Miscellaneous

The Beatles, reconsidered."It is

Posted on September 09, 2009
The Beatles, reconsidered."It is not easy to categorize the Beatles? music; more than any other group, their sound can be described as ?Beatlesque.? It?s akin to a combination of Badfinger, Oasis, Corner Shop, and every other rock band that?s ever existed...

Here's a harsh assessment of Norman

Posted on September 04, 2009
Here's a harsh assessment of Norman Mailer, from Commentary. I think it is unfair to reduce Mailer's work to its worst qualities. Algis Valiunas can't bring himself to admit that "Armies of the Night" is funny and insightful, or that "Advertisements for Myself" is worthwhile.

Bruce Eaton has been writing about

Posted on September 03, 2009
Bruce Eaton has been writing about the concerts he booked as a student at Hobart & William Smith. Today's post is about how he brought Bruce Springsteen into town, and is pretty great.

We went to Julie & Julia over the

Posted on September 02, 2009
We went to Julie & Julia over the weekend. Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but my gosh Nora Ephron is a lazy filmmaker. I suppose the critical decision was to use the blog as a hook, rather than just making a movie about Julia Child. I enjoyed the blog when it was an ongoing project, but making a movie about blogging is like making a movie about sending email...

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Nice list of things to avoid in

Posted on September 01, 2009
Nice list of things to avoid in brief writing (registration required)." Lawyers believe that a formal writing such as a brief must use "official," meaning pompous or inflated, language. Not true. You are writing for a very overworked audience that has no time or patience for inflated language such as "in the instant case" or "in the matter at bar" when "this case" perfectly and clearly expresses the same idea...

A and the rest went peach-picking,

Posted on August 31, 2009
A and the rest went peach-picking, and the thought was that peaches would be nice with ribs, so I rubbed a rack down with Cajun spice and put it in the smoker. I melted some peach jam in a little white wine, and added the blueberry compote I had left over from breakfast, then I chopped a jalapeno and threw that in to bring some heat...

Just finished Victor Bockris'

Posted on August 27, 2009
Just finished Victor Bockris' Keith Richards: The Biography which is, I suppose, as good as Keef scholarship is likely to get for a while. It's a good read, best, I think, on Richards' early life and the very early days of the Stones; weakest towards the end...

I'm sad about Ted Kennedy, who

Posted on August 26, 2009
I'm sad about Ted Kennedy, who was probably no more flawed than most people, although his flaws were more visible. Giving every possible benefit of the doubt Senator Kennedy's death leaves us with eleven senators that are worth a damn, and I'm not seeing a towering leader among any of them...

When TCA was in town she heard

Posted on August 20, 2009
When TCA was in town she heard a bit of Bob Dylan's radio program as we were driving around. "Where's he from?" she asked, and when I told her Hibbing, Minnesota, she said, "Then why does he talk like that?" It wasn't really a question: TCA was saying that Dylan's distinctive twang is an affectation-- as phony as the stories he tells about running off with the rodeo when he was 12...

Top Ten Worst Rock'n'Roll Career

Posted on August 19, 2009
Top Ten Worst Rock'n'Roll Career Moves. A little too Brit centered (or 'centred') but who could resist this photograph of the Killer and his bride?

The main reason to go to Keggers

Posted on August 14, 2009
The main reason to go to Keggers of Yore is to see if there are any pictures of you there. I couldn't find any, but I'm pretty sure I've been to some of those parties.

A moment of silence for Les Paul,

Posted on August 13, 2009
A moment of silence for Les Paul, a great musician, and inventor of technologies that made modern music possible.

I have pretty much worked out the

Posted on August 12, 2009
I have pretty much worked out the list of what we will be watching in my Lawyers in Movies class this semester. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions; chances are you will recognize your contributions. Subject to last minute fine-tuning, by year of release:Counselor At Law (1933)Miracle on 34th Street (1947)Witness for the Prosecution (1957)Anatomy of a Murder (1959)Inherit the Wind (1960)To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)The Fortune Cookie (1966)The Paper Chase (1973)?And Justice for All (1979)The Verdict (1982)Class Action (1991)My Cousin Vinny (1992)A Civil Action (1998)Legally Blonde (2001)Laws of Attraction (2004)Michael Clayton (2007)Three movies from this century, three from the sixties...

Budd Schulberg's dead. I'd have

Posted on August 07, 2009
Budd Schulberg's dead. I'd have guessed that he died years ago. He is a figure from another time, but "What Makes Sammy Run?" has still got to be on anyone's list of great Hollywood novels, and "On the Waterfront" (A's personal favorite movie) is one of those rare movies where the acting, the writing and the direction are all so sublime that the thing can be re-watched for years and still yield new nuances.

Yes' desecration of Paul Simon's

Posted on August 01, 2009
Yes' desecration of Paul Simon's "America" came on the radio, and LCA was appalled. I told her Jon Anderson had it in mind to fix the song by adding loads more cow bell, and then she understood.

The other night I was sleeping

Posted on July 31, 2009
The other night I was sleeping the sleep of the innocent when I was jolted awake by A's elbow. "There's something flying around," she said. As consciousness gradually dawned I saw that, in fact, there was something flying around-- and it appeared to be quite a bit bigger than anything I was eager to engage...

Lessons learned from the ER."Stay

Posted on July 30, 2009
Lessons learned from the ER."Stay away from people named "Some Guy" or "This One Dude", because they for whatever reason, just punch someone in the face or hit them with a crowbar and run off. If I see them on the street, I cross the street to get away from them...

Wishbone Ash. Uriah Heep. Hawkwind.

Posted on July 28, 2009
Wishbone Ash. Uriah Heep. Hawkwind. Nektar. Does Humble Pie belong on this list? Who else does?

East Coast vs. West Coast: Neil

Posted on July 27, 2009
East Coast vs. West Coast: Neil Young vs. Bob Dylan (via Expecting Rain.)

I think the part I like best about

Posted on July 26, 2009
I think the part I like best about the news that the Bush Administration considered bringing in the military to arrest the Lackawanna Six is the Times describing Lackawanna as a "Buffalo suburb". Lackawanna is a Buffalo suburb in pretty much exactly the way the Gary is a suburb of Chicago...

I read the Public Officer's Law,

Posted on July 23, 2009
I read the Public Officer's Law, and the applicable provision of the State Constitution, and I am inclined to believe that the Governor does not have the authority to appoint a Lieutenant Governor-- but it seems like a close call. To my way of thinking, a tie goes to the runner, so the stay that Justice William LaMarca issued probably is properly lifted...

It would be interesting to try

Posted on July 22, 2009
It would be interesting to try and expand on the idea, but I probably won't. Even so, I'll throw it out there: Sarah Palin lives in something closer to the "old, weird America" that Greil Marcus says is Dylan's great subject than any of us do. Dylan may be an Obama fan, but Palin is closer to his subject matter...

The judicial salary lawsuits are

Posted on July 21, 2009
The judicial salary lawsuits are on their way to the Court of Appeals. The Chief Judge is a plaintiff, and has recused himself, but the remaining six will hear the matter under the Rule of Necessity.

"Surface". SURFACE : A film from

Posted on July 19, 2009
"Surface". SURFACE : A film from underneath from tu on Vimeo. If you have a high speed connection, I recommend the full-screen version of this. As I continue with my "Lawyers in Movies" project one of the things I've been thinking about is the way we watch videos and movies...

To George Clinton and P-Funk last

Posted on July 17, 2009
To George Clinton and P-Funk last night, a show I've really been looking forward to. Apparently a lot of people were-- it was more mobbed than anything at Thursday in the Square I've ever seen. It was also the most racially mixed TATS show I've ever seen...

Pretty much everyone has heard

Posted on July 16, 2009
Pretty much everyone has heard that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Walkman. I like this reminiscence about the cassette format, which really was pretty sweet. Audio gear in general was a lot more interesting back then. You had your metal tapes, and your chrome high-bias tapes, and people had brand preferences (I was a Maxell chrome guy, which to my ears was the best sounding, and the best value)...

At Five Thirty Eight Andrew Gelman

Posted on July 15, 2009
At Five Thirty Eight Andrew Gelman writes about Protestants, Catholics, and Jews on the Supreme Court. The whole post is interesting, but what caught my eye was the statement that "there's some ambiguity as to whether Episcopalians should be characterized as Protestant"...

Nobody else seems prepared to come

Posted on July 15, 2009
Nobody else seems prepared to come out and say it, so I will. You don't have women, or African-Americans, or Latinas on the Supreme Court because the women, or African-Americans, or Latinas will rule differently than the old white guys; you have them there so the old white guys will rule differently...

"Take Me To The River" came on

Posted on July 14, 2009
"Take Me To The River" came on the radio the other day-- the Talking Heads' cover, not the Al Green original-- and it got me thinking about great second albums. I suppose there are more of them than we think, but the sophomore jinx is certainly real enough for it to be a happy surprise when overcome...

The NYTimes asked seven "legal

Posted on July 13, 2009
The NYTimes asked seven "legal experts" what questions they would like to hear Judge Sonia Sotomayor answer at her confirmation hearing. One of these nominal experts is Alberto Gonzales, once thought likely to be the first Latino Supreme Court Justice, and presently occupying the Bobby Knight Visiting Professor Chair in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech...

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