Monday, May 29, 2006

A Weather Related Update and Story

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the quasi-regularly updated site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. You've probably guessed it, it is time to post something on this blog.

I've lived in Kansas all of my life, but I am not a fan of the weather. Especially when it's the summer.
I really hate it when it is 90+ degrees outside and sticky and humid. My shirt just sticks onto my back and I hate that feeling. Then again, I know some people who actually enjoy this type of weather, as it reminds them of home, where it is always like this or those who enjoy hot weather. Those people are, in my opinion, very strange. What even sucks more is when the AC goes out.
I don't mind the severe weather like thunderstorms and lightning and torrential rain and hail. I guess I like seeing stuff like that outside my window. I get a kick out of shows that show video clips of natural disasters. Especially when they show a tornado blowing through a neighborhood or a volcano spewing out molten lava onto houses.

Then again, I once spent a summer at Harvard University when I was in high school. This was in 1999. If you've ever read the materials they send out (describing the university and the housing), one would think that such an august establishment of higher learning would have excellent housing. At least dorms with heating and cooling. Nope.
Since this was a historical university and since I was just a high school student, the dorms were the freshman dorms. The ones without central air, as renovations would be too costly. And besides, it rarely gets "hot" in Boston. All a bunch of lies. It regularly was in the lower to mid nineties, thereby making the dorm room temperatures get up to the upper eighties or low nineties. The guys in Wigglesworth A, Room 101, "appropriated" several fans from the Harvard Rental place. This dropped the temperature to a bearable level. When combined with open windows and other means, it was somewhat pleasant. This is all relative, as somewhat pleasant was something like near eighty.
This made studying inside the dorm a nasty thing. You could read something mundane as a book on political science (not the most exciting material) and five minutes later, be as sweaty as a jockstrap worn by a 300 pound offensive lineman. I spent as much time outside the dorm as possible. Preferably in a building with blessedly cold air conditioning.
Which reminds me, not that many buildings on campus had air conditioning. The newer buildings like the School of Government and the Law School had AC, but the other much older buildings in Harvard Yard did not. Some did, but it worked..well...like a Russian Roulette game. Not fun. Even though the weather and building conditions sucked, it was an educational and fun summer for a kid from Kansas.

That's all for now.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Weekend Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only semi-regularly updated site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. At least it's the only site of its kind that I know of that does any updates about this topic. Yeah, so this is it. The only one, unless there is another site around the Web that I don't know of. This post, I will have to warn you, will be totally random and may sound like something a drunken recollection or a society column written by a vapid party-person. Which I am not.
Anyways...I went to a party on Friday and saw a bunch of people from the law school over there. Nice to see them for, what is possibly, the only time before the new fall semester begins. Unless I randomly happen to see them somewhere around in Lawrence like at a store. Highly unlikely. I am a man of shadows and I silently lurk and creep. Sorry. Had to get that out of the system.
I did have an amusing time watching people drink copious amounts of beer and other assorted beverages that most likely contained alcohol, like the suspect red liquid that most likely was cherry Kool-Aid or fruit punch spiked with liqour. Ah...and done with true diva style and flair. Few people could pull it off with such (excuse me while I use a style of English I rarely use) fantabulous diva-esque skills. To be so lucky to be in this person's presence. Wow...that was scary. Anyways...back to the red liquid. I'm guessing it was Kool-Aid. To use some law jargon that really has no concrete, black and white meaning but several shades of gray, this belief was not mere suspicion, but the level for probable cause. Given last year's wonderful brown bag liqour and her reputation for doing things with style, it's very likely. You've gotta love it. An all-around all-star.
The beer pong tournament was, to say the least, interesting. Very entertaining. Especially when people start trash-talking and when certain all-women teams start beating the guys. There was one team of girls who, despite claiming a lack of beer-pong knowledge or skills, took a game to triple overtime. Whenever you hear stuff like that, be careful, as one of them or both, will turn out to be a natural at the game. Or they will make clutch shots when it counts. Squirting Coca Cola out of one's nose adds to the fun factor. That and when the all-girl team starts doing "distractions" like the ever-popular and crowd-pleasing hip gyrations and other bar-dancing moves, it's even a more interesting time. Fun. Oh so fun. I wish I had taken pictures. Lots of them. As the trite phrase goes, you should have been there in person.
I did take some pictures as the unofficial "random picture" person. I didn't take too many as the battery went out and I had to replace that. I also, despite my several years of computer science, am not very good with technology. It took a while to learn how to operate the thing. Well, I did manage to take pictures of people, but by that time, quite a few people left. But I did manage to get some pretty interesting ones. Like the picture of the beer keg, the aftermath of the beer pong tournament, complete with empty cups, some action pictures of the games in progress, and some very random shots. Not a bad job, but probably could have been done much better. Richard Avedon, I am not. All in all, it was a pretty cool time. Enjoyed it.

In other news...I am planning on writing another novel for NaNoWriMo 2006, as it went so well last time. No law school related novel this time. Something different, like one of those fiction paperbacks you find at airplane bookshops. Lots of action and guns blazing. At least I will make good use of all the odd and random information floating around in my head.

That's all for now.

Friday, May 19, 2006

It's Friday, Time to Update

"I don't care if Monday's blue
Tuesday's grey and Wednesday too
Thursday I don't care about you
It's Friday I'm in love
Monday you can fall apart
Tuesday Wednesday break my heart
Thursday doesn't even start
It's Friday I'm in love
Saturday wait
And Sunday always comes too late
But Friday never hesitate..."
-The Cure, "Friday I'm In Love"


Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site that I know of on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. Using the government's idea of what considers accurate accounting, over a million people have visited this site. Yes, that many people have visited this site. Oh...that counter thingy down there doesn't read a million...I see. Please disregard the counter on the bottom. It's all wrong. Totally wrong.

To sum up this week's events...nothing much happened. I finished another semester of law school by taking four finals in 48 hours. That's pretty much it with law school until August. One of my friends from my days in Manhattan got engaged, so I'm happy for her. I'm going to a party tonight and following that with a nice weekend before the next week starts.
What? I'm actually going to a party? That's pretty strange coming from me, as I generally avoid social events. I go to WIL Pub Night and I went to a law school function once, but that's it. This is quite possibly, one of the few non-law school related events I go to. Which tells you something. I have no social life. That's it. One cannot conclude anything else from that statement. Or I have other reasons to go there.
Like listening to super-loud music. Or seeing law school students play beer pong with drunken abandon. This is where one sees how, despite drinking lots of adult beverages made from the fermentation of hops, malt, and other grains, law school students have some vestiges of hand-eye coordination. It's quite a show.
OK, I go there for the people watching. I find it fascinationg. One could say that I'm a natually-born watcher. It's pretty amusing to just see people and how they interact with each other and with the environment. Especially when they've had one drink too many and are losing their sense of social inhibition and/or their motor skill coordination.
So I'm amused by watching drunk people, tempered with a tinge of guilt and mortification. It's kind of like watching an accident waiting to happen in slow motion. It probably sounds pretty tacky or blase, but face it, it is pretty fun to watch drunk people. Especially when you're sober and can remember it all. As a Greek proverb states, "I fear the man who drinks water and so remembers this morning what the rest of us said last night." Well, I'm the guy who stays sober and remembers things very well. Be careful...
This should be very fun for all involved. Now I must prepare for this drunken reverie that is for a good cause, just like any other event involving large amounts of alcohol.

That's all for now.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Finals...Part Two

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the somewhat regularly updated site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for a post-final, but not over with them update.

I just finished my first final for today. Yes, I have another one after this at 2:00 PM. Yes, I have four finals in two days. And yes, I have mentioned this fact for the gazillionth freaking time already. And yes, I will say for the gazillionth time that I must be crazy, stupid, a masochist, or a combination of all three for even doing this endeavor when I could have done something less strenuous. But I'm still standing and still functioning, so I guess I am doing OK for now. I may not be after I take the final final today. My last final until December 2006. Then it starts all over again. I just love law school.

I guess that trying to study for four finals in such a short amount of time has messed with my reading skills. I was writing my eassy down for International Economic Law and I guess I failed to note that the professor wanted the answer written in a specific format. Mr. Murphy struck and when I realized that fact, I was halfway done. And I had written it in ink, as per instructions. Now wasn't that stupid?
So I decided to rewrite the whole thing again in a brand new bluebook, as one can never be too sure if the professor will take off points for not following the instructions. This is law school, of course, and every point counts when you have an inanely foolish thing called a "madatory curve" that will mess up your chances of getting an A, but will most likely give people who really deserve an F a gentleman's C. It happens quite a bit at law school. Though some professors actually give people D's and F's for doing a major work of suckage on finals. Very rare. Very rare. Yes, I rewrote the entire essay over again. I really must be crazy to do that. Next time, I shall read the instructions a bit closer. This does not bode well for my future lawyer skills.
Yay. I have a Professional Responsibilty exam at 2:00 PM. Must have lunch first. That and quite possibly a large amount of caffeine to keep me awake. Must preserve some brain cells.

That's all for now.

Monday, May 15, 2006

Finals...Part One

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the no-so-ready-for-consistent-posting blog devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for one of those updates.


I've got about an hour before I take my first law school final today. After a lunch break, I've got another final. First is Payment Systems and then comes Land Transactions. Oh the joy. Oh the unbridled joy. I just can't wait. Actually, I can wait, but if I did, I probably would not show up for the final and fail the class, thereby making this situation worse. And that doesn't look good on the ol' transcript and it makes for embarassing conversations with lawyers and other law school students...
As if that wasn't fun enough, I have two more finals tomorrow. International Economic Law and yes, Professional Responsibility. Oh, that should be such a great way to top off a lovely finals schedule. I really should look at the finals schedule and make better class selections.
But I don't. I must be a sucker for punishment. Or really dumb. Or I like the classes so much that I couldn't care less. Or a combination of all of the above. Either way, I won't be having much fun tonight.

Well, on a different note, congrats to all the law school students graduating this year. Some of you, I have been well acquainted with like Lowenthal, "Mac Daddy" MacRoberts, DiPasquale, and others I failed to mention. I know that you all will be having fun preparing for the most important test of your future career...the bar exam. Now that will be a really good time. Actually, it won't be that fun, but I'm just being sarcastic.

That's all for now.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Interesting Books I've Read

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Information Superhighway (the only one that I know of at this moment) devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for yet another post to this ever-growing site, now approaching 200 posts without any connection.

As you probably guessed from the title of this post, this is about interesting books that I have read, which probably numbers in the hundreds, if not thousands, as I tend to read a lot. Well, thousands as in number of books I have read, not the number of interesting books. That made no sense. OK, I've read a freaking lot of books, much to the detriment of my social life, which, at this moment, is very lacking or nonexistent. Well, here are some books that I've recently read and found interesting...

The first interesting book is called Duelling Idiots and other Probability Puzzlers. The questions the author poses involve various topics like how to ask an embarrassing question, what's the average length of the World Series, and a strange version of a duel that involves playing Russian Roulette. Thoroughly entertaining if you like math. I like math and I found it particularly scary since I read the explanations and understood the math involved (multivariable calculus, probability theory, etc). I'm a math geek. I can't help it. Even if you aren't so inclined, it's still entertaining, in a geeky kind of way. It might help you understand the mindset of math majors.

On a related note, How to Win. This book does involve math, but on a different level. As in a guide on how to do better in playing such fun games as Blackjack, Poker, Horse Racing, Roulette, etc. It was written by a former casino executive and professional gambler. The book isn't recent, but it gives solid advice on how to turn a novice gambler into a smarter gambler. As he states multiple times in the book, there is no surefire system that will automatically make you a 100% winner. There are only basic rules that can help you, in the long run, from being broke. Those deciding to gamble at Vegas or any other casino should read this nifty book.

The final book, one that I just got this afternoon is I Can't Believe You Asked That, a book devoted to questions that people generally don't ask in public. Questions like "Do Caucasians see lawn care as basic home maintenance, or is it more of a hobby" or "Why don't many women have motor skills" or "Why do so many mentally disabled people have such poor-looking haircuts and 'nerdy' clothing?" Some of the questions just seem to be questions based purely upon stereotypes, such as the questions I have quoted above. Well, to be honest, nearly every question in the books seems to be based upon stereotypes that people have. There is a related website online and some of the questions asked are just as stereotypical like "Why do Indians and Pakistanis seem to own so many businesses like hotels and gas stations?" The book also lists unanswered questions and these seem to also point out stereotypes like Chinese restaurants cooking animals other than chicken, beef, pork, or seafood like cats. Even then, it still is an amusing book, especially when the responses are just as strange and bizarre as the question being asked.

Time to go back to studying for my finals. That's all for now.

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Some More Random Stuff

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the quiet, unassuming site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. I think that it's about the right time for me to do one of those semi-regularly scheduled updates. Let's begin...

I just realized that there are a lot of cases to study for my Land Transactions final. I pay attention in class, but I was going through my notes and as I was looking through them, I'm thinking, "There sure are a lot of cases we studied in class. I better organize them..." So I spent a morning reading through the cases again and condensing them down into little paragraphs of maybe two or three sentences at most. Seeing that the professor mentioned something about putting down what page they were on in the casebook/supplement, I added in page numbers. When I was finished, I printed it off. This should allow me enough time to find what I need without spending too much time trying to look for it. Considering that the professor teaching the course enjoys giving questions with multiple parts, this might help just a bit.

There's this girl at KU Law (who is a character herself), who mentioned that I was a pretty cool, albiet strange person. Which in my book, being recognized as "cool, albiet strange" is a pretty good compliment. I generally tend to think that I am invisible and I blend in pretty well into crowds. OK, so I do have some very strange quirks and I possess a compendium of "knowledge" that most people do not even know. And I do have the habit of saying really strange things at the most inopportune time, thereby killing any conversation in a nanosecond. If you read one of my previous posts on figiuring out how to break windows, you probably would know what I am talking(er...writing) about.
Well, to make this rambling/random thread end in a semi-satisfying conclusion, she mentioned the USA Network's "Show Us Your Character" contest. This seems to be up my particular alley (the one behind the Twilight Zone). All I have to do is upload some photos, make a catchy profile, and put up a video (if I feel like putting one up). But what do I show to the world? Ah...there's the rub. So much of me to show...

Now must study for my four remaining finals next week. Four finals in 48 hours. This should prove to be interesting, though not in a particularly fun sort of way. I guess I might be some kind of test-taking masochist. Oh well. I need to rid my mind of all of the foolish and incorrect notions I have about Payment Systems, Internaional Economic Law, Professional Responsibility and Land Transactions. I wonder if I can get extra credit for putting myself through this law school exam torture? It would be nice I think. Next time, I should look at the finals schedule before making class choices. That's what all the smart people at the law school said...

That's all for now.

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Some Random Thoughts...

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet(the only one that I know of) devoted to all things related to Un. And it's updated also, making it up-to-date as well.

It's the last day of school over at KU Law, and that means one thing...the beginning of the dreaded period called Finals. I have a BA II final this Saturday afternoon and it promises to be...well...not that fun. I find it nearly impossible to study for it as the material, although involving some cases with interesting facts like the many ways of insider trading (corporate looting tactics), there is the less interesting part of the class, namely the statutes like Delaware General Corporate Law. Oh, there are a whole bunch of statutes. The Principles of Corporate Governance, the RMBCA, and a whole slew of acronyms. Most of it is tedious and dull, some of it is incomprehensible unless you parse each sentence word by word. I actually forced myself to read some of this yesterday and mostly succeeded for about an hour. Then I gave up.

I spent one morning (Tuesday, I think or was it Monday?) wondering how long it would take to break windows. I knew I was going too far when I thought about the problem from the perspective of a special-effects coordinator on a Hollywood action movie. You know, how to wire the explosive squibs as to get the most pleasing aesthetic effect if various events were to occur like a general explosion or an AH-64 attack helicopter started firing its minigun.
That led to the first failed attempt at studying BA II and the resulting random thought of "How to Hang a Big Banner From the Roof of the Law School." Of course, this wasn't the most original idea, as I recently saw a website made by students who actually did this. Their exploits are pretty humorous and the descriptions of their "missions" are surprisingly well-written for a person who graduated with a BS in Computer Science and Physics. If you've ever read anything written by a computer science major, it can be pretty difficult and poorly written, even after they take Technical Writing courses. Using their exploit as a sketchy plan, I think it might be feasible to do the same thing at Green Hall. The exact location for the banner placement...that depends. I've thought about it for a while and thought about the pros and cons of each sight.
But that would be pretty foolish to do. I mean, hanging a banner from the law school. Though it would be pretty cool. I've probably said too much already. Would this count as a conspiracy? Assuming others want to actually commit this nefarious deed.

Time to get ready for the final class of BA II, which promises to be so exciting. I just can't contain the excitement I feel. Just being sarcastic.

That's all for now.

Monday, May 01, 2006

Some Random Websites

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the site for all things related to Un. It's time for one of those updates again.

Well, yesterday's post was an emotional rant that probably should have not been posted. I guess you all now know more than you probably wanted to know about my life. I've got a bunch of issues that need to be solved, but I can't help it sometimes. It won't happen again. Or at least until I have the inexplicable urge to let you know little detainls about what I consider to be totally messed up in my personal life.

Today's update will be about random stuff I found on the web that I find to be interesting.

First up is the United States Supreme Court decision involving Anna Nicole Smith and her saga involving the probate hearing system, which after taking Estates and Trusts, seems simple on the surface, but can quickly turn into a giant morass of lies, hearsay, and accusations. Especially if the deceased is rich and the person/people inheriting have the reputation of being a gold digger, as some have considered Anna Nicole Smith. The Estates and Trusts casebook included an excerpt from the tortious interference case that started it all, complete with footnotes that talked out how Anna Nicole and J. Howard Marshall II met.
This led to a series of claims and counterclaims, all lovingly described in the case opinion by the Supreme Court. It's an interesting read, if you enjoy reading about this stuff. The US Supreme Court held that the District Court had jurisdiction over the counterclaim filed by Smith against E. Pierce Marshall. The Ninth Circuit overstepped its powers and gave itself powers it did not have. Basically, the Ninth Circuit had no jurisdiction but decided to stretch the probate exceptions until it had power to do so. This isn't so surprising as the Supreme Court has a history of laying down the judicial smackdown on the Ninth Circuit.
Now that this has all be decided by the US Supreme Court, this case will be given back to the District Court that it originated from and more time and money will be spent in deciding this messed-up case.

If this story is to be believed and if all those warnings are believed, then now would be the official time to go panic as a mild form of the avian flu has been found in New Jersey. But wait, it's not the H5N1 form, but another form of the virus. So I guess this wasn't all that important. Please wake me up when the thing has gone away.

Forgive me for posting up this site, but I find the conspiracy theory/mega-paranoia websites to be interesting, but only in a laugable way. As in "tin-foil hat" laughable. But the other stuff about the end of the world happening due to cataclysms like super-volcanoes, mega-tsunamis and World War III was stragely informative.

And an article explaining why pizza has become an American tradition despite coming from Naples, Italy, It sure beats articles about Armageddon, doesn't it?

That's all for now.