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March 31, 2007
The South Side Chicago Board of Tourism
I think the White Sox new promotional campaign, featuring a fictional tourism agency explaining the strange ways of the Southside to Northsiders and suburbanites is hilarious. Take the site's answer to the question "Is the Southside in a different time zone? You know, like Michigan is?"
Contrary to popular perception, the Southside is most assuredly not in a different time zone. Central Daylight Time is adhered to as rigidly down here as it is in the rest of Chicago. Regional anomalies, such as having a winning baseball team, have lead to a perception that the Southside is much further away than it actually is.
This gets to the heart of my beef with the Cubs. Every year the lose and lose and lose, yet the seats of Wrigley Field are filled with a combination of hopeless Northside romantics and drunken louts who probably couldn't tell you the margin of their beloved team's loss four beers in to the post-game nightcap at John Barleycorn or the Cubby Bear. The White Sox show that they have to work for it in order for people to go to their games and can't rely on a legion of fratty fools to make payroll. Winning may not be the only thing, but at the very least, it's something.
Posted by rj3 at 1:15 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 30, 2007
Happy thoughts, part 2
I will soon trudge over to Treasure Island for a soggy sandwich on bland bread. I will most certainly not have a gyro that does not look or taste this good.
Why all the food blogging? Perhaps because the weather is neither bad enough to complain about or good enough to rave about.
Posted by rj3 at 5:01 PM | Comments (302) | TrackBack
March 29, 2007
Thinking Happy Thoughts
I've been back for less than a week and I'm already looking longingly out the window at the wider world, then looking back at my Admin Law textbook and finding the latter lacking. For no reason at all, here's a picture of Avlu restaurant in Kusadasi, Turkey, where I had a delicious vegetarian meal (lots of stewed beans, rice, spinach and what I think were leeks), followed by a gigantic desert and perhaps the strongest cup of coffee I've ever had:
The owner came running out as he saw me aim my camera. He said, "If you're going to take a picture of my restaurant, take a picture of me!"
Posted by rj3 at 2:56 PM | Comments (347) | TrackBack
March 28, 2007
The hot seat cools down a bit
By dumb luck or the complete lack thereof, I haven't had any professors who say in advance who will be called on the following day. There was one occasion, during Civil Procedure, where I was called on to do Erie with two minutes left in the last class of the week and then left to marinate in my fear of a socratic thrashing for the whole weekend, but it usually comes to me as a surprise.
However, one of my profs announced last week that he had finished cold-calling the whole class and would now sweep from left to right across the classroom. On Monday and Tuesday, he called the people to my left, row by row. The last person to be called sat directly to my left. Last night, I read both of today's cases with a fine-tooth comb, as ready for my grilling as those pre-marinated steaks you can buy at Dominick's.
Then the professor did a funny thing. Instead of going across, as he had been doing, he went toward the back for the first case. Then he went back again for the second case. Now I have to spend the weekend worrying about my performance on Monday.
I may be a 2L with a job waiting for me, but I still don't like to look like a moron in front of my classmates. It's almost as bad as looking like a gunner.
Posted by rj3 at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 27, 2007
The Gmail outage, hour 3
It's hard to type with all the shaking.
It's hard to feel the shaking with the bugs crawling under my skin.
Please, please, please let me have my email back. I'm on campus - what else is there to do?
UPDATE: Aaaaaaah, got my fix.
Posted by rj3 at 3:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 26, 2007
Meanwhile, Back in Baltimore
Locks of loathting edition:
Robbery/arrest // One man was arrested and police were seeking another man and a woman who robbed Beauty Zone in the 200 block of N. Eutaw St. of human hair valued at $255 about 2 p.m. Saturday after spraying an employee with a chemical irritant. Charged with armed robbery was Kevin Henderson, 22, of the 1400 block of Gregor Way in O'Donnell Heights. Police said the hair is used for braiding.
Posted by rj3 at 11:01 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 25, 2007
Fix Up, Look Sharp!
Upon my return to my apartment, I had two big things to deal with:
1) My roomate and about a dozen drunk KU fans watching their team fall to UCLA. There was much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments, not to mention consumption of Cool Ranch Doritos and imbibing of Miller Lite.
2) A letter from my future firm requesting a survey be completed and photos be submitted by last week. I wish I had known, since I need to get the photo taken today, despite a long list of other stuff to do before class resumes tomorrow.
This leads to a question (or bleg, if you will): when your firm asks you for a passport-sized photo, is it appropriate to send in a nice photo of yourself in a polo shirt, or do you have to wear at least a shirt and tie?
Posted by rj3 at 12:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 22, 2007
1, 2, 3, 4, Cretans wanna hop some more!
Sorry for the long gap in posting - we went on a cruise of the islands for the weekend, including Mykonos (very windy and mostly closed for the off-season, although charming in its own way), Rhodes (the people who live there are not called Rhodesians, I found), Patmos (very small, excellent Baklava) and Kusadasi, Turkey (not an island, but perhaps the best part of the trip, photos coming later).
Right now, I'm holed up in a hotel in Hirakleon, Crete, waiting for the rain to stop. I was stuck in my room all day yesterday from a stomach bug, doubling over in pain as everyone else was in Hania, the far superior main city in Crete. I've been all over Hirakleon, and it reminds me of Cleveland, but with more pedestrians. Tomorrow, we're going back to Athens for the day, then back to Chicago.
Posted by rj3 at 5:27 AM | Comments (347) | TrackBack
March 15, 2007
Not much more menacing than a Take Back The Night rally, for now
Today's travels brought me through the student protests that were supposed to have downtown Athens on "lockdown," which seems to mean a smattering of paddy wagons and some police in riot gear, but otherwise completely free movement. Contrast this to, for example, any antiwar demonstration in the U.S.
That being said, it looks pretty tame compared to previous efforts. It was before the actual march began (why on earth would I assume that a march of Greek students would start on time?) but crowds of bored-looking undergrads stood around smoking cigarettes while a few unhurredly painted signs (see above). Color me not particularly impressed.
Posted by rj3 at 6:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 14, 2007
Partly sunny, with a chance of tear gas
Five of us spent today running around the University of Athens like madmen because faculty are taking tomorrow off due to scheduled massive protests and the upcoming visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a gas pipeline deal.
Greek academia is quite a nice life - they work from 10 until 2 and don't show up every time the students decide to riot.
Posted by rj3 at 12:38 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
March 12, 2007
What is dorkier than riding a Segway around town?
Not much, but driving a teeny tiny ATV around the sidewalks of Athens is probably close.
Posted by rj3 at 1:14 PM | Comments (328) | TrackBack
March 11, 2007
Hellas in a handbasket
I've been in Athens for a few hours now, and I already have two stories capable of making my family cringe.
As soon as we got off of the bus from the airport, we lined up in front of the hotel to check in because the lobby was so small. As we waited, two men on a scooter pulled up across the narrow street. The guy on the back of the scooter got out, walked to the side of the car parked in front of the street and proceeded to attack it. First, he kicked out a mirror, then a fender, then he tried to kick in a mirror, then he moved around to the other side of the car and attacked the other mirror and fender in a similar manner. The pack of American law students across the street watched slackjawed as the car's attacker got back on the scooter and sped away.
And then there's the student unrest. Walking around after check-in, I stopped by what looked to be a takeover of an academic building (it's hard to tell what's a university and what isn't around here because every important building is neoclassical). They blockaded the front with desks, tagged up every exterior wall they could reach and raised the red flag (see above). When I stopped by, they were blasting punk rock from some unseen speakers. Undeterred, hawkers were selling jeans, scarves and shoes in front of the Metro station 50 yards away.
Welcome to Greece!
Posted by rj3 at 12:55 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
March 9, 2007
It's like Greektown, but at least twice as big!
Tomorrow, I'm headed to Greece for spring break. Even though I may not be able to blog every day, you can follow me in my journey by listening to the new music I saved for this trip. Yep, these albums should cover about a third of the flight.
!!!, Myth Takes
Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Living with the Living
The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
When I land in Athens, I will be bored of them.
Posted by rj3 at 9:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
DC doesn't stand for Dodge City
David Frum gets worked up into a froth about about the Scooter Libby verdict, especially the fact that the trial was held in Washington, D.C.:
Now we remember why Democrats are so much more eager than Republicans to criminalize politics: Because they know that the ultimate power over the lives and liberties of the contestants is held by juries drawn from the most Democratic jurisdiction in the country. Would Scooter have been convicted - would a prosecutor ever have dared to try him - if the capital of the United States were located in say Indianapolis?
Let's forget for a minute that Indianapolis voted for Kerry. Let's forget the principle that crimes are tried before a jury of one's peers and that Libby's peers are Washingtonians, as the incidents for which Libby was tried went down in Washington.
Forget all that, and focus on the supreme irony of a former Republican speechwriter complaining about that a Republican can't get a fair shake in a city his party has derided for decades as being decadent, dishonest, out of touch and generally anti-American. After decades of being on the wrong side of the home rule/voting rights issue, nobody should be surprised that so few of the people Republicans want to disenfranchise are inclined to register as Republicans. After serving as non-consenting guinea pigs in Republican social policy with drugs and guns, Frum should not bat an eye when the D.C. jury pool doesn't look favorably upon a certain type of partisan.
Oh, and that bit about "criminalizing politics?" I had eyes and ears in the '90s. Don't even try with that line.
Just sayin'.
Posted by rj3 at 9:45 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 8, 2007
Life re-evaluations, March 7, 2007
10:32 p.m.: Upon hearing that a journalist who just happens to share the name of someone I worked on my college newspaper with, and who I know is also a professional journalist, will be on the Colbert Report, I have a minor quarterlife crisis. He's on TV for his groundbreaking investigative work and I'm... I'm... What the hell am I doing with my life?
10:49 p.m.: The special guest comes on, and it's clearly not the guy I know. I start to feel pretty good that there isn't someone at the top of my field who shares my exact name and with whom I will always be confused in a way that leads to dissapointment, i.e. "Oh, you're the other guy with that name..."
Posted by rj3 at 8:49 AM | Comments (330) | TrackBack
March 5, 2007
Home Sweet Future Home
I think it's safe to say that I like Futurama a lot more than most people do. My roomate and friends tolerate it when I want to watch it with them sometimes, but I definitely get more of a kick out of it then they do. One of the main reasons that I enjoy the show is the fact that it's set in New New York, the city built on a giant superstructure over the ashes of the New York more familiar to me. Every now and then, the writers toss in a New York joke a propos of nothing (see above).
FYI, the reference is to one-term former mayor David Dinkins. I am unaware of any breakfast confection preferences he may have.
Posted by rj3 at 7:46 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 2, 2007
Keeping the world safe from you
I could save a lot of money by taking a sublet in Crown Heights. Not only would I have more of that summer cash to spend during my 3L year, but I'd also prove my braveness by living on the very same street where an actual pogrom started. Unlike the rioters' targets, I'm not Lubovich, but when it's dark out and I'm wearing a dark suit, sometimes it's hard to tell. For my protection, the landlord has put up wrought-iron window guards to keep a person from breaking in or throwing a brick through the window.
Except that this dolt has installed the protective gear on the inside. Perhaps a previous tenant had a habit of throwing things out into the street.
Posted by rj3 at 12:45 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack