35 Before 25: Go to Costa Rica

As an undergrad, I never got the study abroad bug. Everyone I knew went abroad somewhere, but for someone reason I was wont to rebut proddings that I do the same, and stayed within this city's smoggy confines to read my British literature. I can see my student loan payments rapidly approaching in the rear view mirror, so I figure it's now or never. I'm going to Costa Rica this coming summer, taking two classes. One is International Environtmenal Law, the second is International Human Rights Law. It's also supposed to include "a field trip to communities under environmental threat, and visits to local legal institutions and social events," according to the program's presently limited web site.

This trip affords me the following opportunities:
- spend a month in a foreign country, giving me a chance to master my conversational spanish
- see a rainforest, possibly get into monkey-related mischief
- cement a law school friendship or two
- possibly get my first tan

The only real obstacle is money (which is what student loans were made for) and the administrative stuff (getting the app in, getting my passport, finding a place to stay after my class time ends). I have uncharacteristically high expectations for this. It has better be fantastic.

Phone Dump: The Inaugural Post

While out and about, I'll snap pictures of the ordinary and mundane with my phone. When I decide it's time to clear out the phone's brain, I bring you the phone dump.



Unreasonably ornate car wash bathroom, in the valley.



Thanksgiving with the Navarros. Good food, only minor head trauma to Josh's head as he knocked into the open trunk of my car.


He slices, he dices, he shoots bad guys in the face. It's Officer Navarro.



500 yards from the Wiltern, a hub of young gay Korean activity.




My cousin Michael's new spaniel puppy, Snoopy.




Amy and I drove on a whim to El Segundo for this dessert. The chocolate box doesn't look like much from this angle, but it holds magical treats inside.


Right before my last exam, I had one of these...



Then one of these (the double-sized one)....



And lastly, one of these, to ensure that I take multiple trips to the bathroom. Also, that's a stunt arm. My arm's not really that hairy.




I thought this was a really cute baby at see's, even though he was wearing a helmet.

Heart Disease and the Last Finals Update for 2006

So in about an hour, I start my caffeine ritual in preparation for my 3 hour evidence final. Iced tea at lunch, some sugary coffee mixture (frappucino, perhaps) on the way downtown, a cup of coffee an hour and a half before the exam, and then a red bull right as I walk into the exam room at 5:45. Usually, I'm typing somewhere between 10 and 20 pages of stuff during the exam period, and by the end it devolves into a mix between an outline format and unbridled stream of consciousness as I try to cram everything I can remember into the blinking computer screen. Tonight's exam is unique: a scantron, completely multiple choice. I'm wondering if I shouldn't scale back my blood pressure a little bit today, considering that shaky hands while trying to keep my pencil inside the bubbles makes for a frustrating evening.

Really, this is what I hate most about law school. I don't mind the classes, socratic method and all. I don't mind the day-to-day workload, as my friends are fairly accustomed to my one-night-out a month policy by now. What really chaps my hide are these racehorse exams, that are designed so no one could ever finish them with any confidence, that cover half of the material you spend weeks preparing for, that are designed to crush your spirit and self-confidence. I will more than likely get somewhere between a 40 and 55 percent on my exam tonight. I have probably officially failed most of my exams in law school. Nevertheless, because of the curve, because everyone struggles, my class standing is right in the middle. Being average doesn't bother me. It's the worthless stressing over a test I know I'm going to do poorly in, that I have to prepare for anyway. I'm running out of eyebrows to pull out because of this. That and the $30,000 bill every year.

35 Before 25: Talk to Someone Famous

I've doubly reinforced the importance of this one after the Lakers game this past Friday night. As came out of the parking structure, we walked through a short row of cars that were being valet parked. I asked aloud to no one in particular "Who actually gets valet parked at the Staples Center?" I'm sidestepping a dark Bentley when I notice Dr. Buss, the owner of the team, steps out with a woman 1/3 his age. They cross a few feet by us and meet with a young group. In a unison monotone, they said "Hello, Doctor Bussssssss," the way you would greet a junior high math teacher if you ran into them at the movies. I noticed that Dr. Buss was wearing a jacket with some Poker website on the back of it, and remembered that he was a fan of high stakes poker, as in a couple hundred thousand won/lost in a night.

The point of this story is not to relate anything interesting at all. That's because I'm a coward. I probably know more about this man's team, his history as the owner, and the city's relationship with the city than anyone in my immediate circle, but I stood there and said nothing. I've always said that I would never be one of "those people" who bother celebrities while they're out and about in their everyday lives, because if I was them, I would hate to be bothered by strangers everywhere I went. That's true, but the more I think about it, the more I realize this is a well-crafted cop out. So in an attempt to face an irrational fear, I'm going to make like Lucille Ball at the Brown Derby and meet and greet someone famous in the wild. Here are the built-in challenges for this goal:
- I'm awful at starting up conversation with a total stranger. I try too hard, fake-laugh too much, and squish pretend bugs with my feet.
- If it's a celebrity I actually like, I'm going to come off like a blubbering crazy person. I must suppress these slack-jawed advances and stick to the script. Sorry to bother you. I appreciate your work. Keep it up, or something. I'm trying to model it after what Paul said to Weird Al the day he ran into him at Toi. Maybe that's a mistake.
- There are enough opportunities in this town, but I'm against hunting for a celebrity. It has to be like Luke Perry in Noah's Bagels in his pajamas or something like that (true story). I trust that the gods will deliver me something along the lines of Kobe Bryant lost in Fry's Electronics, as opposed to Gilbert Gottfried in a Jiffy Lube waiting room.

In all likelihood, this one may take the whole year+ to complete, but it will probably be one of the most memorable, temporary restraining orders be damned.

Finals Update and Other Thoughts from the Valley

I like to think of my time studying in my old room in my parent's house as my Thoreau-lite attempt to hole up in Walden Woods. Except that instead of Walden Pond there's that weird coy pond my dad built with the little virgin Mary statue affixed. Instead of Concord cabin, I've got my bedroom full of my mother's bedroom furniture from last year that she hasn't figured out who to pawn off on. Instead of writing a subtle social critique of the western world, I'm trying to distill 150 years of evidence law into a 20 page outline, all the while trying to shut my wii's siren song from the living room.

Well, it was a lot more Thoreau like when I thought of it this morning in bed. I'm sure he ate a lot of tamales, too.

Other thoughts:

- Efforts to stave off apathy with regards to my last final are fading fast. The only thing I feel prepared for right now is the weak grip of disappointment after I turn in a scantron covered with way too many consecutive Cs marked. If anyone's not planning on using their upcoming Christmas miracle, please overnight it to my apartment. Must be postmarked by December 18, 2006 which is... crap.
- Friday night, I went to a Lakers game with Josh, my brother, and my mom. It was a first for my mom, who is a surprisingly involved (albeit fairweather) fan. Someone was generous enough to give us their luxury suite tickets. Free food, drinks, beer, wine, a brush with the owner of the team, and a idyllic view of the court. Mix in a double overtime win over a team with a 7'6'' chinaman, and you've got yourself a memorable night.

Finals Update

Only one left, next Tuesday's evidence final. Last night's final was a mess, as I didn't end up using more than half of my 70 page outline. Frustrating as that is, my initial impressions were that everyone else seemed equally annoyed by the exam's narrow focus. That bodes well for my chances of the curve helping me out, but I usually only hope for that once a semester. I was hoping to save that bullet for my evidence final.

After 13 ounces of coffee, 12 ounces of red bull, and 64 ounces of water, I produced one 22 page exam, and I feel like I wasted a lot of my time. I'm ready for Christmas.

My Bizarro Life: Guest-Starring My Imagined Creative Talents

Question: If you were to do something different with you life and time, money, and talent were of no consequence, what would you be?

JV's Answer: Comic Strip Humorist. If only I wasn't in the red for $100,000+. And could draw. By comic strip humorist, I mean less like Garfield and more like this stuff below. This is hands-down the most AMAZING intersection of lined paper, anthropomorphism, and basketball since... since I don't know. Since they did the storyboards for Space Jam, starring Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny.

The Competitive Style Guide for Basketball Players.

Style Guide for Gilbert Arenas.

Style Guide for Tim Duncan.

Linked from freedarko.blogspot.com. Note: if it's too small to read, click on it to magnify the image.

Stephen Colbert Playing with the Wii

I've been trying to make some new Miis for my Wii, and this little snippet from the Colbert Report has given me lots of ideas...

Finals Update

Yesterday, I took my first final of the semester; more or less a piece of cake. With the whole curved grading system, I don't know what to expect grade-wise if everyone else thought it was easy, too. I'm just glad to be done with that class. Looking ahead to next Wednesday, I have my hard (albeit open book) immigration final. It's only open book because there's literally more statutes than a person can commit to memory, so I don't expect it to be as easy as yesterday's final. If I'd known my immigration professor had argued cases in front of the Supreme Court (read: he knows his shit), I might have known ahead of time how hard this class was going to be.

On top of that, the beast still looms in two weeks: evidence. Yuck. For now, I just need to focus on putting together a well-categorized, easily accessed outline for immigration and I'll worry about evidence next week.

Quick Thoughts on Luis Gonzalez

The good:
- can platoon him v. RHP, decent PH too
- hit 52 doubles last year
- only 1 yr deal for $7 million
- blocks kemp for another year, effectively keeping kemp in the organization for another year later in his career when he might be more in his prime as opposed to his current unfinished form

The bad:
- very limited defensively, hate to see when he and Pierre play together
- power is declining quickly (only 15HR last year in 153 games)
- big injury risk

Overall: not bad, not great. If he ends up like Mueller and goes down quickly, it seems that we have the youth to step in. I'm not sure what else you could have gotten for $7 million in this market, at least in terms of so-called OF power bats. David Dellucci wouldn't have been bad for the 3 yrs, 11.5 million the Phillies gave him.

If the rumors are true that Penny+Blue Chip Prospects = Vernon Wells, I'm not that happy about it. He's got good, not great, power and he rarely walks. I'd say let's see what we have in the youngsters before you gut the farm, Ned.

35 Before 25: Go Ice Skating

This goal is along the vein of things like "Develop a Consistent 3 Point Shot" where I somehow get a lot of enjoyment out of doing things I'm terrible at. I've been ice skating a few times and I constantly feel like I'm a split-second away from having an embarrassing obituary. There's also the danger factor of being sprawled out on the ice and having that one jackass who skates backwards the whole time saw off a few of my digits. I've had this nightmare more than once. It's terrifying.

Add in these facts:
- that it makes for a nice date out with the missus (is that term solely reserved for married people?)
- that it presents a semblance of a real winter in our extremely forgiving 60 degree Los Angeles December
- that ice skating downtown at night surrounded a smogless skyline feels surreal...

and it makes for a decent, doable winter-break goal.

Wii-View Part Two: The Wii-Mote

This is part two of my four part review of the new Nintendo Wii ("We"). It's the first video game console I've owned since my mom bought my brother and I a Nintendo 64 in 1996. Gameboys have served as a bridge, but this is my official return to the Nintendo console galaxy. These are my thoughts.

After posting the picture of the Wii remote (Wii-mote) below, I realized that this could probably use its own review, considering its ingenuity. The remote looks like a small television remote, save for the trigger on the back. It rumbles lightly when necssary as well as has a small speaker on it that emotes when called upon.



























On the bottom of the remote, there is a port which allows other peripherals to be plugged in. The remote is pictured above with the nunchuck attachment. Nintendo has announced a light-gun attachment, as well as a Classic Controller which closely resembles the old SNES controller for playing classic games on the Virtual Console.

The key aspect of the remote is its motion sensing ability. The sensor bar above or below the television picks up on the wii-mote's movements, sensing a baseball swing in Wii sports, a sword slash in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, or the delicate movements of a scalpel in Trauma Center Under the Knife: Second Opinion. The Wii is clearly not trying to keep up with the PS3 or Xbox360 in the graphics department, so they tried to innovate in a different direction. This feature is what elevates what is basically a souped up Gamecube into a next-generation gaming system. The two questions that will determine whether the Wii is a winner: Does it work? Is it fun?

Does it work?
It does work, but with some caveats. First, it takes some experimenting with the sensitivity on the sensor bar to get the Wii-mote to work with your playing space. The ideal playing space is for you to hold the Wii-mote between 3'-8' from the television. The closer you are to the TV, the less sensitive the bar should be set to. Imagine holding a laser pointer in your hand and pointing it at the wall. It doesn't take a very big swing for the red dot to fly from one side of a room to another. If the Wii-mote is too sensitive, you'll see this kind of action reflected on the screen. Once you figure out which settings work properly for your space, the Wii-mote responds actively and accurately. It's amazing how it can accurate reflect the slightest movement, such as tilting the remote from side to side. This can take some getting used to, if you're accustomed to scratching your nose mid-game with the controller in hand. Doing so now can have sudden repurcussions for your game, especially if your character is teetering in a precarious position.

Is it fun?
The answer again is yes, with "buts." It's fun to use, but it certainly has a learning curve. Even video game button-mashing veterans will have to learn a new way to play, which is kind of refreshing. Two people can pick up a wii-mote and be on a level playing field in a game of Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. This was a little frustrating at first. Having played video games on conventional controllers for years, complicated button-sequences are nothing new to me. Trying to figure out how to scoop a fish with a virtual fish net in my hand: that's going to take some getting used to.

The final answer to whether it's fun is going to be left up to the game developers. The motion-sensing capabilities of the wii-mote opens up the gameplay ideas for game developers to re-write the way we've known to interact with games. I've played some mini-games that have flopped with the remote, such as Boxing on wii-sports or some of the mini-games on Monkey Ball. On the other hand, when playing a game like Zelda where the right hand's swipes control the sword while the left hand controls the shield, you quickly forget how you ever could have substituted this virtual fantasy with button-pushing as a poor substitute.

My verdict would be so far so good, with reserved enthusiasm about what lies ahead.

Dodgers Sign Jason Schmidt

I like this deal for a few reasons.

- It's a big money ($47 million), but short term (3 years). Plus, the per year money is actually below market for what pitchers are going for this offseason (Padilla for $33 million???).
- It takes the Giants' best pitcher off their staff and puts him onto ours.
- It makes one of our pitchers expendable in our hunt for the mythical "big bat."

So here's our current 25 man roster, as far as I can tell.
Starting Pitchers:
Lowe, Schmidt, Penny (part of deal for the "big bat?), Billingsley, Wolf/Kuo
Bullpen:
Hendrickson, Tomko, Dessens, Broxton, Beimel, Saito, Kuo (if not starting or AAA?)
Catchers:
Martin, Leiberthal (well done, Ned!)
Infielders:
Nomar, Kent, Loney, Furcal, Betemit, Saenz, Martinez
Outfielders:
Ethier, Pierre, Anderson, Werth (says his wrist is better, who knows), Repko(AAA?)

That's not taking into account the possibility that Kemp is ready for the big leagues by mid-season, or that Brazoban could be back in the bullpen. I think as constructed, this is easily the best team in the NL west, and can maybe go deep in the playoffs. There are some big bats out there, but they only seem to be attached to guys who are terrible defensively (Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell). I'd be much happier just sitting tight, seeing if any of the young guys can improve their hitting (Ethier/Kemp/Loney), and if not, deal for someone closer to the trading deadline using our plethora of starting pitching.

So far (except for the Pierre deal), I say well done, Ned. Well done.

Wii-View Part One: The Looks

This is part one of my four part review of the new Nintendo Wii ("We"). It's the first video game console I've owned since my mom bought my brother and I a Nintendo 64 in 1996. Gameboys have served as a bridge, but this is my official return to the Nintendo console galaxy. These are my thoughts.

The Wii's design is simple, small, and clean. Size-wise, it's been compared to the size of about 3 DVD cases stacked on top of one another. It can be positioned either sitting flat, like an external DVD drive would next to your computer, or positioned vertically on the included stand. It comes in white, but I've read that they will be releasing them in other colors later on.

It has a single open slot for loading either Wii discs or the smaller Gamecube discs. The slot illuminates a bright blue glow when loading discs and if there is a message waiting for you on your Wii while on standby, but can be turned off if it bothers you. If positioned vertically, the "top" of the Wii has two discreet covers that hide the Gamecube controller ports and the expansion slots for Gamecube memory cards. Right above the disc slot is a small cover which hides the SD card slot.

The Wii is very quiet in its operations. It has some ventilation on the the back and on the underside, but even when the fans kick up, it's works very silently and is easily forgotten once the game has begun.

Besides the aformentioned ventilation grate on the back, there are three connections on the back of the Wii. One is for the sensor bar, which rests either on top of your TV or just below it. The sensor bar is very thin, just bigger than a pencil lying on a table, and is about an inch deep. This is what receives the signals from the Wii remotes, which will be discussed in greater detail later on.

Besides the sensor bar, the A/V cables and power adapter are also plugged into the back. One negative is that the power adapter has a fairly large sized block that you have to find someplace to hide. It's not quite the size of a brick, but it's not far off. Another negative is that the Wii only comes with the standard compositet (red/white/yellow) cables, so if you want to use component cables, you'll have to buy those separately. There are also 2 USB ports on the back, although I'm not sure when they'll be updated via firmware to be operational.

The Wii remote will be discussed in further detail later on.

Overall, I think the system looks great sitting just next to or below the television. I was sort of having reservations of not waiting and maybe getting it in black, but the white is glossy, clean and at the same time inconspicuous. My favorite kind of gadget.

Pictures below courtesy of www.wiisworld.com.

Game Blog: Lakers v. Pacers

Here's my hackneyed attempt at a game blog of tonight's Lakers game. I'm just feeling spunky because I finished my Children & the Law outline for Thursday's final a few days early and want to try something new.

First Quarter
- Kwame Brown flat out dominated Jermaine O'Neal, on offense and defense. Maybe it was Bynum taking a few starts away from him that pumped him up, but Kwame is playing excellent ball, making quick moves in the post and playing tough position defense, using his size to keep guys out of their comfortable spots on the box. O'Neal didn't get anything going in the first quarter and got into foul trouble quickly.





















I don't care for Jermaine O'Neal. Heavy favorite
to win the Chris Webber Tries to Look Tough But
Has a Loser Face Award.

- What helped Kwame is that the team has much improved its entry passes, which helped cut down on turnovers. Kobe had some fantastic assist passes to go with his usual acrobatic prowess going to the rim. Throw in his lock-down defense on Stephen Jackson and you'd think you were watching Kobe of 2002 out there.

Second Quarter
- Pacers get back into the game running pick and roll with Jasikevicius (from here on out, SJ) and some guy named Baston. It worked well because SJ is much taller than Jordan and is a deadly perimeter shooter. This worked 3 times in a row, but then Carlisle stopped going to this play for some reason.
- Bynum had an awful quarter, picking up two offensive fouls trying to get into position in the paint and regularly failing to stop or alter any shots after the Pacers penetrated into the paint.
- Lamar should have taken a bigger offensive role with Kobe and Luke on the bench, but in fairness to him, the Bynum/Farmar/Radmanovich/Evans crew is pretty inexperienced.
- Reggie Miller is in the stands with a Bruins cap on. Graphic says he's 12th all time on the scoring list? Who knew. He's not just a starter on my all-time ugly team. The guy's a bonafide hall-of-fame ugly squader.
- Farmar with a couple nice defensive plays, including a nice steal + fast break. He's still a pretty solid finisher like he was at UCLA, even if he sometimes makes dumb midair passes to the other team.
- Lamar is fantastic at getting rebounds in traffic, especially by tipping them to himself. The guy is downright unstoppable driving to the rack with his left.
- Team goes on a 16-2 run when the starters go back in and the team is up 20+ at halftime. The eastern conference really is terrible.

So terrible that I think I'm just going to go ahead and not blog the second half of this game. I'd rather just fire up the wii, whose review is still forthcoming. It probably goes without saying, but if you sell 600,000+ in 8 days, the reviews are probably going to be good.

35 Before 25: Fix Up the Car

It feels strange to say that I've had my car for five years already, but it is so. I should be more grateful than I am that I've had it this long without a major peep or problem. The only hiccup that's bugged me about it all this time is the dings and scratches it's accumulated. What's worse is that every single one (save one by the trunk) has been at the hand of someone else, usually while my car was parked and I was away helping blind orphans teach golden retriever puppies to become guide dogs. It's happened so often that I've rehearsed a face that I use when I come back to my car and find a new blemish. It's kind of like seeing that your four-year-old has crapped all over the sofa: you're angry for a few moments before defeat sinks in. After you've had your sofa crapped on so many times, it's not worth even complaining about any more.

So here's the plan: get some estimates from body shops, get a reasonable quote to patch up on the nooks and crannies and get the outside of the car to look as new as possible. Money is the only major obstacle here, but if it can be done under $300, then there's nothing standing in the way. Mr. Data, make it so.

Updated: here.

I Still Can't Believe UCLA Won

I could have had a bunch of free furniture from H.D. Buttercup. Damn my gambling cowardice.

In any case, congrats to the Bruins. That was a ridiculously huge upset. Just ask Pete Carroll.

35 Before 25: Read 3 Books For Fun

For someone who happens to have a bachelor's degree in english, it might seem lame to only have 3 books on here as a goal. The truth is since starting law school, I've probably only read a single book for fun, and a few collections of essays. Well, no more. The first one on my list should be Catch-22. Not because I've still got summer reading from 1998 to catch up on, but mainly because Josh was kind enough to lend me his copy and I should really give it back to him someday.

The nice thing about this goal is the sense of satisfaction I get from completing a book. I miss that feeling. I don't get the same feeling after reading my 100th divorce case or case about a kid getting run over by a tractor. That's reality. I'm tired of reality. Besides, my brain could use a non-legal vocabulary tune up. Just because you're a judge doesn't mean you can write your way out of a paper bag, and many can't.