Stephen A Smith is officially crazy

He is ADAMANTLY picking the rich and creamy Nuggets to go to the NBA Finals. There is a REALLY good chance that they aren't even the best team in their division, but Stephen is really smart crazy eccentric loud so he might be right.

I'd say the Nugs are 40:1 underdogs to get to the Finals. And just because I'm making odds, I'd put the Jazz at 20:1. I love my Jazz, but the Spurs are just too damn good.

Here are my picks:

MVP
Heart says: Carlos Boozer
Brain says: Steve Nash

6th Man
Heart says: Paul Millsap
Brain says: Manu Ginobli

Most Improved
Heart says: Ronnie Brewer
Brain says: Ronnie Brewer

Coach of the Year
Heart says: Jerry Sloan
Brain says: Anyone except Sloan

Defensive Player
Heart says: AK
Brain says: pick 'em (Bowen or Wallace, as usual)

Finals
Spurs over whatever crap team comes out of the East

Me Gusta

I'm not going to call this a "relationship," at least not yet. But this girl that I met on Friday, she is such a breath of fresh air. Talk about no drama and low maintenance...

She's into me, this I know for sure. I am into her too, and she knows this for sure. But we are confident enough in ourselves that a) we don't have to do ANYTHING in a hurry, and b) I'm not going to be upset if she puts studying ahead of hanging out and vice versa. This is the level of maturity I was expecting when I came to law school.

And she's hot, so that helps too :-P

That was Tasty

Jazz win by 21 IN Oakland. Brewer and Millsap looked AWESOME, seriously. AK was in good (not great) form and DWill and Booz, they were at their normal best, combining for 56 points. I love beating teams that think playing fast and loose will win. We play slow and methodically and we DOMINATED. Damn it feels good to be a Jazz fan.

Hell yeah

"NBA.com posed these questions and more to the league's general managers, and nearly all of the GM's responded to our survey. Here's what the guys who call the shots think will transpire this season."


Game on in 27 hrs and 35 min.

Yeah...

Convo at local sandwich eatery today:

Fellow 2L Bowler: Didn't you bowl, like, a 190-something last week?
Me: 182 actually.
Bowler: Nice, maybe if I sit next to you some of that will rub off on me.
Me: I hope I can rub off on myself!
Bowler: ...that sounded weird.
Me: ...uhh...yeah, probably shouldn't ever say that again.

SANTA!

Due to popular demand, I am posting my Halloween costume.

here it is:
This is not a picture of me

It says a lot...

...when former President Clinton and Bill Maher are defending the position that Sept. 11 wasn't an inside job. There's crazy, then there's "9/11-conspiracy-theory" crazy.

What's so funny about conspiracy theorists is that a lack of evidence is used to strengthen their position, rather than weaken it. In all reality, 9/11 WAS a conspiracy; a group of terrorists conspired to crash planes into the World Trade Center. All of the arguments that advance the idea that the US Government was in on it or covered something up are weak and feeble arguments. It's as if they are looking at a duck and saying, "if that's a duck then why hasn't it quacked? It must not really be a duck," or, "sure it looks like a duck, but if you stand over there and squint your eyes, it'll look exactly like a goose!"

Perception is reality; if you want to see a conspiracy, you'll find one.

Cell Phone Photography

All of these pictures were taken on a cell phone camera. Most were right outside my front door and are simply of the sky (and looked much cooler in person). Enjoy!

Everything's coming up Milhouse*

Tonight was bowling night. It did NOT start well for me, I bowled a disgustingly bad 85. Game 2, on the other hand, was quite different...

I managed to beat my game 1 score by 97 pins.

But wait, it gets better...
I decided to buy my celebratory meal at the one place that that doesn't make me feel dirty, Taco Bell. I order my meal, roll up to the window, total: $8.18, I have $7. But wait! I get a 10% discount there (not because I am cool, but because I am a student). New total = $7.37. I reach into my coin tray and pull out a small handful of coins. As I examine the coins, I see 2 dimes, 2 nickels, and, you guessed it, 7 pennies. $7.37 right on the money.

Believe it or not, this is probably the best thing that's happened to me in the last couple weeks.

*Link

Up next, Con Law casebook

A fantasy all law students have envisioned.

Start the countdown

202 hrs 49 min until the first Jazz game tips off...

I wasn't aware that it left

I am 0% surprised...

According to today's USA Today:

At Chicago O'Hare International Airport, screeners missed about 60% of hidden bomb materials that were packed in everyday carry-ons

O'Hare's screeners are TSA employees. BUT...

San Francisco International Airport screeners...missed about 20% of the bombs

San Francisco screeners work for a private company.

Abort mission

So....Tuesdays are 25 cent wing days at the local Buffalo Wild Wings. I went in to do the Blazin Challenge but the stupid waitress said I couldn't because they were short staffed and busy and couldn't have someone stand there for 6 minutes to watch me. GRRRRRRRRRR. Sorry to get everyones' hopes up. This challenge WILL happen, it's only a matter of time.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Game on, tonight. Stay tuned for details and results.

Funny on so many levels

Better late than never

A while back I was having trouble grasping an important part of legal writing. I wasn't sure what it was, only that I wasn't getting it. For some reason, I think I have finally gotten it. I have been rewriting parts of a memo from last year to use as a writing sample and I am reading it thinking, "what was I doing!?" I can see where I was making mistakes, and Prof.'s comments make sense to me. Sections that I thought were important are quite UNimportant and the overall structure is so much more logical to me now. I am almost embarrassed I turned this paper in! If I had to do another paper like this one, I'd likely do about 10-15% better, which would put me at a low A.


"Did that blow your mind? Because that...just...happened."

RE - LAX

I've been researching the new LG Voyager lately. It's similar to the Apple iPhone in that it has a touch screen interface. Apparently, any time a product comes out that in any way resembles any feature of an Apple product, there is mass hysteria that it is a rip-off. The reader comments on the articles I've read sound like this:

• "Looks like a total rip of the iPhone interface down to theft of the icons." As if there's some other intuitive icon for messaging or calendar
  
• "This is ridiculous ... another lame rip off of the iPhone." See below
  
• "All these pretenders to the crown always compare themselves to iPhone. We know who's really the King of the Hill. It begins with 'i' and ends with 'Phone'." Like arguing religion, no way to convince him otherwise
  
• "another phone made to look externally somewhat like Apple's iPhone is free marketing for Apple. Why buy a fake when you can buy the real deal?" I guess only the iPhone can exist in the multimedia phone market
  

Do all Apple fanatics have a superiority complex? Being the "first" to release something doesn't mean that everything else is a rip-off. Is a Camry a rip-off of an Accord? Is a Sony TV a rip-off of a Magnavox? I get the feeling that these Apple freaks are scared that their toys won't be the coolest thing around. The "hip" non-mainstream/non-conformist fanbase that is Apple, has become the conformist crowd, "MUST GET IPOD...MUST USE ITUNES..." Believe it or not, there are a lot of MP3 players that are just as good, if not better, than the iPod. This new phone looks cool and it's on my network, maybe the iPhone is "cooler," but for the love of all things holy, can the Apple fanbase just RELAX and accept the fact that their toys are NOT the end-all, be-all pinnacle of all human technology? It's not like LG said, "Hey, the iPhone just came out, let's make our own version!" This phone has been in development for a LONG time, if it had been released before July then, using the Apple fanbase logic, the iPhone would be copying the Voyager (I have a feeling that they'd still say it copied the iPhone even if it was released earlier).

Gist of my rant: A lot of Apple stuff is cool, some features and aspects are/were innovative; BUT, don't act like it's the greatest stuff in the world and everything else just aspires to be like Apple.

A N G R Y

8 Simple Rules on Being a Fan

Recently I went with some friends to see the local baseball team play. While we were sitting around having burgers and beer, I started talking with Keith about being a "fan." Before I get into the rules we discussed, it's important that I clarify some terms. Being a fan is different from simply rooting for a team. There are other NBA teams that I root for, but I don't ever claim to be a fan. As a fan, you can publicly mourn/cheer/complain about the team's performance; this is prohibited unless you can meet the following criteria:

1. You were born in the state/city/immediate regional locality of the team (i.e., those born in northern Kentucky can be fans of the Bengals and those born in Delaware can be fans of the '76ers or the Nets.)
2. You have lived in the state/city/immediate regional locality of the team for at least 6 years
3. If you jump on a team's bandwagon, you must stay on the bandwagon for at least 6 years or 2 consecutive losing seasons before claiming "fan" status.
   
4. If your team just won a championship, there will be no complaining about their performance for 2 full seasons.
5. As a fan, you must be able to name no less than 2/3 of the team on sight, or know the team's record, position in the standings, upcoming schedule and how many games ahead/back they are.
6. As a fan, you cannot be neutral towards the team's biggest rival. (i.e., as a Cubs fan you cannot be neutral towards the White Sox, or, as a Lakers fan, you cannot be neutral towards the Celtics). You must hate them.
   
7. Even if you meet #1-3, you cannot simply "remember" that you're a fan once the playoffs come around. Fans give their support throughout the season. Especially if attempting to establish status under #3.
   
8. Once fan status is established, that does not immediately give one "expert" status. (i.e., you do not suddenly become an expert on the dangers of a weak side corner blitz in 3rd and long situations, and you do not immediately get to question coaching moves. These things take time, usually around 10 years, to develop)

Brief examples:
1) You moved to Boston from Seattle to go to grad school. You do not get to become a fan of any Boston team unless you live there for 6 consecutive years or you stay with the team through 2 straight losing seasons.
2) You're from Phoenix but you don't watch any of the Suns' games until the playoffs, and you can't name anyone other than Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire. Not a fan.
3) You were born in Chicago but have only followed the Bears for the last 3 seasons. This does not entitle you to pontificate on the the best lineup/coaching strategy for this Sunday's game.
4) You are from Salt Lake City and followed the Jazz during the Finals in '97 and '98 but haven't paid much attention since. You are not allowed to pretend to be some superfan once they reach the conference finals.

I hope this clears some things up. If you'd like me to analyze a potential violation, please email me or post it here. Or, if you feel these rules are inaccurate or lacking, please feel free to send your comments into the trash, because that's where I'll put them.

It's October

It should NOT be this warm:

Dear CBS News...

...hire a new proofreader
[link]

If only it were that easy

It's not an "interest," it's a lifestyle.

NOT a daycare

Why is there a screaming baby outside the classroom in the common area? This is wrong on at least 2 levels.

[update: Writing/ADR Prof was holding the screaming child 15 feet from our door, thanks a bunch!]

Dear Andy Reid

You got sacked about 130 times last night and your running back was averaging 6 yards per carry, why did he only get 17 attempts? I sense your job will be on the line very soon, perhaps throwing the ball 50 times a game isn't the best strategy anymore.

Tickets to Elysium

text message from Dad:

just bought 4 tickets to Jazz v Hornets Nov 23

Start the countdown...