Perma-Three Seat

ununbium

2009-06-11T08:55:00.003-04:00

Scientists have created a new element. Element 112 - ununbium. They've only made 4 atoms of it and it last for less than a second, but it's still science on the march.

What your choice of reading material says about you

2009-06-07T17:40:00.003-04:00

Recently, I've been reading A Bright Shining Lie (sort of off and on. It's interesting, but not really a page turner, so I intersperse. Vietnam is a tidge on the dense side as far as reading goes.) I was on a plane last week, heading out for a family vacation in the lovely Mountain West, and on the leg of the journey between Denver and Salt Lake, the guy sitting next to me on the plane was reading the book by Glenn Beck. (It had a lot of pictures in it.) So I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that simply based on the single books that we had each chosen to read on the plane, that guy and I have really different political views.

This plot seems familiar

2009-05-19T00:26:00.003-04:00

Oh Star Trek and Star Wars, how you both toy with my affections.

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) on CollegeHumor

St Elizabeth Seton

2009-04-29T21:58:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, I went with my parents and grandmother out to see the shrine of St Elizabeth Seton, the first American born saint. The basillica was quite pretty. I'm not sure when it was built, because it doesn't appear to be 1960s/70s architecture, but she was only beatified in 1964 and canonized in 1972, I believe. I could be slightly off on the dates. But she was sanctified around the 1880s, so they may have started building then. We didn't actually go into the shrine, because the Mt St Mary's College choir and orchestra were having a concert in the basillica, which we went to instead. But it was a lovely afternoon drive out to picturesque Emmitsburg.

The picture is a little small, and crooked, but you can get the idea.

Orioles' Magic

2009-04-06T17:49:00.002-04:00

I went to the baseball game on Saturday with S and my cousin (pre-season game between the O's and the Nats). The O's lost, as is their way, with the tying run on third and the go ahead run on first, but it was exciting to get back to the ballpark (even if it was the lame DC park, and not Camden Yards). That means summer is coming. Yay!

Kings

2009-04-02T19:52:00.002-04:00

Recently, I started watching Kings. It's the biblical story of David updated to trashy soap opera. Which makes it awesome, by the way. The review in the Forward, however, did point out that while they remain relatively true to the source material (at least as far a story line is concerned), it can be a bit on the trite side. And, of course, since it's on broadcast, their ability to have sex and violence is limited. Which David did have both of, though on the show David is still the upstart under Saul (or Silas as he's called on the show), so no BatSheva and Uriah the Hittite. But still, it's certainly more engaging than a Cecil B DeMille biblical epic.

To brighten your day

2009-03-26T16:44:00.001-04:00

Newborn leopard cubs. Need I say more...

Who knew saving endangered species could be so sweet.

A sad day

2009-03-16T13:39:00.002-04:00

The Senator Theatre, one of only four movie theaters in Baltimore City and one of the great old fashioned movie houses, is closing. I have many fond childhood memories (as well as more recent memories) that involve going to see movies at the Senator - seeing 1939 movies there for the 50th anniversary of the theater, going to see all three Star Wars rereleases (including the wait on line each time to buy the tickets), and of course seeing all the Harry Potter movies there. People have said that they want to take it over, but it's unclear if that will happen. If and until that happens, though, the theater will be closed, and it is a loss to the world of cinema.

Adult education class

2009-03-15T13:27:00.003-04:00

I'm taking an adult education class this winter/spring. We're reading War and Peace, which is actually quite interesting, though I would not recommend reading it alone. It's definitely the kind of thing that you need to discuss with people as you are going along. I am far and away the youngest person in the class (every one else is at least considering retirement if they aren't retired already). But, that being said, it's a nice way to read a book that you might not otherwise want to just sit down and read. If you have a free night a week, I recommend finding the continuing education classes at a local college. They have the good parts of college classes (the discussion), without having to worry about ever having a test or paper coming up.

Get out of Purgatory Free (or at least a little faster)

2009-02-10T23:58:00.002-05:00

The Catholic Church has decided to reintroduce plenary indulgences as a way to get people to go to church, and specifically confession, more often. You can't buy them though. They're not going back that far. I suppose Martin Luther would be happy about that and the Church can avoid sparking another Protestant Reformation. But that does mean that you have to pray for your indulgence. So just FYI for those of you who are Catholic and concerned about the amount of time you will some day be spending in Purgatory.

I'm a very helpful rule

2009-01-29T18:04:00.003-05:00

My sister sent me this quiz to determine which federal rule of civil procedure you are(ahh, to be a 1L again). Apparently, she and I are both rule 15, which means that "You're a very helpful rule! You allow the attorney to amend their complaint once as a matter of course at any time before the answer is filed, and also allow amendments in other cases. If a claim relates back to the original transaction or occurrence outlined in the complaint, you can amend the complaint, even though the statute of limitations has run. Like a good friend, you're always there to help out in a bind."

You have been forewarned

2009-01-14T17:26:00.002-05:00

You know those signs on the highway - "Accident at exit 12 seek alternate route" type of things- which occasionally will tell you to expect delays because of a "stadium event" or something to that effect? Well, today they had the one on the Baltimore Beltway - Baltimore, mind you - warning drivers to expect delays on 95 and 495 (which is the Capital Beltway, B-more is 695) on January 20 for the inauguration. It's six days in advance and in another city. That's how many people they are expecting. That the back up could already be starting. It's going to be insane.

Mmm, squirrel

2009-01-09T20:41:00.003-05:00

Apparently, because of the invading North American grey squirrel overpowering the native British red squirrel, there are people who are trying to get people to eat squirrel meat. So there was an article in the New York Times today about the movement, but there was also this wonderful vignette about buying and preparing squirrel meat. If you can stomach reading the article, it is beyond hilarious.

Puzzle update

2009-01-03T16:20:00.002-05:00

Apparently, Southbury, CT is the place to go. S and I were driving home from A/A's house in Massachusetts after new year's and we needed gas (we thought we had enough gas to get back to New Jersey, but we wound up having to stop in Connecticut, where gas is $1.89, instead of $1.50 like in the Garden State. But don't worry, we only bought enough to get us to NJ where we could buy the cheap gas). Anyway, we had to go to the Borders to use the bathroom, and since we were there, we decided to check out the puzzle and game section. There was quite the variety. And now I am contented.

The Baltimore City Fire Department wishes you a safe and joyous holiday season

2008-12-24T21:47:00.002-05:00

Today at the butcher, I saw a sign from the fire department with some handy tips on how to avoid menorah fires and latke fires, because the BCFD wants everyone to enjoy a happy, healthy Channukah. And also, you just have to appreciate the notices that get put up in assorted kosher and otherwise Jewish emporia.

Puzzles

2008-12-22T22:16:00.003-05:00

I have been on a quest for the past few days to find puzzles (or just one that doesn't suck, really). I've been in the mood for a puzzle, and not having any in the house, I had to go out and get one. The Pikesville Barnes and Noble only had one, of the cover to the White Album, and as much fun as putting together a white square seems.... Anyway, the Pikesville Target - no puzzles at all. The Ellicott City Barnes and Noble, only Christmas puzzles, and I'm just not that into angels or Baby Jesus. The Timonium Borders, also only Christmas themes. The Towson Barnes and Noble, Christmas and the White Album (I'm not sure how that became a thing that people wanted to do). The Towson mall (yes I went to the mall in the days just before Christmas, because this is the level of my desire) no longer has any stores that even sell puzzles - when I was younger, they had several. Finally, I found some at the Towson Target. The selection wasn't that good, so I may have to continue on my quest, but at least I am sated for a while. But in general, I don't understand why puzzles are so hard to find. They're awesome and they make for good gifts (all the places I looked didn't even have empty shelf space like they had recently run out of them because of people buying them up to give as gifts). What is this world coming to when a committed consumer can't even find a limited selection of a long popular item?

It melts!

2008-11-11T20:20:00.003-05:00

So let me start off by saying that I don't approve of vegans (vegetarians are fine, but there is no earthly reason to be a vegan). Partly it's that I think being a vegan is completely unhealthy, but mostly it's that part and parcel of being a vegan is that the person must apparently be a pretentious jerkface. Let me also say that I have no problem with soy milk in its liquid form, and I actually find it quite useful, since it is not an actual dairy product, and so can be used in the same meal as meat.

Anyway...I was at Whole Foods today and I noticed some soy cheese with the exciting news emblazoned on the label that "It melts!" Cheese is supposed to melt. If cheese, in it's natural form, did not melt, many dishes, including pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches, would never have been invented. Thus, it says something about a product and the fact that it should never exist that a selling point for this particular brand is that it does something that the real product they are attempting to imitate does already. Just eat cheese, or eat something else. Because soy cheese is disgusting.

I just wanted to put that out there.

The election that just keeps giving

2008-11-09T20:27:00.001-05:00

Energy policy - as explained by a 5 year old

2008-11-06T18:32:00.002-05:00

John McCain wanted to get energy by breaking apart atoms, so it's a good thing he didn't win because that would be really hard. Barack Obama wants to get energy from power of the sun.

Speed Voting

2008-11-04T10:17:00.002-05:00

I voted in 15 minutes this morning. That included getting to and from my polling place. But since I do vote in a ward that is at capacity turn out in most elections anyway, we didn't have to worry about a machine shortage. And I got photographed walking in the door, so I'll have to see if I make it into the Sun. But not exit polled. I think pundits already know how my voting ward is going to go (though we do have a Republican family living across the street, so maybe that one family could sway the whole election), so they don't even bother asking.

I'm conflicted

2008-10-19T22:21:00.002-04:00

I passed someone the other day having a phone conversation wherein he said that Sarah Palin was unqualified to be vice president because she's a woman. And while I definitely agree with the first part of that statement (she has no qualifications to be VP and haven't we already had enough experience with a folksy halfwit to know that we don't want any more), I'm troubled by the second part, since her lack of qualifications has nothing to do with her gender. She could be just as stupid and incompetent as a man (again, I point to our current president). So on the one hand, I don't want to defend her and I'm glad the guy was going to vote for Obama (I assume, though in truth I don't know that he wasn't voting libratarian or something), but on the other hand, it is quite upsetting to me that in 2008 "she's a girl" is still a reason people use to vote for or against someone.

It's that time of year again

2008-09-27T10:10:00.000-04:00

It's banned books week again, so everyone should get busy reading. My selection for this year is Moby Dick. I've never actually read it before, and it's the great American novel, so I feel like I should read it at some point. And why not now?

Well they certainly didn't have to do that for us

2008-08-24T22:23:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine just started law school at Tulane. And as part of her orientation, they had an entire day devoted to the art of evacuating the city of New Orleans. How to plan your route, when to get started out, all that fun stuff. I don't know, but that isn't making me sign up to move to a seaside city that is below sea level.

So adorable

2008-08-15T22:09:00.002-04:00

Knighthoods are silly. Penguins are cute. Put them together and they're unstoppable.

There's hope for literacy yet

2008-08-02T11:11:00.002-04:00

At Barnes and Noble yesterday, they were getting ready for their midnight release party for the new Twilight book (it's a teen romance vampire series - Entertainment Weekly raves about it). It seemed like it was going to be pretty fun, actually. There was a scavenger hunt around the store among the activities planned (they had the clues up around the store, at what I presume was the answer to the previous clue). But I just find it amusing that midnight release parties have become a standard thing that now happens. And especially since they are for YA books. That means kids are getting excited about reading (despite all those people who claim the contrary). And if they're reading as tweens and teens, they'll likely continue into adulthood. And that just brightens my day.

Well I feel stimulated

2008-07-01T16:13:00.002-04:00

I got my stimulus check in the mail. And while I don't think they're going to be all that effective toward reviving the economy (You lost all of your life savings in the Bear Sterns collapse and your house just lost half its value, but here's $300 to make you feel better about your life), that's not what really bothers me. It's that two days later I got yet another mailing (at my count this makes at least 5) to explain the stimulus check to me. Really? I need to have the concept of checks/money explained to me? I do live in the 21st century, and not in some pre-modern, barter economy. So in the self-fulfilling prophecy of incompetent governance that is the Bush administration, they decided to show me how inefficient and wasteful government can be by spending millions of dollars to sent out multiple mailings to every American to explain that money can be used to purchase goods and/or services. I know that no government is particularly efficient (they are each monopolies in their own countries and therefore have no competition to force them to streamline), but isn't it just possible that that money could have been spent on something more useful? They didn't have to make the conscious decision to make the stupidest use of the money possible.

There's nothing you can't do on the internet

2008-06-08T21:59:00.003-04:00

In case any of you feel the urge to become a born-again Christian, you can sign up for a service that will let the rest of us know that the rapture has happened. It will send out an email to everyone you know 6 days after the rapture, to give everyone else one last chance to be saved.

When life gives you lemons...

2008-05-24T18:17:00.003-04:00

The graduation speaker at Wesleyan this weekend was supposed to be Ted Kennedy. But, what with the brain cancer and all, he won't be able to make it. So the class of 2008 will have to make due with the last minute replacement that the university could get on Thursday afternoon to come on Memorial Day weekend... Barack Obama. Even for those of you who aren't Obama supporters, you have to admit that he'd be an impressive speaker to have at your college graduation. And the New York Times, of course, is typically derisive of Wesleyan.

super villain

2008-05-11T19:38:00.002-04:00

My sister and brother-in-law have been watching Heroes. So that led them to the topic of what superpowers they would want. And my brother-in-law decided that I can't be trusted with any superpowers because I would just use my power to become a super villain. Besides the fact that I'm just kind of offended, I would also like to point out that superpowers are in no way necessary for super villainy. Lex Luthor is the ultimate super villain, and he doesn't have any powers to go up against Superman. And Lex is the president. Not like those Batman villains who are just going up against Batman - who has no powers himself, just cool gadgets.

More on Croquet

2008-04-27T22:35:00.002-04:00

There was a local report on NPR about the match, if anyone would like to listen.

Victory

2008-04-22T15:52:00.002-04:00

The St John's-Navy croquet match was on Sunday. St John's won. Yay! Even if the weather was bad (it was raining off and on all day).

We're out of the cellar

2008-04-03T16:37:00.003-04:00

Baltimore, which long had the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation, has clawed its way up to only fourth worst in the nation (1/3 of students in the city public school system graduate from high school). But we still have the biggest gap between urban districts and suburban districts (Baltimore County is in the 80s for getting their students to graduate). It's not in the article, but on the radio they said that the three cities doing worse that Baltimore are Detroit, Indianapolis, and Cleveland (Detroit being the worst).

But possibly even worse than the fact that kids don't graduate, is that the ones who do aren't really prepared to go on to anything else. I was helping my dad's file clerk get ready to take the placement test for Anne Arundel Community College (AA is the county south of Baltimore where Annapolis is), and she was struggling with the practice questions that were basic reading comprehension (what's the main idea of this 5 sentence paragraph) and basic algebra (they give you f(x) and then ask the value of say f(3)). And the only reason she's going at all is because my parents are telling her she should have some education after high school. Because neither her parents nor her school care what she does now or what she does once she graduates. The school will just wash their hands of her once she leaves because her parents are doing the same thing, so they can.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T09:19:00.003-04:00

Just in time for Easter, it's this year's collection of dioramas featuring marshmallow peeps from the Washington Post. I'm partial to "The Wizard of Peeps" and "Peepbusters". And there's also last year's, which includes my personal favorite - "Reservoir Peeps". Not all of them are movie/tv scenes, though. There's art (Warhol and Renoir) and some scenes from real life. Enjoy.

Congratulations S

2008-03-20T10:52:00.002-04:00

My sister got into law school and will be attending the University of Maryland next year. So congratulations to her.

Classic Cinema 2.0

2008-02-22T18:36:00.002-05:00

Some clips from the Hollywood of yesteryear - as interpreted by the cast of SpongeBob.

Ahhh, Berkeley

2008-02-13T20:13:00.002-05:00

The city of Berkeley, CA has attempted to ban Marine recruiters from working in the city. Because they are using their free speech rights to stop the marines from trampling on other people's free speech rights - to say that they want to join the marines. I know, I don't understand Berkeley's argument either. Not that I'm in favor of the war, nor do I think it's okay that the military is seen as the only opportunity for advancement by many inner city kids, since the military is almost the only institution in the US that will provide training to people who were otherwise forgotten by the system. But that doesn't mean that the military in evil as a concept. It just means we have problems in America in addition to the war, and Berkeleians seem to have forgotten that in their rush to make their statement. That and banning speech doesn't exactly protect free speech. It in fact hurts the cause of free speech.

Articles here, here, here, and here.

Don't ask the person on the street, because that person is crazy

2008-02-11T14:32:00.000-05:00

In anticipation of the upcoming "Potomac Primary", as it has come to be called, the BBC did a photo essay of voters in Baltimore and their opinions of the candidates. Apparently Obama is a Muslim, and Hillary can't be the president of "no country" because that's too much power to give to a woman. Nothing says informed and conscientious electorate like crazy people.

Burns Night

2008-01-25T22:36:00.000-05:00

Today (January 25) is poet Robert Burns' birthday, so it is the traditional day in Scotland to eat haggis. Prepackaged haggis can be bought in either the traditional meat variety, or a new vegetarian variety. Unfortunately though, there is a ban on importing real haggis to the US because of BSE concerns regarding the use of offal (or variety meat as we call it here) from the UK. I suppose somehow we will all have to learn to live with the disappointment of not eating boiled sheep lung stuffed into natural stomach casing. Mmmm, sounds tasty.

Who comes up with these ideas?

2008-01-23T15:41:00.000-05:00

I've been watching season 4 of the Wire lately, which focuses on the failing school system in Baltimore City. So I was struck by this article about a proposed plan to pay kids to do better on the MSA tests. Because that doesn't at all seem like a plan that will be taken advantage of. Nor, for that matter, does it seem like a poor way to be spending education dollars in a city that is already deeply in debt. Why don't they try actually fixing problems rather than just covering them up?

An oversight on my part

2008-01-20T15:09:00.001-05:00

I was upbraided for not crediting S for sending me that link. So now I've done it and you all know.

What candidate do you agree with most?

2008-01-18T14:30:00.001-05:00

This is a website that rates how closely you agree with the candidates (including those who have already dropped out) based on their stances for the various issues in the election - the war, immigration, the environment, etc. I know you will all be shocked to learn that I tend towards the lefties, with my rankings being:
57 Kucinich
46 Gravel
34 Obama
31 Clinton
28 Edwards
25 Dodd
24 Richardson
21 Biden
0 Paul
-10 Cox
-19 Giuliani
-22 Thompson
-25 Brownback
-26 McCain
-42 Huckabee
-44 Romney
-48 Tancredo
-59 Hunter

Wedding report

2008-01-11T17:20:00.000-05:00

We have returned from the big wedding. For the most part it was an Israeli wedding - big, but not that formal, despite being an evening wedding - but they did make some concessions to the Americans. Like seats for the ceremony, because Israelis usually just stand for that part. So here are some pictures for everyone.

The ceremony - for those of you who couldn't tell.

Both of the families together. My brother in law has two older sisters who are both married with kids. The sister with the straight hair and her husband (standing next to her) have the two older kids. And the sister with the curly hair and her husband have the toddler and an infant who wasn't there.

All of the Americans (and Canadians) who came. Considering that Israel is pretty far away, we had a good turn-out.

And the niece who was the flower girl and her cousin (who clearly is a new boyfriend for Mster). There was no other wedding party, but Tal must have seen an American movie with a wedding in it and decided that she wanted to be the flower girl. And she's five, so they let her. It was nice though, because there were also flower petals on the tables on the balcony where they had served cocktails. And lots of people were still standing up there to watch. So since most of the Israelis had never seen a wedding with a flower girl before, they decided that they should follow her lead and throw down their petals also. So there was a shower of petals from the balcony for the processional.

Improve your vocabulary and help the hungry at the same time

2007-12-18T19:02:00.000-05:00

The website freerice.com was started by a guy who worked for charitable organizations and wanted to help his kids study for the SATs. They ask you random vocab words, and for each one you get right, they donate rice to the UN World Food Program (or "Programme" since the UN uses standard international spelling for their "organisations").

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

2007-12-18T18:55:00.000-05:00

Amazon.com bought the $4 million copy of the fairy tales from Harry Potter (that Dumbledore left to Hermoine in his will, in case you don't remember). And while they couldn't print the text of the fairy tales on the website, for obvious copyright issues, they do have synopses of each of the stories. Clearly they will be published at some point, but since when that will be is unknown, for now everyone can just be content with the redacted version.

I seemed to have missed the news

2007-12-14T14:02:00.000-05:00

I was recently driving behind a truck that listed the states where the company that owned the truck did business. A common enough practice, I'll grant you. Now this particular list included CT, NY, NJ, PA, MD, and VA - all well and good. It also included DC, which while not a state is a state-like entity. But then the list also included the Hamptons. Excuse me. The last time I checked, the Hamptons were part of New York. Did they break off from New York and form their own state without telling anyone? It just seemed an odd editorial choice as I was sitting behind the truck in traffic.

Happy Hannuka

2007-12-05T20:45:00.000-05:00

I forgot to say it yesterday, so I'll say it today for the second night. Happy Hannuka to everyone.

Some things just need labels

2007-12-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

S and I were putting up our grandmother's Christmas decorations today, and included among the decorations was the new nativity scene that we had gotten her last year (her old one was down to only having one wise man). So Jesus and Mary were pretty easy to figure out, as they were the only baby and woman, respectively. And we figured out two of the wise men (one had a king-like mitre on his head and one had a walking staff, as if he had perhaps followed the star of Bethlehem for a while) and we got which one was the shepherd. But then we were left with two people and we didn't know which one was Joseph and which one was the third wise man. So we made the executive decision that the one kneeling in adoration was the third wise man, but it would have been helpful if the proper designation to each of the figurines was written on the bottom.

This is awesome!

2007-11-19T16:49:00.000-05:00

Having never gone to a Wesleyan football game, I don't know what they came up with for the halftime shows. But I bet it can't even hold a candle to this homage to classic video games.

Etymology is fun

2007-11-12T10:48:00.000-05:00

I learned where the term "indenture" (as in indentured servant) comes from. Apparently in medieval times, after the fall of classical feudalism, but before the rise of the nation state with a standing army, when a king had to raise an army for every campaign, he would contract with each lord to get the services of the lord and his assorted underling soldiers. When they would write up the contract, they would then cut it in half in a wavy pattern (or "indented"), so when they were put together people knew they had the both halves of the same contract. The lord would then be "indentured" to the king for the length of the campaign (or contract life).

I learned this from the book I'm currently reading about the battle of Agincourt. Other funny things about the preparations for the campaign, Henry brought two almoners with him to France. Those were the people in charge of managing his alms giving. And he also brought 18 minstrels, because no self-respecting medieval monarch or aristocrat would ever go anywhere without his band of minstrels.

I don't care for the Southwest

2007-11-12T10:33:00.000-05:00

My cousin got married this weekend in Phoenix, and we went out there for the wedding. It was very nice. The bride looked pretty in her dress. It was funny that the only people not bowing their heads in prayer or reciting the Lord's prayer were the Jews (my cousin has Jewish relatives on his dad's side also, so we weren't the only Jews there). And we got to sit with people who were actually interesting at the reception, so we could have a conversation over dinner that wasn't awkward and wierd.

But I hadn't been out to Arizona since I was 10 (my relatives usually come east for things instead of us going west), and there were some things that I had forgotten about the Southwest, or didn't notice when last I was there, and I found them disconcerting:
A) It was an outdoor ceremony at which I was concerned that I was going to get sunburned because I didn't bring any sunscreen. Why did I not bring sunscreen? Because it's November. Veterans' Day isn't the holiday where you should be worried about getting too much sun.
B) Arizona is a desert. If people are going to live in the desert, they should embrace it. That means there should not be a giant waterfall at the entrance to every subdivision. There also do not need to be huge water traps and grass so green as to make the Irish jealous on every golf course. There should be desert landscaping that conserves water.
C) While I understand that there are no natural boudaries to the urban sprawl out there, it is unnecessary to make things so far apart. There will be a subdivision, and then miles of desert, and then another random subdivision just randomly plunked down in the middle of nowhere. If things are built nominally closer together, it makes them more convenient and requires less driving (since it's not like anything there is built to have a pedestrian area).

Another day of civic responsibility

2007-11-06T19:55:00.000-05:00

Today was the general election in Baltimore. I had completely forgotten about it until my dad asked me at dinner if I had voted yet. So I went out and performed my civic responsibility. The people at the polling station were very excited to have someone come in, since it was empty when I got there. No one really remembered about it, since there was no campaigning or anything. Accordign to the woman who checked me in, someone else came in who had already fixed himself a highball for the evening when his son asked him if he had voted. On the up side, though, I learned the name of the Republican candidate for mayor so I could then not vote for him. Fun.

Solar Decathalon

2007-10-25T15:41:00.000-04:00

Last week on the Mall the Department of Energy had a competition for people (university groups) to build solar powered homes. They had to make the homes functional and livable (though not necessarily affordable, so some of the houses are really expensive given the amount of house you would be getting). It's a pretty cool idea. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about it until after it was over, so I couldn't go down to Washington to see it. But the competition website has pictures and NewsHour with Jim Lehrer did a report on it.

And the judge went in for that

2007-10-20T13:26:00.000-04:00

I was in court yesterday - pretrial motions. One of the other cases on the docket was setting their trial date. And the defense counsel had possibly the best reason ever why the trial couldn't start the day after the Superbowl. His wife is the chief legal counsel for the NFL players union, and she has to go to the game. So he also has to go to be his wife's (and this is a direct quote) "cabana boy". So they had to pick another day to start the trial.

creepy and weird

2007-10-09T23:44:00.000-04:00

I was at a student's house this evening, and a guy came and knocked on the door. He said he was from the power company and that he needed them to turn off everything electrical in the house so he could read the meter box. That seemed an odd request, since why did he have to come at all to do a meter reading, and why was he there at 6 in the evening. But the brother of my student was talking to their dad at the time and the dad said that he didn't know anything about a guy from the power company coming. So he called Pepco, and they didn't know anything about it, which doesn't bode well. So obviously the next thing he did was call the police. So we sat barricaded in the house waiting for the police to come as this guy wandered around the yard trying to get our attention. And then the power went out, so we were a little concerned that he was going to murder us while we sat there at teh dining room table, or something like that. So eventually the police got there, and the dad got home from work (the mom had taken the youngest kid to soccer practice or some such activity), and the guy left. But it was very disturbing while it was all going on.

Happy Reading

2007-10-02T18:18:00.000-04:00

This week is Banned Books Week. In its honor, everyone should try and read at least one book that has been banned at some point. To help with your reading selection, here is the list of the 100 most challenged books of the 1990s. It's not that they were necessarily written in the '90s. It was just that people decided they hated them in the '90s. So have fun taking a stand against censorship.

For your consideration

2007-09-30T19:25:00.000-04:00

As requested, here are some pictures of sukkot from around town. We (S, Yule, and I) went on a little odyssey around town to get some pictures for everyone, before other people showed up for dinner. We did, however, forget to get a picture of our own sukka until it was too dark, and as I own neither a camera nor a camera phone (these pictures were taken on S's phone), I need to wait for her to come back up to the B-more to take the picture. But one is forthcoming, so not to worry.

This is the one at the strip mall. The stores on either side are both kosher resaurants, one is meat and one is dairy.

This one, when S got out of the car to take the picture, the guy came out of his house to tell her that his dog wouldn't bite her. But we also think he found her crazy, because she was taking a picture of his sukka on her phone.

And these three are all the sukka at our old school. It's off the back of the cafeteria, so the kids can eat lunch there from school. It used to be bigger when we went to school there, before they built the new auditorium. That got built in the courtyard where the cafeteria opens to, so that cut into the space available. Many of the decorations are made by students. The decorations on the back wall there include the decorations from the nursery school kids, one of whom is S's and my cousin. His is clearly the best semi-circle piece of paper colored in yellow to look like a banana.

Amusing Sukkot sightings

2007-09-28T19:12:00.000-04:00

In honor of everyone's favorite Jewish holiday, I thought I would tell you about some sukkot around town. One of the kosher restaurants in town (that caters mostly to a lunch crowd) has a sukka on the sidewalk at their strip mall. I guess that way people can have their soup and salad outside in the sukka. There is also a sukka where the family, in attempt to make it just like their home, is flying an American flag from it, which isn't a combination one sees very often.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

2007-09-20T11:44:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, and I'm sure everyone celebrated. But just on the off chance that you missed it, I give you the only religion to celebrate the holiday - the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was founded by Oregonians, so you present and past Oregonians can feel proud about that. Their eight not-quite-commandments are pretty good guidelines to live by. And if you scroll down to the bottom of the main page about the church, you can see a picture of the FSM billboard in Baltimore. I feel that the Baltimore Synod is composed entirely of Hopkins grad students.

Happy New Year

2007-09-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy 5768. I know everyone is having a good time for Rosh Hashanah.

The beauty of the one party system

2007-09-11T11:10:00.000-04:00

I went and voted this morning in the mayoral primary. (The Baltimore mayor's race is an off year election for a reason that no one understands, and when they tried to change it, the Speaker of the House of Delegates wouldn't let them because he didn't like the then-mayor, now-governor, and so the primary was 14 months before the general election.) This being Baltimore, a city that hasn't had a single Republican councilman since the Depression, the primary is the de facto election. In fact, in the election coverage from the Sun, the profiles of the candidates only break them down by position (there are also the city council elections), not party. Because there's no coverage of the Republicans. Candidates' campaign literature doesn't even say their party affiliation, since it's already known. And this election is discussed like it's the general election, since that only exists as a formality. It just makes everything so much easier, since now all the campaigning is done. There will be a little bit of reminding people of there civic responsibility come November, but no campaigning. Everything's just done now, with little mess or fuss.

this is so cool

2007-09-04T15:16:00.000-04:00

A woman in England who got a heart transplant now has her biological heart in a museum exhibit about the human body. So she can go to the museum and see her own heart that was removed from her chest. That's even cooler than going to a museum and seeing a piece of art that you made hanging there (or so I would assume, as neither of those two things has ever happened to me). Check it out here.

The lengths some people will go to for our entertainment

2007-08-28T22:10:00.000-04:00

I've begun watching Planet Earth, the BBC nature series. It's awesome, by the way, so if you're into nature shows (and, really, who isn't) I recommend putting it on your movie queue. I've only gotten through the first disc so far, but I've started to notice a trend of craziness among the filmmakers.

The way each hour long episode is broken up is that there is 45 minutes of regular episode, and then 15 minutes of "Planet Earth Diaries", where they tell you a story about some aspect of filming that particular episode. The three episodes on disc one were "from pole to pole" (the introduction), "mountains", and "fresh water". The diary for "pole to pole" was about the camera they used that was originally developed as a spy camera, so they can film from really high up so they don't disturb the animals, which is kind of cool. For "mountains" they were talking about how while they were trying to film snow leopards in the Himalayas, they had to wait for the okay from the coalition forces before they continued up the Pakistan-Afghan border, because the army couldn't have them treking across terrain where they were looking for al Qaeda cells. And in "fresh water" the divers were getting a little disspirited in their quest to swim with/film Amazonian pirhanas in a feeding frenzy, but their morale was boosted when on one dive, a local gator started inspecting around the diver/cameraman's head. See, these were safe gators to be diving with because they are a species that only gets up to 2.5 meters long, and you don't need to start worrying about the gators until they get to be 3 meters long. I enjoy nature programs, but I don't need the film crews to be killed by terrorists or eaten alive by aligators just for my viewing pleasure. That being said, though, crazy people who are willing to do things like that get really good footage.

Vatican Air

2007-08-27T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Vatican has started a new charter service to take Catholic pilgrims to various shrines. I'm sure they have a very thorough screening process to ensure that the people getting on the flights are actually Catholic and are intending to go on an actual pilgrimage, not just a cheap flight for their vacation. And it seems like the stewardesses chould be nuns, which is quite the image. Here's the follow up article with more about it.

traffic calming devices

2007-08-19T21:31:00.001-04:00

There was a sign for "traffic calming devices" at an intersection that I pass all the time. They will be installed on or about May 8, 2006, which means it's been there for about a year and a half, and I had never seen it before. But anyway, what is a traffic calming device? Does that mean speed hump (the ones that are wider than regular speed bumps and aren't painted yellow)? Or is it something else? At any rate, it's a funny term.

The Magic Flute

2007-08-19T15:33:00.000-04:00

We went to see the Magic Flute yesterday. It was lovely. The singing was good (even the kids who weren't quite together were at least cute), the costumes were a nice nod to period costumes, and the sets were appropriately background-y. In all, it was a nice evening out. Besides, who doesn't love some good glockenspiel music?

The international language of. . . baseball?

2007-08-13T15:31:00.001-04:00

America has a goodwill ambassador of baseball. It's Cal Ripken. I guess it's like being a UN goodwill ambassador, except instead of promoting the end of world hunger, or whatever it is that Angelina Jolie does, he's promoting baseball. Almost the same thing.

A for effort

2007-08-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

I made bread. My attempts at bread making tend to be a bit hit or miss. I don't what it is about bread, but I just can't make a consistent product. Oh well. Anyway, this particular loaf didn't quite want to rise properly. I don't know why. It's certainly warm and humid enough. So the finished product was a little dense (and a bit on the dry side, but it did include corn meal, so that makes most things dry), but not terrible. And it does go well with butter and jam, so it'll get eaten. And there's always next time to do better.

I was promised 3-D

2007-07-30T18:46:00.000-04:00

We went to see Harry Potter at the IMAX yesterday. That meant going to Chantilly, VA, which is really far away. And, as it turns out, amazingly sketchy - that not being the point. The battle at the Ministry was supposed to be in 3-D. But the screen at the Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center (or the "auxilliary location" as most people consider it) doesn't have a realy IMAX screen. It's just really big. But it isn't the kind that starts wrapping aroung the walls, which is what allows them to project in 3-D. So it was really big, but the picture was still flat. For all the time it took to get out past Dulles airport, I was expecting more, and I am quite upset about it. Damn you, Smithsonian Institution.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

2007-07-26T19:52:00.001-04:00

***SPOILER ALERT***

I've given you all a day to have read it. If you haven't finished reading, stop reading this now (you shouldn't be reading this now anyway, because you should be reading Harry Potter). I, as was predicted, read it on Saturday. Other people at the bar exam had also taken a study break on Saturday to read it, so I was not the only one. I haven't finished my reread to get the details that I missed on the first go round, but I am taking it slower this time.

Overall it was amazing. The fact that they were moving arond the whole time, rather than always being at Hogwarts added a whole new dimension to the story. But naturally, the big climax had to still be at the school. I cried when Harry saw his parents, Sirius, and Lupin in the Forest with the resurrection Stone, and during the epilogue when he and Ginny had their kids, James, Albus, and Lily. I also screamed out loud when Molly cursed at Bella, both because it was so out of character and because I couldn't believe the publishers let Jo get away with that. I had some other moments when I reacted out loud (like when Dumbledore told Snape that Harry was a horcrux and was going to have to die, even though I was totally prepared for Harry to die - but YAY! he didn't), but that was the only time that it was an actual shriek.

I appreciated when Neville got to have his "Gryffindor" moment and stand up to Voldemort, because he'd been working towards that for such a long time. Also the line when they turned into Harry with the Polyjuice potion at the Dursleys' house and they were changing their clothes, and Harry felt they were being a little free with his body and he wouldn't have done that - how not true is that statement?

I do have to say, though, that I was a little unfulfilled by the ending to the Dursleys' story. I kept waiting for them to come back and for there to be some sort of resolution. But none ever came. Hopefully when the encyclopedia gets written, we'll find out what happened to them.

And for those who want to know what the trio does for a living once they get to be adults - Harry and Ron are aurors (Harry is of course in charge of the auror office) and Hermione is a lawyer with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It had to be edited out of the epilogue to make it more readable.

Any discussion that anyone would like to start about the book, please feel free.

I'm ready to be done

2007-07-23T19:09:00.000-04:00

My brain is full and it hurts because of that. I'm ready for the bar exam to be over so that I can forget all of it.

Good luck to everyone taking the exam. I know everyone will do well.

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus

2007-07-20T22:04:00.000-04:00

That's all I have to say about that.

And Dr Who (aka evil Death Eater Barty Crouch Jr.) found the end quite sad. No, it's not a spoiler. I don't read them and even if I did, like I would be that mean spirited as to give them to other people. I'm not the New York Times.

Model answers are excessively complete

2007-07-20T09:01:00.000-04:00

Continuing on in the theme of getting annoyed with exam prep, the model answers for the essay questions are too complete without enough guidelines. I understand that they need to put everything into the model answer so that they can tell everyone whether what they thought of is right or not. But there should be astrixes or something to say which are the really important points. Clearly in a question that regards adverse possession, I would need to discuss the elements of adverse possession and how Ned Neighbor really did or did not fulfill all the requirements to adversely possess that three foot wide strip of land that his vegetable garden is planted on. But do I really need to have a complete discussion of whether he now has marketable title to that land. It's just a simple statement of law - "Maryland recognizes adversely possessed title as marketable." Why are they trying to make me think that I need a full discussion of that point when it seems to me that that one sentence covers what I need to say so I can move on in the 25 minutes I have to write each essay.

employment certification for the bar

2007-07-16T16:43:00.000-04:00

The board of law examiners has decided to inform me that the certification that I had sent from Kaplan was insufficient. Even though it's all one company that I worked for from 2003 to 2007, it isn't good enough to just have one person say that. No, I need to have someone from each center where I worked say that I worked there (which includes more than one center in MD). Like the people in MD are even going to remember me 3 years later. And to make it even better, all the individual tutoring in the Baltimore-DC area is coordinated out of one office. When I worked there, it was actually in the District. But in the three years since, it has moved to VA. So now the bar people are going to have another thing to be upset about, because I'm going to say that I worked in DC, but the address is going to be in VA. Ironically, I never actually tutored any kids in DC, but did tutor at least one kid in VA.

The most super-fantastically amazing thing EVER (at least for the next week and a half)

2007-07-11T22:44:00.000-04:00

S and I just got back from seeing Harry Potter. It was so good. It was a little disconcerting that the scenes jumped from one to another really fast, but that work with the movie, since they were working off of the theme of things spiralling out of control. And I think the way they did the legilimency scenes worked well with using footage from the older movies.

But the best part - by far - was the battle at the ministry. Lots of tension. The effects all worked. And I chewed the crap out of my straw getting into the scene. (As did S, so good thing she got two straws). And I didn't start crying when Sirius died, which was when I thought I would. I got a little choked up then, but the tears didn't start until the part where Voldemort possessed Harry. All I can say is OMG. That's going to be awesome in 3-D. (Unfortunately the 3-D viewing will have to wait until after the bar exam, since the closest imaxes where it's playing are in Chantilly and Harrisburg and that would make for a mighty long trip when I'm supposed to be studying) If you haven't gone to see it yet, you so need to. It will just blow you away.

encounters with the rich and famous

2007-07-06T15:54:00.000-04:00

This is mostly for Fuzzy and Panda, but for any other fans of SportsNight, you'll appreciate this also. I was at Starbucks today studying, and as I was packing up to leave who can in? Josh Charles. Since my friendly neighborhood Starbucks is also his parents friendly neighborhood Starbucks, and he must be visiting them. I didn't feel the need to talk to him though, since I don't have much else to say to him other than "I've seen you on tv."

Words do have meanings, you know

2007-07-03T17:50:00.000-04:00

I'm not entirely sure that the people at Blockbuster online speak English. I sent them an email about the fact that they sent me an extra movie. It came from the fact that they credited me with having returned a movie that is still sitting in my house. And I felt that I should be honest about the fact that I'm getting an extra movie. The automated response that I got back didn't quite respond to my missive, as I was just informing them of the situation. They commiserated with me about how frustrating this could be. Um, frustrating? Really? I would hardly say I'm frustrated about having an extra movie. Nor would I think that anyone else would be. I mean, it's not like they weren't sending me the movie that was #1 on my queue for 3 months or anything. If they're going to use automated responses, they should use ones that make sense.

It's coming

2007-06-27T21:22:00.000-04:00

I got my seat assignment today for the bar exam. It's almost like the exam is really in a month. And the Board of Law Examiners finally got my transcript. That only took two attempts. Life is exciting as it hurtles towards possibly the last standardized test I'll ever have to take.

Does this qualify as abusive litigation?

2007-06-26T21:08:00.000-04:00

The administrative judge who was suing his dry cleaners for $54 million lost. Not that the pants themselves was worth $54 million. That was just his pain and suffering of having to buy a new suit. The dry cleaners tried to settle, but he would have none of that. He was really attached to those pants. Though not so attached that he wasn't willing to come down from his original demand of $67 million. I guess he could drop that extra 13 mill when he remembered that these were only the diamond studded pants, and not actually the diamond encrusted pants.

Reasons why my sister is a loser

2007-06-18T18:41:00.000-04:00

In another Harry Potter related post (it's quite the Harry Potter summer, so don't act like you're surprised), Scholastic is having a coast to coast tour of the Knight Bus. S and I were going to go tomorrow to see it at the Bethesda public library, but she has to start her LSAT class (like anyone would want to go to law school. I don't know what that's all about). Anyway, we couldn't go on Saturday. I had BarBri in the morning (contracts was Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then we had off this morning. That could have been scheduled better), so we couldn't make it to the New Carrollton library, and in the afternoon it was at the Oxon Hill library, and we decided that it wasn't worth dying over. (For those of you unfamiliar with lovely Prince George's County, MD - New Carrollton, nice, Oxon Hill, the ghetto) But this does mean that I don't get to go and see it, since it seems like something that really should be done with another person.

It will be coming to St Louis, on Thursday 6/28. It will not be in Denver, Portland, or Missoula. Though I presume it will be passing through the greater Denver area, just not making a stop, as the next stop after StL is Phoenix (obviously they had to go there). So if anyone in St Louis would like to go, perhaps get a picture. . . It's not like you were going to be studying that afternoon anyway.

Harry Potter on Slate

2007-06-14T20:02:00.000-04:00

Slate has their version of how Deathly Hallows will end. Like the Sopranos, since wizards in England and gangsters in New Jersey are really just different manifestations of the same story line.

Funny crimes that one can commit in Maryland

2007-06-11T16:50:00.000-04:00

We had our lecture today on the MD distinctions in crim law. Why that lecture came on a completely different day than multistate crime, when every other section managed to have multistate and local at the same time, no one really understands. But anyway...

In Maryland, one can commit fourth degree robbery of the "rogue and vagabond" variety (actually how it is classified). Adultery is a misdemeanor punishable by a $10 fine - which probably wouldn't even cover the administrative costs. And vehicular crimes include boats, so marine traffic violations also go to traffic court.

Also, not having anything to do with crim law, but just BarBri in general. Russel McGeorge is taking the MD bar, and I saw him in class the other day. I had what I would say was the longest conversation I've ever had with him then (I would clock it in at a generous minute and a half). Wierd.

This American Life goes to summer camp

2007-06-09T17:31:00.000-04:00

On this week's episode of This American Life, they had a story about the pivital role that summer camp plays in kids' lives. The main part of the story was pretty entertaining, but the best part came during the stories that listeners called in to tell about their summer camp experiences.

One woman called in to tell a story about her parents didn't want to send her to camp because they were leftists and thought that the girl scouts were just brown shirts. (Clearly her parents should have sent her to Habonim camp instead). So they sent her to a leftist Zionist camp. (Yay! They did send her to Habonim camp) So one day at camp the counselors staged an anti-Semitic attack on the camp to teach an important political lesson to the kids (though the counselor told her that "wouldn't it have been better to just keep her mouth shut" though speaking out like the counselors would have seemed to have been the point of the exercise.) And all I have to say is that I can so see that activity being planned, right down to the people being dressed up as Klansmen. Because it would be a valuable learning experience.

But just so you don't think camp totally screws people up, we did have some bounds when I went to camp. While we would have had the learn about anti-Semitism activity, we would draw the line at activities like lead the kids out into the woods and leave them there. They can find their way back. But while they're working on that, there will be some other counselors hiding in the woods, who can jump out from behind the trees and scare the crap out of the kids. Suggestions like that are usually made by Israeli counselors and are then shot down by the Americans who realized that that was a terrible idea.

But wait!! There's more!!

2007-06-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

We had our corporations lecture today in bar review class. And the guy giving the lecture was really upbeat. Selling steak knives on late night tv upbeat. He also could have been a motivational speaker or a televangelist. They're all in that same vein of peppy. He's definitely been the craziest we've had so far. Even outstripping the property/secured transactions lecturer (it was the same person for both) who made a certain Trusts and Estates professor look sane - at least Foster didn't sing to go along with her excessive number of pop culture references. We also had the crim law guy who referred to us collectively as "Now, Marylanders." It remains to be seen how the upcoming lecturers will fare.

School rankings

2007-06-01T17:00:00.000-04:00

Newsweek has a ranking of the top 100 research universities in the world. WashU is, apparently, number 33.

Other rankings that people might care about -
13. University of Pennsylvania
22. University of Washington
39. New York University
51. University of Colorado

The continuing case of Crazy v Harry Potter

2007-05-29T14:16:00.000-04:00

The Georgia woman who wants Harry Potter taken out of her kids' school library has lost her appeal. She's already gone through the entire appeals process for her local board of ed, and lost all along the way. But she's not giving up hope. Because, apparently, people want to "know where God is, and he's still there. They just can't find him," she said tearily.

Honestly, the crazies of the world need to learn that if there's a book they don't want to read, or a tv show or movie they don't want to watch, no one is forcing them to. They can just read some other book and leave every one else alone. I think most kids can sufficiently separate fiction from reality to realize that the broom in their kitchen can't fly and that they can't turn their pet guinea pig into a water goblet.

Some people lead such deprived lives

2007-05-26T13:09:00.000-04:00

I know that I'm a sci-fi geek. And that I was raised by sci-fi geeks. (I think my dad was the person who single handedly kept Enterprise on the air) But I didn't realize there could be people who actually hadn't seen Star Wars. How is that even possible? But it does make for some entertaining reading.

Losing my Star Wars virginity

On the campaign trail

2007-05-24T10:30:00.000-04:00

As the 2008 presidential campaign begins to dominate more of our air time, let us not forget the local races that are also important. After all, it is the local races where voters can often make a bigger impact.

Vote Ham Sandwich

I don't know if I can support this candidate on religious grounds, but I appreciate what Ham is bringing to local Virginia politics.

The woes of finding bar review class

2007-05-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

So bar review class started today. I had quite the time finding it. I knew where the university was (having lived in the city practically all of my life), but I didn't know which specific building to go to. So I asked the parking lot attendant in the gate house. He told me to go to the building "over there across the street." I said, "The one on the corner there?" He said, "No. Across the street." So I went to the building he told me to, which was the law school building. So things seemed okay. When I asked the person at the front desk where the auditorium was, he told me to go out of the building and to the left. Go half a block, and I would find it. Half a block from the door he told me go go out through was the middle of an intersection - clearly no auditorium there. Another half a block further was the student services building. Bookstore and coffee shop, but still no auditorium. If I made another left, I got to the administration building - financial aid office and the like. I decided to ask a third person where I was supposed to go. That person was finally able to point me to the correct building. And what building was it, you ask? Why it was "the one on the corner." Yes, the one I thought it was in the first place. Awesome.