I don't really have a wife and kids, I really don't need a will. I don't really care what happens to my stuff when I die." Most people in their mid-twenties also tend to believe that they are invincible and won't die anyway. They tend to believe this in spite of the fact that they drive way too fast, drink enough liquor to fry Shamu's liver, sleep far too little, eat junk food, exercise poor hygiene, snort mysterious powders, and have indiscriminate sex with people best described as human petri dishes. If anything, people are MORE likely to die in their 20's than in their 30's and 40's. Yet, this idea that "I don't need a will, death isn't an issue for me" still seems to prevail.

In some cases, that may be true. When you die, your possessions will all go to your next of kin, most likely your parents. All your possessions. That means that your extensive collection of pornography, your personal journal, embarrassing photos, x-rated toys, your stash of cocaine, etc., will go into the possession of your parents. Think hard. Are there things you own that you would prefer your parents did not know about? If that answer is yes, you need to get a will, appoint an executor, and leave instructions which friend you want to leave your hydroponics experiments to.

Another issue to consider, what happens if your parents are divorced? Do you want your parents fighting over your stuff? Maybe your parents are the rare example of an amicably divorced couple who could come together and work this type of thing out. However, most divorced couples loathe each other and never miss an opportunity to fight, especially over children. A will is a good way to avoid that kind of fighting.

Now, some of you might be young and married. When you expire, your stuff generally all goes to your spouse. No real issue, unless there are things that you don't want your spouse to have, like, your collection of porn, letters from old girlfriends, the number to the trust account you set up for your Vietnamese mistress, etc. Another problem is what if you and a significant other are shacking up? If you want anything to go to them, it just makes life easier on everyone if you have a will in place.

If you have a kid, it's time to get a will. If you aren't married then you need to establish that the stuff goes to your kid, or doesn't go to the kid, etc. It is possible that you will die in some horrible accident and that there will be a settlement with your estate. You need a will to specify if you want stuff from your estate to go to your kid. It generally will anyway, but again, why leave anyone room to fight about stuff. Families get torn apart by dividing inheritance. Also, maybe there are kids you want to cut out of your will. Ungrateful little buggers, you can disinherit every last one of them.

The problem that married couples face is what happens if both of you die, and you have a child. See, if one of you dies, the legal part is simple, the spouse gets all your stuff and raises your kid. Your spouse then marries someone richer and better looking than you, your kid changes his last name, and then grows up to gain a drug habit and blame you for all of his problems because you died before he ever got to really know you. However, if you both die, then your assets are all complicated and impossible to sort out, and the in-laws fight over who raises the kid. Now, you probably don't really care about your assets, your young and married which means you are likely poor and have nothing cool. However, the kid thing should worry you. Do you really want a court to decide who will be the legal guardian of your child? Why would you ever leave that in the hands of a judge? Unpleasant as it is, you absolutely need to talk with your spouse about the subject, designate a guardian, make sure the guardian would be okay with it, make sure that people know about it, and for heaven sakes, PUT IT IN WRITING. Also good to put in writing, whether or not you want to be kept alive on a ventilator if you are brain dead and in a coma/vegetative state. If you want to really be prepared, talk about how you feel about organ donation and put that in writing as well. (P.S. if you say no to organ donation, you just suck and you are probably the kind of person who won't be having a large, well-attended funeral).

Admittedly, the possibilities of your ever needing the will are small, however, so are the chances of your house burning down. Do you have fire insurance? It's the same deal. You hope you never need the will, but you need to have it in place just in case the situation ever arises. Part of being a responsible adult is preparing for the future, and planning for unpleasant contingencies. A will is not expensive, and generally doesn't have to be complicated. I start my wills class next week and hopefully by the end of the semester I will revisit this topic and tell everyone what they need to do to write their own will and make it official. Sorry for a semi-serious post and I promise next time to get back to absurdist, scatalogical ramblings.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Interview

Really good interview with D.L. Hughley is up at the Onion AV Club. If you don't know who he is apart from his role on Studio 60, he's one of the few comedians out there calling things like they are. He found himself in the middle of a controversy earlier this year when he defended Don Imus by saying that the Rutgers Women's Basketball team was, in fact, very ugly. His interview is some of the most refreshing commentary on race relations you will read this year and I highly recommend it. Warning: Interview does contain some profanity.

http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/d_l_hughley

Monday, August 13, 2007

I believe...

I believe....

That Barry Bonds has raped the sport of baseball.

That Harry Potter 7 deserves a Pulitzer Prize

That DeNiro deserves an Oscar for Stardust.

That Hillary Clinton is a Robot.

That the Padres have a shot at the Wild Card even though they have no discernable hitting on their roster.

That Hinder are doing the songs Aerosmith would be doing if they were still alive.

That Lindsay Lohan's personal life is far more entertaining than any movie she has ever done.

That Mitt Romney is unelectable.

That Skip Bayless should not be allowed near a microphone.

That A-Rod will own the homerun record in 5 years.

That the Chargers will be forced to murder their coach before Thanksgiving.

That Larry Bird will be forced out of the Pacers front office, and that Doc Rivers will be suddenly fired, paving the way for Danny Ainge to Bring Larry Legend in as Celtics coach.

That Kobe Bryant will eventually be on trial for murder.

That male perms are going to be a huge fad before the year 2010.

That Osama Bin Laden is dead in a cave in Pakistan.

That George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will both be largely forgotten as unimportant Presidents.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

From ESPN.com -- Page 2