I Wish I Was a Messenger and All the News Was Good

Congratulations to Mr. Peter Pope for correctly naming "Babylon" by David Gray as the Monday Song of the Day. It should be noted, though, that even if Peter's answer had been wildly incorrect, I probably still would have given him credit, because let's be honest, when you're in P.C. at Baylor Law, you need all the encouragement you can get.


Now, on to the next part of my continuing conversation with Luke Reeves

Part VII: (Luke's Response)

Now more on the nature of balance- are there things (causes, ideas, etc.) about which one should be extreme?

It seems that "balance" could be part of the answer to many of life's questions. But is extremism ever the best/right/reasonable answer? A religious person might answer that one ought to be extreme in their devotion to that religion. A political person might might answer similarly in regards to politics. And so let the conversation begin: the virtue of extremism. Go.

Living on the Road, My Friend, Is Gonna Keep You Free and Clean

I suppose you only learn these things once you are able to gain a certain amount of distance between yourself and your alma mater, but if there's one thing I can certainly say about Baylor Law in comparison to the University of Houston Law School, it is this: Even though Baylor Law felt like a prison at times during my three years there, it certainly did not look like a penal institution.

The U of H law library? Well, I'm sorry I can't say the same thing. I'm looking forward to working with a number of U of H law grads when I start in August, but among the things I won't be gathering from them are the finer points of educational architecture.

Current Reading

The Mysteries of Pittsburgh by Michael Chabon

Don't Wanna See No Blood, Don't Be a Macho Man

I'm sure the BLS powers-that-be will eventually have this piece of hilarity erased from the interwebs, but this, my friends, is just one of the many reasons that I love Wikipedia:

(From the Wikipedia article for Baylor Law School)

Nationally Ranked Advocacy Program

Taught by the Devil himself, the bedrock of Baylor’s nationally ranked advocacy program is the third-year Practice Court Program, a six-month course required for all third-year students.

Procedure, evidence, and advocacy are the tools of the trial lawyer, and the Practice Court Program is an over-intensive study of these essentials. So essential that Baylor Law is the only school in the country with this program.

Students try multiple lawsuits from beginning to end, ensuring that when they graduate, if they ever make it through this hellish program, they are able to hit the ground running.

My friends, this is what happens in a world where Wikipedia is accessible to a disgruntled current (or former) P.C. student.

I, for one, think such a world is quite enjoyable.

If the Bible Is Right, The World Will Explode

Big news day in the law school universe as the yearly law school rankings from U.S. News & World Report were finally officially revealed. Overall, the mood is pretty somber (translation: peeved) at Baylor Law as the school's overall ranking fell 10 spots. On the brighter side, though, the school's trial advocacy program continued to rise in the rankings up to the #7 spot nationally.

#7 is great and all, but here's my question: If the professors here at Baylor Law freely acknowledge that P.C. is the pedagogical equivalent of waterboarding, what in the world are they doing at Stetson, the #1 school in this year's trial advocacy rankings?

(Redacted)[read: Stetson Law professors] used the waterboarding technique on (Redacted)[read: Stetson Law students] 183 times...
This just in, folks: Beginning in the fall of 2009, Baylor Law students will now have to go through P.C. 183 TIMES to fulfill their graduation requirements. Good luck, kiddos.

Oh, The Days The Rain Would Fall Your Way

I'm a bit late on this (and trust me, it's not from some sense of extraordinary scholastic achievement), but the P.C. III grades came out yesterday, and I would like to include a brief word from our sponsors, Rare Earth, once again:

That's right, folks, our long national Practice Court-related nightmare is now officially over. Well, for my class at least.

All of the other saps who are currently in P.C. and those who will have to endure the law school edition of the Bataan Death March at some point the future?

They'll just have to find their own way to survive.

Current Reading

To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever: A Thoroughly Obsessive, Intermittently Uplifiting, and Occasionally Unbiased Account of the Duke-North Carolina Basketball Rivlary by Will Blythe

I knew this book was going to be right up my alley (whatever that really means) when I read the following quote on the book's jacket:

It is a basketball rivalry that simply has no equal. Duke vs. North Carolina is Ali vs. Frazier, the Giants vs. the Dodgers, the Red Sox vs. the Yankees. Hell, it's bigger than that. This is the Democrats vs. the Republicans, the Yankees vs. the Confederates, capitalism vs. communism. All right, okay, the Life Force vs. the Death Instinct, Eros vs. Thanatos. Is that big enough?

I Won't Pretend to Understand the Movement of the Wind

For your perusal and enjoyment, the following people were nominated (but not necessarily chosen) to speak at graduation by the Baylor Law class graduating in May 2009:

• Former President George H.W. Bush

• Former President George W. Bush

• Stephen Colbert

• Senator John Cornyn

• Prof. Counseller

• Prof. Fuselier

• Former Senator Phil Gramm

• Prof. Guinn

• Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison

• Assoc. Dean Jackson

• Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson (Texas Supreme Court)

• Judge Ed Kinkeade

• Judge Jeff Manske

• Willie Nelson

• Justice Harriet O’Neill (Texas Supreme Court)

• Prof. Osler

• Prof. Powell

• Prof. Rogers

• Gov. Mitt Romney

• Prof. Zollie Steakley

• Prof. Jim Underwood

• Prof. Wren

My money would have been on Willie, but since Baylor is a religiously-oriented institution, I'm not sure that his choice of "refreshments" at the reception would have been approved by the powers that be.

You Won't Say It Now, but In Your Heart It's Loud

Congratulations to the lovely Ms. Amanda Pierce for correctly naming "All We Are" by OneRepublic as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

I realize I don't normally utilize the ol' blog as a vehicle for detailing my academic career, but since Professor Osler assigned me to a group to "research" powder cocaine as part of his Criminal Practice and Procedure course, I felt compelled to share with you, my dear readers, some of the more colloquial names for powder cocaine so that you can be a more informed member of whatever community you happen to call home.
Without further ado:

• Blow--Real original work here Johnny Depp. Give me some creativity, Capt. Sparrow.
  
• Nose Candy--Coming to an H.E.B. near you, kids!!!!
  
• Powder--And I just thought this was a slightly creepy movie.
  
• Nose Powder
• White Powder--Used most famously by "White Power" Bill of Arrested Development.
• Birdie Powder
• Friskie Powder--The only cat food guaranteed to cause paranoia.
  
• Happy Powder--So that's what Peter Pan and the Lost Boys were up to all that time.
  
• Marching Powder
  
• Bolivian Marching Powder--I think I actually put some of this in my chili last week.
• Joy Powder--I think one of my friends dated Joy Powder at ACU.
• Powder Diamonds--I actually worked my way up to skiing a couple of these last time I was in Colorado.
• Star Spangled Powder--You too, Francis Scott Key??? Is anything sacred? Does this mean Fort McHenry was actually a crack-house? So many questions.
  
• Aspirin--Wait a second here...
• Aunt--I don't even have a joke here because this one makes absolutely no sense.
• Candy Sugar--Does the same exact thing to your stomach as Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola.
• Devil's Dandruff-Someone get Mephistpholes some Head and Shoulders for goodness sake.
• Fast White Lady--Danica Patrick, if you take this as your new nick-name, I want credit.
• Flake--I'm on to you, Jack Johnson. You drug fiend.
• Flave--Sold with a complimentary viking helmet and clock necklace.
• Shake
• Shrile
• Snowball-A large number of catowners do powder cocaine. A large number of cats are named "Snowball". Mere Coincidence? You decide.
• Soft
• Sugar Boogers--My personal favorite.
  
• Pariba--I think this is the website Dan Carlson writes for but you can never be too sure.
• Tornado--So that's how they paid Bill Pullman and Helen Hunt.
• Uptown--Perhaps Billy Joel wasn't actually writing about a girl. Hmmmm.
• White Boy
• White Dragon--I had some great sesame chicken at White Dragon once.
• Wicky Stick--The best selling Christmas gift in 1987.
• Yao--So that's how a Chinese guy ends up at 7 ft. 6 in.

Waging Wars to Shake the Poet and the Beat

I would try to give you my thoughts on today's status as the final day of Practice Court, but I'm handing this one over to Rare Earth.

Gentlemen, take it away...

Current Reading

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

P.S. Many thanks to Mr. Stephen Olson for the American Lion recommendation.

Tonight My Bag is Packed, Tomorrow I'll Walk These Tracks

Congratulations to Ms. Stacey Villescas for correctly naming "Time" by Hootie and the Blowfish as the Tuesday Song of the Day.

There's not much to report on the life/school front but work, work, work, though today was an interesting day.

As part of P.C., we lucky few must go out into the real world to observe actual practitioners at their craft, and if one of the attorneys that you observe refers to himself as the "Golden Boy", well, you know it's going to be exciting on all fronts.

Silly me, I always thought that title belonged to this guy.

I Put Your World Into My Veins

Yesterday, during my time as a witness in a mini-trial, Prof. CivPro presented the definitive quote regarding the Practice Court experience at Baylor Law:
"You gotta get out there and swim in the deep water. You can't be afraid of drowning. In the real world, you might drown. Here, you can't actually drown. Here, this is just waterboarding."