Yesterday reminded me why I love college campuses during winter break.
I spent most of the day reading in The Cube. The Cube is a square-shaped reading area attached to the student union.
The Cube is at the mouth of the Washington Avenue bridge and wedged between Washington Avenue and an off ramp. Here’s an image from wikipedia:
This seems like a horrible spot for a glass reading area, but the view is amazing.
Downtown Minneapolis is visible, and cars whizzing by are not as distracting as I expected.
During the semester The Cube is as quiet as Circuit City on Black Friday…but yesterday it was just professors and international students. I loved it.
On the way home I stopped at the House of Ho, the overpriced neighborhood grocery store. There was a sale on frozen Pizzas.
I baked a pizza for the first time a few weeks ago. Let’s just say it involved some smoke and dodging Jamie’s glares. I decided to try again and…
Great success!
I’ll probably go back to The Cube today if I can peel myself away from this marathon of The First 48. I recognize most of the places in the Miami episodes. They occasionally have a body from the neighborhood…
It’s hard watching this show sometimes. Suspects keep telling the police, “I took part in the robbery but I didn’t shoot him!” not realizing that this is enough to get convicted.
I almost wanted to cheer when a suspect finally told the cops “screw you I want a lawyer!” But then I realized, wait, he’s probably guilty. Hm.
Anyhoot, one more episode (there’s a serial killer in this one!) and I’m cutting myself off.
Oh, Law School Discussion…how I’ve missed thee. I know I’ve written about gunners before but can we just acknowledge this ridiculousness? The topic of the thread is: “How To Respond To People Calling You a Gunner?”
Gunner: Last semester I amply and vastly participated in class and I could decipher my classmates’ opinion of said participation. How best to respond to these (to put it generously) rather immature individuals?
The first response (by “Stole Your Nose!“) was rather good:
A VOGUE model is suing Google for defamation, and is calling on the search engine giant to reveal the identity of a blogger who has dubbed her an “old hag” and a “skank” on the Internet.
Liskula Cohen filed a defamation suit in New York City, in an effort to force the search-engine giant to reveal the blogger’s identity, which remains anonymous according to US reports.
The anonymous offender made the claims on the blog “Skanks in NYC” on Blogger.com, which is owned by Google.
Cohen was also dubbed “#1 skanky superstar.”
“I can’t begin to imagine why someone would post these things then hide behind a screenname,” her lawyer, Steven Wagner said, according to the New York Daily News. “I guess we’re going to have to find out.”
Cohen, who hails from Canada, has modeled for Giorgio Armani, Versace and Elle magazine.
Maybe they’re nicer in Canada – but in the US, and the rest of the world… if you take certain pictures without underbritches then someone will call you a skank. It happens. People are mean. That doesn’t mean we sue Google over every mean, anonymous person on blogspot.
Although the pictures on the offensive blog look pretty personal. And that’s creepy. (And a whole other issue.) Time for someone to check her facebook friends!
Liskula is no stranger to drama. Last year Liskula was in the news because of an interesting night in a club:
Samir Dervisevic, 25, got into a drinking-tossing dust-up with model Liskula Cohen at Ultra on West 26th Street on Jan. 14, 2007, that ended when he cracked a bottle of vodka across her face, she tearfully recalled yesterday.
She rushed to the hospital, where she received 46 stitches – 30 inside her mouth and 16 on her face – to close the gushing wound. She said she has had trouble finding work since then because of the scars. (Rest of the story here)
Although not as interesting or glamorous as Kate or Naomi, I think the tabloids have found a new lawsuit model.
Last night I watched Law & Order with a housemate.
Me: “I think I’m too scared to do family law.”
Housemate: “Why’s that?”
Me: “Some angry husband will probably kill me.”
I told him that Law & Order makes me want to apply to the district attorney’s office.
The episode involved MS-13. By the end of the episode the gang members were threatening the attorneys.
Me: “Hm. Maybe I’ll get murdered at the Prosecutor’s office too…”
Employment Law here I come!*
*The conversation is real, but said in jest… please hire me…
I’m watching In Session again. The Tyler Edmonds trial is still on. The current witness is an overweight woman with the most bizarre facial expressions. The defense attorney noticed too:
Defense Attorney: “What color is your hair?”
Witness: “Blonde.”
She then does a giggle and eye roll. (Yes, I’m serious.)
I have no idea why he asked that, but it was funny. There’s also a commentator who is obsessed with the word “porn.” Everything is ‘porn’ with this guy…including talk TV. It’s like watching a kid who has discovered a new naughty-sounding word.
One thing I forgot to mention Monday is that Joey Fulgham (the murdered man) went on the Montel Williams Show with his wife.
It was one of those “I’m dragging you on a national TV show to say I’ve been sleeping around. BOMBSHELL! YOU DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING! YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS A MAKEOVER HUH! (cut to commercial) Please forgive me baby!” shows.
She cheated. He cries and then takes her back. She murders him a few years later.
There’s probably a better way to spend my time.
My flipcam’s vacation was a little longer than mine. When I was in Miami for Christmas I left my camera in a family friend’s car. It ended up in the Florida Keys.
My mother mailed it back today. There were some left over clips from around Miami still on it. Here they are:
The other video is here.
A Minnesota Court of Appeals has cited a youtube video in an unpublished opinion.
The case is about a 14-year-old gymnast who tried this:
The girl (of course) landed on her head, was injured, and sued.
Now, it’s hard to explain the complicated vault, so this is what the court did:
Goetz began participating in gymnastics programs when she was five or six years old, and it appears from the record that she is a fairly skilled gymnast. She attempted the difficult Tsukahara vault for the first time in the autumn of 2001. When performing a Tsukahara vault, a gymnast runs along a long mat, jumps off a springboard, does a half twist, pushes off a pommel horse with her hands while upside down, does one and a half flips, and lands on her feet facing the horse.1
[….]
1 The school district cited a video of Mitsuo Tsukahara performing his namesake vault at the 1976 Olympics. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TmYqSOYZr0 (last visited Dec. 16, 2008). Goetz did not object to the citation. We found the video to be helpful.
I think this is brilliant. It would be terribly convenient for courts to create a youtube channel that contains videos of pertinent material, including depositions (instead of transcribing them in opinions)…
…heck, or even Westlaw – “Defendant robbed a bank…see the video here.”
… “Defendant cussed out judge and was thrown in jail for contempt of court…see video here.”
Sure, it might put TruTV out of business, but I still think it’s the business.
This story is via Fresh.mn Twitter and Minnesota Lawyer .
Just had an odd exchange at the Pelli Library café.
Me: “May I have a large coffee with room for cream?”
Barista: “Sure. That’ll be $2 please.”
(I hand him my Roast Masters card)
Barista: “Does this have money on it?”
Me: “I hope so.”
Lady behind me (muttering): “Smartass.”
I turn around to find a squat woman smirking at me. I shoot a nasty glare and turn back to the (horrified) Barista, ignoring the commentator.
Barista: “Uh, here’s your card. It has $12 left on it.”
Me: “Thanks.”
Dunn Brothers’ Roast Masters card is a modern punch card. You get a free bag of beans or drink with every $40 you spend.
It’s also a gift card. I put money on it so my bank account isn’t littered with $2.09 coffee charges.
It’s slightly annoying when a Barista asks me if there’s money on the card. I’m not pulling out another card or cash…so, I hope there’s money on the Roast card because otherwise we have a problem…
Can you imagine being asked if there’s money on your debit card before it’s even swiped?
The day started with TruTV , (formerly CourtTV).
I watched about an hour of the Tyler Edmonds murder trial and then went to the law school.
The law school bookstore looked like it was going out of business: a very bored manager and isles full of boxed books. All of the undergrad assistants must still be on break.
Only half of my books were available – not that I’m in any hurry – classes start in two weeks and there are no assignment sheets/syllabi online.
And no, I’m not being gunnertastic – it would be much easier to read at a leisurely pace instead of getting bitch slapped in two weeks with three new classes, job applications, and legal writing.
One of my books for Corporations is three inches thick. My book may be the sole cause of deforestation, global warming, and Seasonal Affective Disorder. The EPA should fine the publisher. The book barely fit in my locker! I eventually (after much heaving and griping) stuffed the brick in my locker.
It’s going to stay there until I get my reading assignments…
After the bookstore I went to Coffman and finished rereading The Broker by John Grisham. I then walked around campus. It was cold, but beautiful.
The only problem with this weather is that I constantly have “let it snow” in my head…
I did some shoveling and then sat down for the Law & Order “mini-marathon” on TNT. The original Law & Order is my favorite show from the franchise because there’s an actual ‘law’ part. SVU and Criminal Intent are almost strictly detective shows. If I want a detective show I’ll watch The First 48.
Winter vacation is nice, but it’s beginning to feel more like rehab than a break. I’m ready to get started again.
This morning’s episode of Banfield & Ford covered the final Joey Fulgham murder trial. Fulgham’s wife was already convicted. Today’s case was the retrial of her 13-year-old accomplice. Here’s a rundown*:
On Friday, May 9, 2003, Kristi Fulgham, who was married to the victim Joey Fulgham, picked up her thirteen-year-old half-brother, Tyler Edmonds, to take him to the Fulgham home in the Longview community as she did every other weekend. She and Tyler have the same father, Danny Edmonds.
Tyler’s videotaped confession relates the following series of events: After arriving at Kristi and Joey’s home, Tyler and Kristi went out for Subway sandwiches for dinner. After dinner, Joey went to bed, while Kristi stayed up and used the computer.
Jamie studying the science of sleep.
I stopped walking and stood in front of the display, mouth agape.
Me: “You have to me shitting me.”
Jamie: “What?”
Me: “Oh hell nah. Come look at this!”
Jamie: “Nothing can shock me.”
Me: “CAMOUFLAGE LINGERIE?! What…why…who would ever…”
Jamie: “Welcome to Minnesota.”
How to tell when your significant other thinks you blog too much:
Jamie: “Are you going to blog about how I made you go on an awkward double date with two of my ex’s that I’m trying to hook up?”
(two hours later)
Jamie: “You’re going to blog about this aren’t you?”
(at the end of the night)
Jamie: “DONT BLOG ABOUT THIS!”
(right now, as he’s reading this over my shoulder)
Jamie: “I THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T GOING TO BLOG ABOUT THIS!”
…blog about what dear?
So what happened in 2008?
I graduated from college. During my last semester I did everything from bowling…
…to exploring haunted missile bases/ insane asylums.
There were also trips to the clubhouse (South Beach, Little Havana, Wilton Manors, etc.)
Jukebox and vintage video games…Jamie and I are having a quiet throwback New Year’s Eve, and it’s pretty much perfect.
Here is a list of my top 70 favorite songs of 2008.
So I had my “tuna of the sea” moment…
Jamie: “How’s the pizza going?”
Me: “Fine… how do I know when it’s done?”
Jamie (opening oven): “Uh, you weren’t supposed to cook the breadsticks and the pizza at once…and they are on the wrong trays.”
Me: “What? Why?”
Jamie: “And what temperature are they supposed to be?”
Me: “It says 425 for a regular oven and 400 for a conventional oven…”
Jamie: “Conventional oven?”
Me: “Yeah, and your oven is old so I assumed it was a conventional oven…”
Jamie: “Convection oven. And my oven isn’t a convection oven.”
Me(rereading the instructions): “OH! It does say convection… what’s a convection oven?”
And yes, I looked up convection oven:
Convection ovens or fan ovens or turbo ovens augment a traditional oven by circulating heated air using a fan.
Hmmf. At least I learned something today!
Mom and I went on a bucci bag hunt on 20th street.
20th street is Allapattah’s shopping district. It’s an interesting combination of imports, bootlegs, and back-of-the-truck items.
