Is that weird?

There's nothing like sneaking up behind a guy and ripping right into him with a chainsaw. Of course, I did it because he was shooting at my squad mates with a mounted machine gun. If you haven't guessed it, I'm talking about a video game. Not just any game, but Gears of War. It rocks.

I guess I should start elsewhere. On Friday, Jess and I went out at 2:30 in the morning to get in line for Best Buy. The line was already really long. They handed out tickets for items that they had a limited supply of and were on sale. We were there to get an HDTV. I had been looking at the 32" Westinghouse for a long time. Best Buy had it for $800, and Consumer reports said it was a great buy at $1000. Then I saw the Flyer on the Best Buy Website for the day after thanksgiving sale. It was on sale from 5 a.m. to noon, for $479. The exact tv that I had been looking at. But each store had a minimum of 12 and there were many more than twelve people in line in front of us. So we were a bit worried when we got there. At 4:00, one hour before opening, they gave out the tickets. We got one. It was a great feeling. In fact, we got ticket #12. We were in and out of Best Buy in 30 minutes with our TV in our car.

After that we headed over to Circuit City. I wanted an XBox 360, and had been saving up for that. Circuit City had a special giving you one game free with the purchase of the System. I went straight to the video game section and picked out an XBox 360 Pro, and Gears of War. Then I waited in line for 2 hours to get to the checkout. I played Gears of War this morning. It was worth it.

Anyway, I'll review the game in a post to come.

Semester's almost over

I can't believe it. I have barely started my seminar term paper. I've done some research, but as usual, I'm having trouble getting motivated. And now I'm writing this, when I could be researching. The problem is I don't really know what questions my paper needs to answer. It's my first non-legal law school writing assignment. See it's a paper about a legal topic, but it's not a brief or a memo or the type of thing I would do working at a firm or anything. It's an academic paper. The topic is a California law that allows judges to review cases in which woman who have been convicted of murdering their husbands and have been denied expert testimony about Battered Women's Syndrome. I've found a newspaper article and a law review article regarding the law, but I feel like my research would be aided by a specific question to answer. I guess I should be talking to the teacher. Or maybe more research will help me think of a question.

My Birthday was one of the nice ones. My family remembered, and so did a bunch of people at school. Mom and Dad's card even got here on the day. Jess and I went out to a great restaurant called The Dogfish Cafe. The food was impeccable. It's not too far from our apartment either.

Jess bought The Marvel 1602 trade paperback yesterday and I've been reading it here at work because she said she wouldn't be able to right away. I really like it. As much as I'm a Superman fan, I do enjoy the Marvel Universe. And Neil Gaiman rocks. I'm told I should read his Sandman. I probably will.

November

I really like November. More and more I think of it as my favorite month of the year. There are a number of reasons why, and some that know me might think that it's because my birthday is in November. But that's not completely it. In fact, there are times when I dread my birthday. Anyway, lets go through the 5 reasons I like November (especially even year Novembers.) I'll try to go in order of when things happen in the month.

1. Throughout the month: Football season is in full swing, and football is my favorite sport.

2. First Tuesday following a Monday: Election Day. This is why I prefer even year Novembers: more is at stake. I don't know why, but I love to vote. I really like politics and things really heat up leading up to this day. It seems that more people than ever are thinking about voting this midterm election. It's great.

3. November 15: My Birthday. This year I'm turning 25, so it's not that great, but when people remember that it's my birthday, I love it. My problem is that I don't like telling people before hand that my birthday is coming up. I'll drop a few hints here and there in the weeks approaching it, but I absolutely hate just coming out and telling people it's my birthday on the day (unless they ask). I also dislike the fact that my family members don't always remember, but then again, I'm not the best at remembering other family member's birthdays either, so I guess I can't blame them. But at least my parents should remember. Not only that, but long ago did the days pass when I actually got presents from my family on my Birthday. I'm lucky if my parents get me something small, or at the most some clothing, but no one else in my family usually gets me anything anymore (other than Jess). So yeah, I have mixed feelings about my Birthday.

4. The third Thursday in the month: Thanksgiving. I really like seeing my family and eating Turkey and Stuffing. I also like that it's a Thursday with Pro-football games on tv. I haven't watched football with my dad in a while so this Thanksgiving should be more fun than last (last year we went to Jess's where they don't watch football).

5. Day after Thanksgiving: Start of the Christmas Season. I love the Christmas season sometimes more than Christmas itself. The actual day of Christmas is often disapointing for me because it means that all the anticipation and decorating and preparing are over. I love the way Concord looks in the days following Thanksgiving because downtown is magically transformed. The decorations in Portland are nice too, but they are designed by the winner of a contest and therefore are usually contemporary artforms. It's a little strange sometimes, but last year's were pretty nice.

Anyway, those are the five reasons I love November. When I was younger, I would have added the reason that it's the beginning of ski season, but I haven't been skiing in forever. Anyway, right now I'm thinking with glee of the upcoming election. Regardless of the outcome I'll be up late next Tuesday night.

Good news

I got it. I got the job. Now I'll be working for the C u m b e r l a n d C o u n t y D i s t r i c t A t t o r n e y' s office. It's pretty much the job I've been wanting for a long time now. It's gonna be so cool. Their internship program is so cool, and so hands on. By this time next year I'll be prosecuting my own cases. An added bonus is that it's a paid internship. I'm soooooo excited. Another added bonus is that I don't have to look for a summer job. The internships starts in May and it lasts a year. Another plus is that they look to the intern pool first when looking to hire new attorneys so this could lead into another job. I am so excited that I won't have to do security this summer while working some unpaid internship.

In other news, Jess and I saw The Departed last night and it was quite awesome. It was one of the best movies I've seen this year. Leonardo DiCaprio finally proved once again that he can act. In fact, I thought he did a better job than Matt Damon. If you're at all thinking about seeing this movie, go see it.

The reason Jess and I went to the movies was because our anniversary was this week. October 11. That was both the day we started dating and the day I asked her to marry me (2 years later). So that's two years we've been dating and four years we've been together. Well, before you know it we'll be married.

A couple of things . . .

Once again I start writing with no agenda. Halloween is coming. Jess decorated our apartment today. She does a pretty good job. Wouldn't want to let her know this, but I actually really enjoy the way she gets into the spirit. Even if it's 30 days away.

Her parents came up today. It was nice to see them. Her brother is going to be moving to florida to go to school for nautical mechanic stuff. Fixing boats and whatnot. He seems to enjoy the prospect. It'll be good for him to get out into the world since he graduated from highschool a while ago.

Right now I should be writing a direct examination for trial practice class, but I'm taking a break from that. They can be so tedious sometimes because you have to be careful how you ask the questions and what order you put them in. The prep for the class may be tough, but the in class participation is fun. I can't wait for it to be real. I desparately want to be in the court room. I want to own it.

I should get back to my prep.

It's been way too long.

Sorry about that folks. School is back into full swing and it's a lot more fun this time around. I'm gain a lot of practical knowledge in most of my classes and I'm really into it. Right now I'm at work. Today I have my first Trainee. She's gone now because her shif is over, but there really wasn't much to do but sit here. The day part of the shift is like that because we don't do rounds till 10 p.m. I got a lot of homework done, and she read a lot. Now I can focus on football tomorrow. How I look forward to Sunday.

Sorry if I'm meandering a bit. I started writing without any real topic. I just felt that any faithful readers of my blog (which I'm sure there are few) deserved something after so long a wait. I've been sick lately. I've had a head cold. But I feel that I'm getting over it pretty fast. I spent the first two days mostly in bed, but since then I've been up and about and trying to make up as much work as possible.

I miss having a lot of friends around. Back in college you could just pop by someones room for a chat, or go out at 2 in the morning to Store 24 and get some junk food to eat. Oh the good times. I mean, don't get me wrong, I couldn't really survive without Jess, and I love her to pieces, but we both agree that we miss our friends. I guess I kind of knew this was going to happen, but I'm not sure I knew it would be like this.

This week I'm applying to the Cumberland County D is trict At t or ney's office for a summer job. I really want that job. It would deffinitely be a career starter. Man, it's so stressful to think about.

Amber thinks I should blog more

So here I am. The reason I haven't been blogging as much lately is because I haven't been working at M E C A. When I work there, I usually have my laptop with me, and I can write. However, it's been closed for a while now and opens this weekend.

Speaking of M E C A, apparently an upper management guy there somehow read this blog and read the entry where I said I didn't enjoy being a guard there. Well, since I started working there on my own, and have gotten used to it, I like it a lot better, so anybody from M E C A reading this now, I'm over my complaints, M E C A is now my favorite post as a security guard. It was wierd getting called into my supervisors office at p u b l i c o v e r and hearing about this.

Well, school starts next week, so I don't know how much more blogging I'll be doing this month. Hopefully enough to keep all interested parties informed. Speaking of interested parties, I really hope to see Garin and Amber this weekend considering we have monday off. If my cell phone is recharged, I think I'll call Garin now.

I'm Batman!

You scored as Batman, the Dark Knight. As the Dark Knight of Gotham, Batman is a vigilante who deals out his own brand of justice to the criminals and corrupt of the city. He follows his own code and is often misunderstood. He has few friends or allies, but finds comfort in his cause. Captain Jack Sparrow 71% Batman, the Dark Knight 71% William Wallace 71% Indiana Jones 67% Neo, the "One" 67% The Terminator 58% El Zorro 58% James Bond, Agent 007 58% Maximus 54% Lara Croft 50% The Amazing Spider-Man 42% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

My Justice League of America review

Justice League of America #1

It starts off in the Batcave. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are working together to pick the new Justice League of America. Batman wants Captain Marvel for the team. Superman says that they don't even know where he is. Wonder Woman says he's too young, just a boy.
Next, Batman suggests Red Tornado. "He's dead," Superman replies. Batman reminds them that the Red Tornado has died before, and he always finds his way back to his android body.

This brings us to Hobokin, New Jersey, home of the Red Tornado's wife Kathy. She's hovering over his lifeless android body in the laboratories of Doctor Will Magnus, the scientist who helped put the Tornado's body back together. She's waiting for his soul to come back. She remembers the things that made her love him to one of Dr. Magnus's creations. Unseen to both of them, Red Tornado's soul speaks with DeadMan, a body hopping superhero familiar with the Red Tornado's dilemma. Without a real body of his own, Red Tornado will never be able to touch, feel, taste, or smell anything.

We're back in the cave. The Big Three are discussing Green Lantern. Superman wants Hal Jordan, the original GL. Batman says the both John Stewart and Kyle Rayner have proven themselves, but Superman believes Hal is the best. Wonder Woman suggests some sort of competition or contest. Superman makes his case for Hal. Next up, Supergirl (Kara). Batman and Superman quickly vote her down. Wonder Woman votes yes. Next up, the Flash. They all think the team could use a speedster, but there is some doubt as to whether the Flash they want even still exists after the crisis. All three of the agree on Power Girl.

We go to Star City where Hal Jordan (GL) and Roy Harper, Jr. (Arsenal) are sitting ringside at a sparring match in their local gym. Hal and Roy discuss Roy's kid, and how Hal used to get Green Arrow to spar with him back in the day. (For those who don't know, Arsenal used to be Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy.) Hal gets a call from his friend Dinah (Black Canary). She needs his help. Hal offers to take Roy with him. They leave.

Metropolis. Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning) is at a bar trying to dig up some dirt. He gets some information about a new bad guy. Dr. Impossible.

Red Tornado stands over a corpse next to Deadman. It's a duplicate of some guy named Multiplex. Multiplex died and his duplicate still hung around for a while, and then went brain dead very recently. Deadman helps Red Tornado enter the read body.

The Batcave again. They want to recruit Mr. Terrific, but Superman reminds them that he's J.S.A. They vote on the Atom. They discuss Vixen, and Hawkman.

Hub City. Vixen has been invited to a bar by the Question, but he isn't here. It's a trap, and she smells it.

Red Tornado slowly shifts into the corpse body. He opens his eyes and realizes he can no longer see Deadman. Good news. He also still has his Tornado creating powers. Better news. After Red Tornado leaves, a shadowy figure appears and talks to his henchman.

In Star City, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and Black Canary give Green Arrow Oliver Queen a visit. To Ollie's disapointment, they're not really there for him. They're there for Arsenal. As Hal, Black Canary and Arsenal speed away, Ollie says "Go get'em Roy."

Kathy finally leaves Dr. Magnus's labs and is forced to face her daughter at home who is anxiously awaiting the return of Red Tornado. Meanwhile, his android body is being snatched. Batman discusses the android body of Red Tornado with the other two explaining that that was one reason Red Tornado had such potential for the team. At the same time, Red Tornado finally arrives home and gives Kathy a big hug. The End of issue 1.

So, for any of you who haven't followed JLA news lately, there are going to be 10 members after the first couple of issues, and an 11th later. The members introduced in this book are:

Superman
Batman
Wonder Woman
Red Tornado
Black Lightning
Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
Black Canary
Arsenal
Vixen

That leaves two, one of which will be either Hawkgirl or Power girl and I predict the last member will be the Flash.

So, what did I think of this issue?

STORY:
I would give it at least an 8.5 and at most a 9.5 out of 10, so lets go with a 9 out of 10. The main story was well integrated with the choosing of the league and the other side stories involving each member. Each new story made me want to read more. I can't wait for the next issue. Brad Meltzer really knows these characters and is really good at writing their personalities.

ART:
The art in this issue was outstanding. 10 out of 10.

An idea

This may be uber dorky, (maybe just using the word uber is . . . damn I wish I had an umlaut) but the question about whether I read comics, and the realization that I read many, got me thinking that maybe I could do a review once in a while. Maybe once a week if I'm lucky. Now as any good review does, mine would have plenty of spoilers, so any of you out there that happen to read the same comics might want to avoid reading my blog until after you've read the book. Of course, it might take me a few days to fomulate an opinion, so, of course, you'd have plenty of time to read it if you wish. Now the question is, do I review one comic consistently? I don't think I'm going to do that because then I'd wind up with one review each month, and sometimes no review at all. Of course that would be hard with 52 because it comes out every week.

For those of you who don't know, DC comics decided to skip a year after their latest cross over event (infinite crisis) so most of there comics in March started One Year Later (OYL). During that year, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman each spent time doing anything but superheroing. To show what happened to the rest of the DC universe during that time period (and to make a lot of money), DC decided to do a weekly series that would cover all 52 weeks of the missing year. We are currently on week 13. It's been pretty interesting so far, with some weird twists. I read in an interview with the four writers who are on the series that when you are done reading 52, you'll want to go back and read it again, because some of the events you thought you understood, you'll understand in a new light, and there's also a bit of mystery.

I'm definitely thinking of reviewing Justice League of America, which has the first issue of the revamp coming out this month. I bought issue #0 last month and it was pretty good. Brad Meltzer, who wrote identity crisis, really does a fantastic job.

Well, that was my idea. We'll see if I stick to it.

Heath Ledger????????!!!!!??????

Breaking news: Heath Ledger has been cast as the joker. Media outlets with the humor of highscoolers are already beginning to call it Brokebat mountain, but the movie ttile is actually going to be "The Dark Knight." I guess they didn't like my "Batman Finishes" idea. Anyways, just wanted to let anyone who still reads this thing know, if they didn't already.


Update: Now it looks like the penguin may be the second villain . . .
I was kinda hoping it would just be the joker, but what do I know, I'm not a director.

Speaking of cars, . . .

. . . mine wouldn't start last night or this morning. A jump start got her going last night, and she was running fine, so I'm pretty sure I just need a new battery. The trick is, I don't really know how to install a car battery, so I'm going to have to get it to sears or somewhere to have one installed, but it WON'T START. This is frustrating. I'm going to have to find someone who will give me a jump just so I can get to Sears. The other problem is that I don't know much about car batteries. I mean do I just go with the $40 battery that looks like it's a sears brand battery? At this moment that looks like all I can afford. This really sucks. I mean, I understand that the car is 10 years old so it's going to need a little extra maintenance now and again, but two months ago it was 500 dollars to pass inspection, and now I need a new battery. You think Meineke would have told me something about the battery. I could get a $56 diehard battery. I just don't know. The $16 dollar difference could be worth the longer warranty in itself. Not to mention this is a battery that's supposed to work well in the cold weather. But what if we move south in the next few years? Do I have to buy a new battery? I don't even think I really have the money to buy this battery. I just pray that someone is around to give me a jump tomorrow, and that this is not really an alternator problem. I don't think it is, because otherwise the car probably would have stopped running, and the headlights would not have been so strong last night. So, I have little doubt that my car generates electricity, my battery just won't hold it. That's all I got for now.

Pirates and whatnot

So, went to see Dead Man's Chest Wednesday night. It was pretty good. Not as good as the first one, but that's the way it goes. Yaknow, now that it's going to be a trilogy it got me thinking: the plot is slightly reminiscent of Star Wars. A farm boy (blacksmith's apprentice) who finds out the dreadful truth about his father, a princess (governor's daughter) who is captured by the evil fleet of ships, and must be rescued only to show that she is a capable fighter herself, and a scoundrel (pirate) who finds himself doing the right thing a few too many times, and ends up trapped at the end of second movie (carbonite/inside a kraken), only to be subject to a rescue attempt in the third movie. Yes, other than the princess(governer's daughter)/scoundrel(pirate) love story not really existing, and the Princess(governer's daughter) and farmboy(blacksmith's apprentice) not being brother and sister, the stories are quite similar. I guess it's just a testament to the universal mythology of Star Wars. Pirates has it's own alure as well, however, and obviously it does well on it's own merits.

So here I am, working at the Maine College of Art (MECA). It's actually not bad since I had the rest of the week off this week. The attorney that I work for was on vacation, so I got to sleep in and watch the Tour de France. It was great. It's been a great Tour so far. For those of you that don't know, I've been a Tour de France fan since I was little. My Opa and I used to watch it whenever I went to visit him and my Oma in Belgium. Belgians are big cycling fans, especially those like my Opa who live in the northern Flanders region of Belgium. It's not quite the same without Lance, but it's still good.

The summer after my Freshman year in College, I even got to go to a stage in the Tour. It was really cool to see the cyclists fly by. The next day, we went to the starting point of the next stage and I waited in the crowd and got Lance Armstrong's autograph. It was really cool. So yeah, I'm a pretty big fan of the Tour.

Too bad about France and the World Cup, though. I was really routing for them.

Superman Returns and . . .

he's got a kid. Oh and he kicked some ass. And got his ass kicked. And almost died.

Ok, ok, so here's what I thought: This movie was great. It surpassed my expectations, which were high. It was good that I knew that this movie wasn't really going to be an action movie going into it. "A movie about Superman that isn't an action movie?" you say. Well, if you look back at Superman movies that came before it, you'll see that none of them are really action movies. I mean you can even look at the T.V. series Lois & Clark. It's deffinitely not an action T.V. series. I really enjoyed the story and I thought that the actors did a great job of portraying the characters. I've read too many Superman Returns reviews to write an original one, so I'll just leave you with the fact that I really liked the movie.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend. Almost all my friends from college are meeting up at the Stollers. It's been so long since we were all together like this. We came close going to x3, but there were still some missing. I don't know how long it's been since I last saw Vanessa. And I haven't seen Beth in forever. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

Holy Crap, this looks cool

OK, so the new Spider-man 3 trailer hit the web today. It looks absolutely fantastic. Too bad the movie doesn't come out till next summer. It does seem, however, that this movie has to lead to another sequal. So. yeah. Spoilers.


Spidey dawns the symbiotic black suit. Hell yeah, true believers, this story looks like it leads into the Venom storyline. Great shots of the Sandman, who really looks a lot better than I thought he would. I can't wait. Cool shots of the symbiot attaching itself to Peter. I can't wait to see this.


Anyways, Superman Returns comes out tomorrow. Previews have all looked pretty good, but one early review said it wasn't as good as he thought it would be. Who knows, I mean that is just one man's opinion. I can't wait to see it.

Paid to blog

I'm here at the Maine College of Art (MECA) guarding its security. YAY! Not. It's not the funnest job in the world, but it will pay the bills for now. Certain sites have internet access, or you can watch DVDs on your computer, but others the most you can do is read. As for my other job, it might not pay anything at all. I will, however get invaluable experience. This is my last night of training. Tomorrow and Wednesday I will be on my own here at the MECA. Hopefully I won't be assigned here too many more times because I'm not such a fan of the rounds they have us do. There are these things called deggys and they are small disks on the wall that you have to touch with a "deggy wand" to show that you have been to certain spots on your rounds. It's ridiculous. Here at the MECA there are 23, and they are not all easy to get to.

So I'm working here from 5pm-1am and then working 9am-4:30pm at the law office tomorrow, then 5pm-1am at meca again. That's my schedule on Wednesday too. I'm going to be pretty tired. I don't have security work on Thursday or Friday, though, so I will get a rest. Next week I'll hopefully have mostly weekend hours. I feel so tired already.

And now for the busiest summer ever!

So I got an e-mail the other day from a friend of mine. She heard from another friend that there was this attorney looking for a law student to work for him for the rest of the summer. Cool, I thought, if I get this job, I might not have to work security. Well, I called him, and he and another attorney he works with said they want to meet with me. They seemed to say I could have the job as long as I could work for free. Of course I have to take it, because any opportunity to go to court on a regular basis (which they've offered me) is invaluable experience. Both attorney's specialize in criminal law and work mostly with indigent clients, so I can see how they probably can't really afford to pay me. So I'll most likely be working 16 hours a day, 8 for these attorneys, 8 with security. Yay for 8 hours off to sleep!!! of course it probably won't work out exactly like that. But I am really looking forward to get back into the criminal law business. This job will be very similar to what I did when I spent the summer down in DC, only I'll probably doing more spectating in court and less actual work. We'll see.

SECURITY!!!

I finally have a summer job. Not a legal one, but I guess it was a bit of a long shot anyway. It's hard to get hired anywhere as a 1L. But next summer I'll be a 2L and I absolutely need to get a legal internship. Anyways, I'm a security guard now with Publicover Security. It's actually not a bad job at all. I don't have a permanent assignment yet, but my first training assignment was relatively interesting. It involved port security. I actually can't talk too much about it, because it's a federal government maritime security post. There are aspects of the job that are pretty intense when it comes to arrival and departure of ships from the pier. Tomorrow I'm going to the Congressional Trust building. I imagine that's mostly offices. Probably less intense.

Anyways, that's my job. Pay's ok, and I'm pretty sure I'll be on second shift so I won't have to get up early, so It's not bad at all.

Got my grades today. Pretty disappointing. I didn't do as well as last semester, so that sucks. But this coming semester will be cool because I'm mostly going to be taking courses I chose and want to take. That's usually where I shine when it comes to school: when I'm doing something I want to do. Anyway, aside from feeling dumb (cause of my grades) and useless (because I didn't get a legal job) I'm doing ok. Hope I don't feel down forever. On top of all that of course, the anniversary of Cory's death was Monday, so he's been on my mind a lot lately. Not that I don't think about him all the time anyway. Well, It's getting late . . .

Ghost whaaa? Nicolas whooooo?

Check this out. Preview doesn't look half bad. Not thrilled about Cage for this role, though.

So, tomorrow I find out whether I'm going to get a legal job for the summer or not. Pray for me, because I need the money (legal jobs pay better than the other part-time jobs I could get around here for the most part). I got my car inspected today and to meet Maine's motor vehicle inspections standards I'm going to have to shell out $1500. I want a second opinion. In fact, I'm going to try and get one next week. Hopefully this is all handled as quickly as possible. I am thoroughly anxious (about the job) and depressed (about the car). It still runs fine, and it's safe enough for the street, but it's all these little technical things that need to be fixed.

However, that will not ruin my weekend. I'm going to see the Sea Dogs tomorrow night, and X-Men 3: The Last Stand on Saturday night. I can't wait. So much anxiety, some good some bad. Anyways, wish me luck.

Civil Procedure Final Exam

In an hour, I will be taking my Civil Procedure II final exam. I don't know why I've decided to write this right now. I really should be studying some last minute stuff. However, a lot of what I study now, I'll forget on my way to school. This may be one of the hardest final exams I've ever taken. We'll have to see. Studying has consumed my life for the last couple of days, so maybe there's hope. In the mean time, here's a nice picture of Jess and I in D.C. Jess is holding the camera. It was pretty windy that day, so I think that's what up with my hair.

Anyways, I should get ready. I have to be at school in 45 minutes. Less than that now. I hope I know the correct rulings on the motions. Go Res Judicata.

Superman Returns

While X-men 3 is just around the corner, a new Superman Returns preview just hit the interenet last week. Check it out. I thought it looked really good. Especially the second half. Kevin Spacy is going to rock in this movie. I'm even more psyched than I was before, which I guess is what a preview is supposed to do.

Well, finals start next week. Prepping for finals is so amazingly difficult. Some of us are relearning all the material. Others of us are learning it for the first time. In some classes I'm in the first category in others I'm in the second. And through all this I've yet to bag a summer job. Looks like I might be working at Movie Gallery this summer. I'm not completely kidding. I got application the other day. However, I am going to look for an office job, or something else more suitable.

Hey, if any of you know of any good office jobs in Portland, Maine, give me a ring. Well, I gotta study.

DC Trip

Finally, here are some pictures from our trip to DC. It really takes a long time to upload pictures, so I couldn't come close to uploading them all. Hope you enjoy.
My niece Eleanor on her way to the National Zoo with Jess and I.
Baby panda in a bucket.
Eleanor looking at the baby panda

A tiger looking around.

Eleanor chillaxin' after a day at the zoo. Someone commented that she looked like the happiest baby he'd ever seen.

This is the inside of the National Building Museum. This is where the first indoor Inaugeral Ball was held, and there has been one held here ever since.


Jess in front of the Warld War II Memorial.


The White House.

This is the Space Shuttle Enterprise. It was huge.


This is a Soviet Mig-21f

This is the SR-71 Blackbird. Fastest Jet that we know of. It goes upwards of Mach 3 and can outrun missiles. Primarily it was used for recon before it was retired.


That's me and Eleanor, my niece outside of the Smithsonian Air & Space Expansion.

Survey

So, yeah, I haven't written in way too long. And Jess still hasn't gotten the pictures off her camera, so no DC and niece pics yet. Anyways, I got this Survey off of Amber's Blog so here goes.

Nervous Habits: biting my nails, touching my hair or face.

Are you double jointed?: no

Can you roll your tongue?: yes

Can you raise one eyebrow at a time?: yes

Can you blow spit bubbles?: no.

Can you cross your eyes?: no, and I find it disturbing when Jess does it.

Tattoos?: Nope and I would never get one

Body piercings and where?: Nope and I would never get one.

Do you make your bed daily?: I don't. Jess does occasionally

-- CLOTHES --

Which shoe goes on first?: whichever is closer to my foot

Speaking of shoes, have you ever thrown one at anyone?: nope but I've had them thrown at me.

On the average, how much money do you carry in your purse/wallet?: $0

What jewelry do you wear 24/7?: The one ring. Jess got it for me as an engagement ring.

Favorite Piece of Clothing: my fleece jacket.

Pajamas: pajama pants, but usually I don't wear pjs

-- FOOD --

Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?: Twirl

Have you ever eaten Spam?: can't remember, but probably

Favourite Ice Cream Flavor: black raspberry, I think

How many cereals in your cabinet?: Frosted mini-wheats, honey-nut cheerios

What's your favourite beverage?: Not sure. I like coke, drink a lot of water.

What's your favorite restaurant?: I don't eat out enough these days to have one, but I guess Pizzaria Uno.

Do you cook?: Yes. Jess and I take turns.

-- GROOMING --

How often do you brush your teeth?: twice a day

How often do you shower/bathe?: Once a day

Hair drying method: Dry hair???

Have you ever colored/highlighted your hair?: Nope. I've thought about it, but I don't know what color would be good.

Do you paint your nails?: never.


-- MANNERS --

Do you swear?: yes, sometimes

Do you ever spit?: Not usually, except when I'm brushing my teeth.


-- WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE --

Animal: Dogs, Lions

Food: Cheeseburgers, Italian Sandwiches, Chinese food, mexican food

Month: I like July and December

Day: Saturday

Cartoon: Justice League: Unlimited

Shoe Brand: Don't have one

Subject in school: Criminal Law

Colour: green

Sport: Football and Soccer

TV show: West Wing, Conviction

Looking Male Celebs: not sure

Thing To Do in Spring: Get outside

Thing To Do In The Summer: relax

Thing To Do In Autumn: watch the leaves change

Thing To Do In The Winter: skiing, skating, or sleeping


-- IN AND AROUND --

The CD Player: I don't really use it anymore, got an iPod

Person you talk most on the phone with: Jess

Ever taken a cab?: yes, but only a couple of times

Do you regularly check yourself out in store windows and mirrors? nope

What color is your bedroom?: white, but we have green curtains and a green comforter.

Do you use an alarm clock?: Yes.

Window seat or aisle?: either way, but lately it's been isle so I can get off the plane faster.

-- LA LA LAND --

What's your sleeping position? depends

Even in hot weather do you use a blanket?: yes

Do you snore?: Jess hasn't complained of it

Do you sleepwalk?: I don't think so

Do you talk in your sleep?: I have before

Do you sleep with a stuffed animals?: nope.

How about with the light on?: I can't.

Do you fall asleep with the TV or radio on?: no. It's hard for me to fall asleep with the TV on. I prefer it to be as quiet as possible, and as dark as possible.

It's only just a matter of trust.

Apparently if you don't believe in God, the American people won't trust you. Atheists are the least trusted minority group in America. So, I say to you, repent, or everyone will think you're a liar.

Wow, George Mason just made the final four. Amazing. Anyways, more later. And hope pictures soon. As soon as Jess stops being lazy and gets those pictures off her camera. She refuses to let me do it because this camera is her new toy.

You'll have to wait . . .

if you want to see pictures of our trip. We haven't uploaded them from Jess's camera yet. We got some great pictures of my niece, Eleanor, though. We got to spend the whole day with her when we took her to the zoo on Sunday. The baby panda was so cute.

Anyway, I'll talk more about our trip when I have the pictures.

This just in: Missouri is trying to pass legislation to make Christianity the state religion. I guess I should have seen it coming. This along with the South Dakota legislation banning abortion, a Kentucky questionnaire sent to all legislatures asking just one question: Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your savior?, and an executive order by the President to include an office of faith-based initiatives in the Department of Homeland Security are just downright scary. How can people politicize religion like this? isn't it supposed to be a personal choice and belief? It's all so disturbing.

I am happy about this, however. I wish I had the time or resources protest. One story by the AP even mentioned Concord, NH, my home town. 200 took to the streets there. And for anyone reading this who doubts my patriotism, my goal in my career is public service. I want to be a prosecutor, a judge, a politician, or possibly serve in the military. I support our troops. However, the war we are in is not just. I'll just leave it at that.

SPRING BREAK

I'm off to DC till Wednesday, so I won't be updating till I get back. And because of Jess's new digtial camera, I'll be updating with pictures (as soon as I learn how). It looks easy enough, so I should be fine.

quick update

I have an interview with a judge this Thursday!

Wish me luck!

Ride on, my friends

I wish I was a Patriot Guard Rider (read the whole article). These guys are great. I know I've mentioned Fred Phelps's campaign against homosexuality and his bazaar method of advancing that campaign by picketing the funerals of soldiers who have died in Iraq before, but it bears repeating. Fred Phelps is the proprietor of the web site: http://www.godhatesfags.com. He believes that America has been poisoned by toleration of homosexuality, and that it is sinful that these soldiers are dying for a country that allows the gay population to exist. After all, according to Phelps, god's hatred for homosexuality knows no bounds. So, with that in mind, Phelps has been protesting at the funerals of soldiers who have died in Iraq. That's where the Patriot Guard Riders(this is a different website) come in. They are a group of vets and other interested people who ride motorcycles. They escort the hearse to the funeral site and to the cemetery all the while drowning out any noise from the protesters with their loud motorcycles. I think that's the greatest thing ever. I want to be one.

Unfortunately I don't own a motorcycle. In other news the X3 theatrical trailer hit the web recently so take a look. It looks awesome. Remember that you need QuickTime 7 to view it, so get that here. I can't wait for that.

I'm also looking forward to a new Superman Returns trailer. One is supposed to come out soon. That's the movie I'm really looking forward to this summer.

Next week is spring break. That oughtta be a nice break from school except for the fact that a new draft of my paper is due the week after. I am spending 5 days in DC at my brother's house. I'm really looking forward to seeing my niece.

You're up and then they hit you right back down

I got the letter Saturday. Apparently there was something they didn't like about me. I didn't get a call-back interview from Strike, Goodwin, & O'Brien. This sucks. I really wanted that job.

Moving on. I'm in contracts right now. It's really not that bad a class, but I did the reading so long ago that I can't really remember the stuff we're talking about now. Hopefully we catch up soon.

Jess and I are going to DC this weekend. We're visiting my brother and his wife and child for five days because it's spring break and they invited us. I'm looking forward to it. We're staying at my parents' on friday night and catching a flight in Manchester Saturday morning.

Jess's parents came up this weekend. We went to the Shipyard Brewery which was fun, but other than that it was a little boring. Don't know what I expected. It did, however, prevent me from getting any work done.

The Academy Awards was ok. I really like Jon Stewart, and I thought he was pretty ballsy last night. I enjoyed that part. I really haven't seen any of those movies that won. There weren't many that were both popular and academy award-worthy.

oh and a belated happy birthday to my friend Garin. Sorry we didn't call, we were just terribly busy this weekend.

That's all I got. If I had more, I'd write more often.

Feeling better

Sometimes things amaze me. One of those things is the fact that I have a computer on my lap right now. A computer that 20 years ago would have filled a room. And it's not plugged into anything. Not plugged into the wall, not plugged into a phoneline or a coaxial line, or a T1 line. Nothing at all. And yet, I have access to a vast array of information from around the world, and am able to publish this post, which anyone connected to the internet can read. It's crazy.

I've been a little depressed this week. Not sure why. Some of it might be thinking about Corey. Some of it might be job stuff. Some of it is just . . . I don't know. Maybe I'm just tired. I'm just glad that this weekend is here. I needed the rest.

The Olympics is almost over, and that will be a bit of a relief. I'll be able to concentrate a little better on school.

Jess's friend Anne is visiting us. She's pretty nice, and we have quite a bit in common, so it's tough sometimes because either she can talk to Jess about things they have in common, or to me about stuff we have in common, but there isn't too much overlap there. I'm doing my best to give them some room because Jess doesn't get to see Anne too much anymore.

I'm really looking forward to Conviction. I got a sneak peak of the pilot episode on iTunes. It was pretty cool watching it on my way home from school the other day. It starts next friday, and looks really good. Mostly I'm excited because I want to be a prosecutor and the show is about prosecutors. I feel like I've said this before . . .

I'm really excited about the coming week. I got an interview with Strike, Goodwin O'Brien, and that really makes me excited. It's a criminal defense firm that is my top choice for jobs this summer. That is, if I get it. I'm so nervous/excited for this interview. I know I said I wanted to be a prosecutor, but working with a criminal defense firm would give me invaluable experience. Pray for me people.

I'm also excited, however less so, because Wednesday is Comic book day and Infinite Crisis #5 is coming out and and Justice #4 is being kept in my folder to be picked up. Just two of several comics I've been reading. Another really cool one is a series X-Men: Appocolypse vs. Dracula. I just picked up the first of four last week. It combines two of my favorite fictional characters/villains. You should pick it up.

Job worries and such.

For those of you who have been looking, here it is.

Well, some good news: both of my job references have gotten back to me and consented to being part of my reference list. I really should have gotten more on top of this earlier. I need to contact law firms around here to find a job. Hopefully in Criminal Law. My opportunities will most likely come in defense work because prosecution doesn't pay when you're a 1L. That is, if I get any opportunities at all.

Amber's right, Battlestar Galactica is getting good again. Not that the last few episodes were really that bad, but they were just that, "episodes" with little bearing on the greater story (ok, there was the whole Billy being shot thing, and Starbuck no longer being top gun, but other than that).
(Spoilers)
The one thing about this last episode that bothered me is that it was totally obvious that Lee was going to be promoted to commander. An interesting part of the last episode was the abortion debate. Having just 50,000 humans left should have a bearing on the answer to whether abortion should be legal. I am actually in favor of incentives for having children rather than limiting choice. The one problem I had with the episode was that they totally ignored the individual. No one ever answered the question of why she wanted an abortion. In this circumstance, I think that is a very important fact.

Tired

Yay for three-day weekends. Almost four days cause I had a class canceled today which meant I only had class from 8:30-9:45. I was up all night the night before last, so I am tired. At least I got my damn first draft of my brief done. That's why it's nice that we have the long weekend to rest up. It's the first time in four years that I've had Presidents' day off. It's exciting. We used to call UNH the University of No Holidays.

When I got home today I watched the U.S. Women's Hockey team lose to Sweden in the semi-final. I was kinda sad. They still have a chance to win a bronze in the consolation game, so it's not over.

I'm excited about the new show "Conviction" that's starting after the Olympics on NBC. It's about young prosecutors in N.Y. and I want to be prosecutor so I guess that's my attraction. A new Battlestar Galactica is on tonight, so I'll probably record it on DVR because the Olympics are on. I've really enjoyed watching them. I don't really know much about a lot of the games, but it's fun to be able to root on your country (speaking of games I don't know much about and supporting my country, the U.S. Women's Curling team is pretty good looking).

Anyone else out there read Ctrl+Alt+Del? If not, you should. It's a great web comic by a guy named Tim Buckley. For those who do read it, can you believe that Ethan asked Lilah to marry him? Certainly surprised me. The way he did it was awesome though. Loserz (another webcomic I read) has been updating pretty regularly lately (two at a time some days) and todays comics are pretty good.

Something else I'm tired of is all this talk about Cheney and the hunting accident. It was an accident, it's over, get over it!!! Yes, I was apalled that they were hunting illegally. Yes, I can't believe the Vice President shot a guy. But people, quit politicizing it!!! Just be happy that the guy is ok, and move on. There are so many other criticisms that could be made of the VP that I am really sick of all this.

Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day again and women are making themselves more virginal for men who are downloading porn on their ipods. (scroll down a little). Speaking of ipods, I got mine yesterday. Order it late Friday night and got it Monday afternoon.

Using the FedEx web site, I tracked the package as it made its way to Maine. It started out in Shanghai, China and left there around 12:57 p.m. on Saturday. It arrived in Anchorage, Alaska at around12:45 p.m. Saturday. That's right, it arrived before it left. Thank you international dateline. On Sunday it made it's way to Memphis Tennessee. Left there sunday afternoon, and arrived in Portland Monday morning and was at my apartment that afternoon. It's kinda neat to be able to do that.

Speaking neat technology, this ipod thing is really cool. Because I had to miss Battlestar Galactica on both Sunday and Monday, I downloaded the episode from iTunes and put it on my ipod and watched the end of it on my way to school. Too cool. I really liked this episode. I'm starting to like Battlestar Galactica more and more. Even the episodes I don't like as much are pretty high quality. Anyway, no spoilers or reviews here cause class is starting.

Taxes, iPods and legal briefs, oh my . . . God, the Olympics are on too!!!

Well, I found out about this deal you could get on iPods if you confirm that you're a student. It's a good enough deal that with my tax refund this year I'm getting' myself a 30 gig video iPod. Never thought I would. If you're a student, look into this, it's like $30 off. Anyways, yeah, I'm an early bird when it comes to taxes these days. I guess I'm a fan of filling out the old 1040EZ. Certainly makes my life EZ.

So the first draft of my legal brief is due on Thursday. It's a tough assignment. We were given a real U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) is trying to keep the worst of the worst prisoners from having access to newspapers, magazines and photos. They do this for two reasons. First, the believe that if the prisoners want to have the privilege of reading magazines and newspapers or looking at photos, they'll behave. The other reason is security. You wouldn't believe the kinds of weapons that prisoners can make using newspapers and magazines. They also use them to fling feces.

The biggest problem I have with all this is that it's indefinite. The prisoners are required to spend 90 days in this kind of confinement (called Level 2) when they are sent the Long Term Segregation Unit (LTSU; the place where they send prisoners with behavior problems). After the 90 days are up, they can get to Level 1 (where they are allowed to have newspapers, magazines and photos) of the LTSU if they behave themselves, but this judgment is made solely by the prison officials. There is no time limit as to how long they can be deprived of newspapers, magazines and photos. Some of them have been in Level 2 for years. There are other problems I have with this, but I was assigned to the DOC side, so I have to put them behind me. The DOC lost in the Federal Appeals court. Guess who was the lone third circuit dissenter. If you guessed Samuel Alito, you're right.

This just in in Olympic news: Michelle Kwan is dropping out. I guess it was just her time. Jess and I have both got Olympic fever. I'm going to do everything I can to not turn on the tv to watch the women's ice hockey team play Germany in a preliminary round game at 1 so that we can both get some work done.

Sick

The only thing that I didn't enjoy about my weekend was getting sick. So now I feel like crap. I missed classes on Monday, too. At least tomorrow's first class begins at 11, so I can sleep in a little. Plus, for some reason there isn't as much homework as usual for tomorrow. I guess I got sick at the right time. One thing I should do is try to write some cover letters. If you haven't seen it yet, you should check this out. It's really funny.

Back to this weeked. The Super Bowl Party at the Stollers was fun. I was in the middle of getting sick, so it was hard to focus on the game at times. It was really good seeing everyone, though. I'm glad the Steelers won, but I wish the game had been closer. My head is really foggy right now, so if you can't understand what I'm writing, or the order of events seems nonsensical, it's because I'm sick. I hate being sick. Jess isn't feeling so good either. It was nice seeing the Stollers too.

For those who don't know, my best friend for the first two years of college was Corey Stoller. He died after sophomore year of Cancer. It's called osteo-sarcoma. It's a bone cancer. Corey was inspirational in my life. I'm sure he touched so many other lives too. He was my roommate both Freshman and Sophomore years, but when I met him I felt like I had known him so much longer. I miss him a lot. Seeing his parents is always nice. Since Sophomore year, we have spent the Super Bowl at their house. We also see them every year on or around Corey's birthday and usually on the anniversary of his death. June 12. He was so full of life it's so hard to think that he's dead.

Enough of that. Jess and I are debating a trip to D.C. for spring break. My brother and his wife live in northern Va. and would probably put us up for a few days. Might be fun.

One final note. Something I thought was funny: during a vote by the Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives to replace their leader with one who would stem the tide of corruption, the intial vote-count was higher than the number of Republicans in the house. Sounds like their corruption is hindering their ability to stop corruption.

----------------------------------------------
Here's some news:

From IMDb:
Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal is being touted as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent in the next Batman sequel, along with Paul Bettany, who may play the Joker. Gyllenhaal would play Gotham City's good-guy lawyer, who mutates into his alter-ego, Two-Face, in the third film. In the sequel, Batman would team with Harvey Dent to destroy the Joker, according to moviehole.net. Tommy Lee Jones formerly played Dent/Two-Face on the big screen in Batman & Robin. Star Christian Bale is set to return, as well as Michael Caine as butler Alfred.

Two crazy guys!

So, it's 2AM and I must be lonely...wait, I'm an hour early. So, I should be writing a paper for class, but I decided to take a break.

So there are these two guys, the first is Fred Phelps. Some of you may know of Phelps as the proprieter of the website www.godhatesfags.com. Well, he's at it again. This time, he and his fellow rabble rousers are picketing the funerals of Katrina victims and the victims of the mine accidents in West Virginia proclaiming that god has caused these tragedies because of our godless ways (AKA homosexuality and the condoning homsexuality). He's really sick in the head. The worst thing is that his entire family, which also happens to be his parrish, is made up of lawyers. They all know their first amendment rights, and will do anything they can to evade the legislatures and courts that will try to prevent them from picketing funerals. It sickens me. Oh yeah, and he's picketing the funeral of Corretta Scott King. Your guess is as good as mine why he picked that one!

So the second crazy guy I wanted to write about is the Attorney General of Kansas. He's way out in right field too. Apparently he's tried to pass several laws in Kansas in order to gain access to abortion records, and has failed each time. If you have any time at all, read this article. The author does more justice in telling the story than I could. The gist of it is basically that this guy's latest scheme is a law that requires any health/socialwork/psychology professional to report if a minor has engaged in "sexual activity." Apparently this law is so vague that it has been construed as requiring a nurse to report to authorities if a 15 year-old has been making out with her 16-year-old boyfriend. Apparently both could be guilty of a crime if this happens. Read the article.

State of the Union

Watched the State of the Union last night. If you didn't get to see it, you can read it here. One of the most interesting things about watching the speech is seeing who gets up and claps for what. Most of the time, either one side of the room(republicans), or the other (democrats) gets up to clap. One particularly funny moment was when Bush said, "Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security," and the democrats all got up to clap, mocking him. At least it was funny to me. Some of my conservative friends didn't think it as funny.

All in all it was a pretty good speech. He talked a lot about the military, which of course got a him tons of applause from most of the people in the room because no one wants to look like they don't support our troops. I think the best way to support our troops is to bring them home, but that's just me. Other than that, Bush said a lot of things I disagree with, and a few things that I agree with. There was at least one policy initiative that I thought was particularly a good idea. Unfortunately, the media commentators said there were very few policy statements in the speech that actually could make it through congress. Fortunately, reforming corruption was one of them.

I'm looking forward to watching the Daily Show for commentary about the speech...

In other news, Justice Alito was confirmed yesterday. Don't like him much. Fortunately five of the nine seats on the Supreme Court are still occupied by Justices I would label as "reasonable."

----

Woh there, just got sucked into a conversation about Intelligent Design. The hypothesis that some biological structures on this earth are too complex to be explained by Evolutionary Theory and therefore had to be created by some intelligence, either alien, or supernatural. That's where I can't make the leap of faith. Just because something can't be proven by Evolutionary Theory doesn't mean that divine, spiritual or extraterrestrial intelligence is the only other explanation for it. That's just scary. Many have accused the creators of this hypothesis (some call it a theory, but it's untestable, so I don't give it that kind of respect) using it as a mask for creationism in order to get it into public schools. I tend to want to agree with those people. It does seem to be very creationist. If these are two competing Theories, it would be hard for Evolution to compete. How can science compete with faith. Creationism is something you really have to believe in and won't fall apart no matter how much supposed "testing" you do. Evolution, on the other hand, is something that has been truly tested many times, and will continue to be tested. That makes it science.

oh Chuck Norris...

I know some of you have seen this, but I thought it was funny. Plus I don't have time for a real entry today. I owe you one. I'll get to it soon.

1. Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer. too bad he has never cried

2. Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother's womb. shortly thereafter he grew a beard

3. Chuck Norris does not sleep. he waits.

4. Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparallelled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalised, chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second wednesday of the month.

5. Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

6. Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, chuck met all 3 bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.

7. It takes a big man to cry, but it takes Chuck Norris to laugh at him.

8. Chuck Norris is what's eating Gilbert Grape.

9. To prove it isn't that big a deal to beat cancer, chuck norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and acquired 7 different kinds of cancer, only to rid them from his body by flexing his muscles for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong

10. The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain

11. Chuck Norris throws stones in glass houses

12. Chuck Norris can make a woman climax simply by pointing at her and saying "booya"

13. If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death

14. There are no disabled people, only people who have angered Chuck Norris

15. Chuck Norris doesn't read books, he simply stares them down until he gets the information that he needs

16. Chuck Norris lost his virginity before his Dad did.

17. Chuck Norris won Jumanji without ever saying the word. He simply beat the living tar out of everything that was thrown at him and the game forfeited.

18. Chuck Norris once knocked out Mike Tyson in a bare knuckle boxing match... with both hands tied behind his back.

19. Chuck Norris shot down a German plane in world war two by pointing his finger at it and saying "bang"

20. Chuck Norris died ten years ago, but the Grim Reaper can't pluck up the courage to tell him.

21. Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse.... horses are hung like Chuck Norris.

22. after much debate, president truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was more humane.

23. Chuck Norris doesn't shave, he kicks himself in the face. the only thing that can cut Chuck Norris is chuck norris.

24. chuck norris frequently signs up for beginners karate classes, just so he can "accidentally" beat the tar out of little kids.

25. the quickest way to a mans heart is with chuck norris's fist.

26. chuck norris owns neither microwave nor oven. when he is hungry, he simply shouts "BAKE" at his food, and out of fear it instantly catches fire.

27. One day chuck norris looked in the mirror and said "no one outstares chuck!". He is still there to this day.

28. before each filming of walker:texas ranger, chuck norris is injected with 5 times the lethal dose of elephant tranquiliser. This is of course to limit his strength and mobility, in an attempt to lower the fatality rate of the actors that he fights.

29. Chuck Norris can eat a Rubix Cube and poop it out fully solved.

30. When Chuck Norris's wife burned the turkey one thanksgiving, Chuck said "don't worry about it honey" and went into his backyard. He came back 5 minutes later with a live turkey, ate it whole, and when he threw it up a few seconds later it was fully cooked and came with cranberry sauce. When his wife asked him how he had done it, he gave her a roundhouse kick to the face and said "Never question Chuck Norris".

Interesting

Your 2005 Song Is

Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day "My shadow's the only one that walks beside me My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating" In 2005, you bummed everyone out. Like you care.

What Hit Song of 2005 Are You?

I really like that song.

How am I supposed to focus on applying for jobs when I have so much other work to do?

That is the question I keep asking myself. Also it's tough when you know that you might not be able to travel out of the city and I'm also below a lot of my competition (fellow 1Ls) grade-wise. It's really hard to concentrate on anything these days. I have this big writing assignment due on Friday, that I haven't really started actually writing yet.

I talked to Courtney today for the first time in, like, forever. It's weird because she's down in Manchester, NH and I'm up in Portland. This is weird because I used to live in Concord, NH and she used to live near Portland. I think she works at Concord Hospital now.

My friend Tamara, a classmate, said we might have a snow day tomorrow because the weather doesn't look too good. I hope she's right. Maybe I'll be productive this time. I have so much work to get done.

There are a few places I'd like to work, so I have to write a bunch of cover letters. I also have to call or e-mail some people who will make good references. I hope that somehow I'll be able to find Professor Krislov's e-mail address or Phone number. He was kind of my mentor in college and he would make a very good reference. I'm kinda teetering about calling Professor Cohn, because she and I didn't really get a long all that well. She did give me an A- on my thesis though. We'll see.

Smallville was good, but I was hoping Lana would die. I really am starting to not like her character. Even when she knew and said yes to Clark, it bothered me because I knew that it couldn't really happen if the show would stay in accordance with mainstream Superman lore. I'm going to miss John Schneider. I really liked his portrayal of Johnathan Kent.

Battlestar Galactica was pretty cool this week. I've always been an Apollo fan, but I like him even more now. I think he did the right thing in the end.

Well, I should get back to work.

Snow Day

Yesterday was a snow day. It was nice to have the day off and everything, but I didn't get any work done. I get so lazy sometimes. I really need to start pushing myself more. I need to work harder.

Did anyone else read about this. It's so sad. I saw the mother being interviewed on TV and it almost made me cry. Sounds like one of the most horrible things that can happen to a person, to have all your kids and your father die in one day. I don't know how I would go on. Horrible stuff.

More sadness (though not nearly as sad): The West Wing is leaving the air. I'm really gonna miss that show, even though there were moments where I just wanted certain episodes to end, even in the latter years they still came up with a gem or two now and again. I guess I'll have one last show to keep track of.

Anyways, tonight is the 100th Episode of Smallville and I am very excited for that. Someone is going to die. And...Spoilers/theories...







Clark is going to ask Lana to marry him and tell her the truth about his powers. My thought is that this makes Lana a prime target for death. The producers have said that anyone can die, and they didn't limit it to people who aren't alive or don't exist in official Superman canon (movies or comics) e.i. Chloe or Jonathan Kent. I still think that Jonathan is the most likely candidate, with his previous dealings with Jor-El and his heart condition (though they say who ever dies is going to die in a car accident.) A suprise to me is that this death is all storyline based, it's not because someone wanted to leave the show. Apparently the person who dies took it well, though.

Damn!

Jess got into an accident on her way home from school yesterday. She's ok, physically, but she's still shaken up about the whole thing, and we're sure to take a financial beating. Luckily it was just her, and no other cars were involved. She was changing lanes and a patch of ice sent her off the road and into the guard rail. The damage to the car isn't terrible, but it'll still cost us a pretty penny because I don't have collision car insurance coverage. There's a long shot that Jess's insurance can cover it. One can always hope. I'm just glad Jess is alright.

So, Sam Alito made it through the judiciary comittee. My Constitutional Law professor says he doesn't think Roe is in jeopardy, but what is dangerous is that Alito and those in his cohort (scalia, thomas) believe in the power of the executive and don't believe in the power of congress. Having an all powerful executive is a scary thing, as any political scientist would tell you. In Alito's records there is a document that he wrote supporting something called the Executive Signing Statement. Now these are old news to White House insiders, but the way in which Bush has used them is to expand the executive power. An executive signing statement is a note (mostly in legalese) that the president attaches to a bill when he signs it into law. In the case of the anti-torture bill that McCain convinced Bush to sign, the signing statement was tantamount to saying that the executive could disobey this law in certain situations. Executives aren't supposed to legislate, and I think that these signing statements are unconstitutional. And Bush has had more of them than any other President.

Anyway, it looks like Alito will be confirmed, albeit along party lines.

I wish I had more time...

I watch too much football. I love it, but I spend too much time doing it. I was really bummed out over the pats losing last week, yet I still caught both games today. One of my close friends is a Bronco fan, so of course I was happy to see them lose. I'm an AFC man all the way, so I guess I'll be rooting for the Steelers, and it'll be nice to root for the underdog. Don't always get to do that. They have a good chance against the Seahawks, though.

The reason I wish I had more time is that I'm constantly thinking of things I would like to do. Sometimes my constant thinking is at the expense of the moment. I guess in that way I'm glad I have this blog. I can't some stuff off my chest much quicker this way. With that said, it's not the best arrangement ever, because even now I should be doing homework. You'd be surprised how 40 pages of reading can be when you have analyze every little detail. I should be up pretty late. I don't mind though.

Jess, my fiancee, got ten dollars from her great aunt for Christmas. It's nice because she never sees her great aunt, and also her great aunt doesn't have all that much money. Makes me sad. I got some money from my grandfather. Neither of us are nearly as in touch as we'd like to be with our elders. It's tough. Another reason we need more time. I have so much studying to do, and every chance I have to talk to my Grandfather could be my last chance. It's sad. He's turning 89 on Jan 26th, I think. Could be ninety. I hope I remember to give him a call. I hope I have time. Ok, I should get back to my work. These selfish posts are good once in a while I guess. I'll try to be more informative and in tune with current events or entertainment with my next post.

Underworld: Evolution

What can I say: A solid flick. I found that I enjoyed Underworld: Evolution much more than I thought I would. The special effects were incredible. The story was fast paced. And of course, Seline was hot.

I was amazed at how much plot this movie actually had, and how well it followed the second. I have no doubt that there will be a third, and I'll pay to see that one on the big screen too. For a proper review, I'll need to incorporate spoilers. With that said, SPOILERS AHEAD.




Didn't mean for that to rhyme.

Anyways, the movie starts off where the last one left off. Seline and Michael are on the move, and Kraven, is still an asshole. While the two heroes are hiding out, he's heading to the Vampire Leader Storage area to kill Marcus. What he doesn't realized (and what anyone who saw the first movie should have realized) is that Marcus is already awake and empowered by the Lycan blood that spilled down into his sleep chamber when the Lycan scientist was killed by Viktor. Marcus goes on a warpath and kills Kraven and his goons, absorbing the memories from Kraven's blood to help him get back with the story so far (this type of thing also helps this movie remain self-contained despite the fact that it's a sequel; you don't have to see the first one to enjoy and understand the second one, though it helps a bloody lot). Long and short of it, he sees the amulet that Lucien had and Michael now wears and it interests him.

Then, Marcus goes to hunt down Seline and Michael and after a pretty cool fight, Seline and Marcus both need to get out of the open because it's morning. All the while, a mysterious old man is investigating what happened to Seline's coven, using photos and video tapes of stuff that happened in the first movie. He cuts open Viktor and removes something.

After sunset, and some Seline and Michael sex, our heroes set out to find a historian that Seline helped Viktor cast into exile so they can help explain all this interest in the amulet (during the Marcus/Michael fight, Marcus tries to get the amulet, but is unsuccessful). The Exile tells them about how Marcus has a brother who was the first werewolf (who we saw in a prologue part of the movie) and that it was Marcus and not Viktor who was the eldest vampire. In fact, Viktor was not born a vampire, but turned by Marcus. The story is told that Marcus's brother is locked up somewhere and the amulet is one key to the prison and the second key is actually under Viktor's flesh (at this point your guessing it's the thing the mysterious old man removed). The Exile tells Seline and Michael to find a guy named Lorenzo or something like that and after Seline and Michael leave, he is killed by Marcus and Marcus gathers all this information from his blood memory. The Lorenzo guy turns out to be Alexander Corvinus who lives on a boat. He is the father of Marcus and his brother who has been doomed to walk to the planet as an immortal. He explains to Michael that he is his forefather, and to both of our heroes that he has been travelling europe cleaning up after the mess his sons have made. He has always felt bad for mankind and stuff.

Then Marcus comes and kills Michael and Alexander, grabs the key and flies away. Alexander tells Seline to drink some of his blood to give her more power, and then she and a team of Alexanders elite troops flies to the location of Marcus's brothers prison (hidden to Marcus until now because Seline's real family were the ones who built the tomb and its location was hidden in her "blood memory" which Marcus was able to absorb just enough of during the fight on Alexander's boat [this is also the reason Viktor killed Seline's family: to keep the prison's location a secret]). Then the final confrontation happens. This is a great battle scene. Michael comes back to life to save the day, and at the end it turns out that not only did Alexander's blood give Seline the power to stop Marcus and his brother, but she can now survive in sunlight.

So, yeah, other than the whole "blood memory" thing, which wasn't a terrible device, I didn't have too many complaints. This was a good movie. The fight scenes were awesome and the pace (one of the most important parts of movies in my book) was excellent. Go see Underworld: Evolution!

My first post

So, this is a blog. Yay. What do I do here? I don't know. I guess it's time to start posting regularly. Anyways, I'm a law student in Maine. I live with my fiancee Jess. That's about it for information.

I am going to do my best to comment on current events and not so current events that are relevant to life. I hope I don't offend anyway, but most of the time I'll be telling the truth. Or just being ironic. and both those things tend to offend people.