Five Types of Super Bowls

Super Bowl XLII is almost upon us. That means we get to watch the gritty Steelers over-match and out-smart, out-pass, out-defense, out-special teams, out-felony-assault (attn: Ryan Clark), and just plain out-power a pathetic Cardinals team in virtually every aspect of the game. I mean, the Arizona Cardinals are just awful (outscore opponents by one point, 3-7 outside the NFC WesTTT).

So instead of presenting what would be another boring preview of the match-up; we're going to do something a little different and try to capture the essence of what the Super Bowl could be like. All of this presupposes that neither one of the teams playing is YOUR team.


(1) CAUTION, This Game May Contain a Football Like Substance a.k.a. teh Blowout (apologies to TMQ - again).

These are the types of Super Bowls that are over before they begin. By halftime the end result is basically a forgone conclusion and the players have basically stopped trying. If you're at a good party it might be watachable, but chances are you're just milling around hoping that something exciting happens and being frustrated.

Truthfully, unless the team doing the blowing-out is YOUR team you couldn't care less what's going on. Most of the time between 8 and 10 PM will be spent explaining to the cute girl who secretly hates you the rudiments of the game so that you can impress her. But you won't - these games make for an utterly forgetable evening.

Examples (year denotes the season, not the year that the game was played):
Tampa Bay vs. Oakland (2002)
Dallas v. Pittsburgh (1995)
Dallas v. Buffalo (1992)
San Francisco v. Denver (1989)
Washington v. Denver (1988)
San Francisco v. San Diego (1994)
et seq. (really, like a third of the Super Bowls fall into this awful category).


2. Oh, That Was Kind of Close.

These are the games that if they were played on any ordinary Sunday no one would care, but since they are Super Bowls we all pretend to care. They often involve teams performing to expectations and margins of two scores (ten points or so is a common one). People who love football force themselves to keep watching in the final minutes even though their mind is elsewhere because it's the last football they'll get until to college season kicks off in late August / early September (no one watches the Pro Bowl).

Give it a shot. People will be talking about it for about two minutes in Scott Commons the next day, and that will be it. For those who show up, the night will not be memorable but it might have a few choice moments until to you kill your remaining brain cells with beer at "Snow Pants or No Pants". For those who are working on Moot Court instead, little is lost.

Examples:
New York Jets v. Baltimore Colts (1967)
Washington v. Buffalo (1991)
Dallas v. Buffalo (1993)
Green Bay v. New England (1996)
Denver v. Green Bay (1997)
Denver v. Atlanta (1998)
Pittsburgh v. Seattle (2005)
Indianapolis v. Chicago (2006)


3. Who ARE These Teams?

This is sort of a wild-card - when you get a Super Bowl B-list teams that no one cares about it. Usually it's just one team (i.e. Atlanta Falcons in Denver v. Atlanta; The Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore v. New York Giants; the Minnesota Vikings in the four SB's they lost; or the Cinncinatti Bengals in just about anything) but sometimes it's both (Kansas City vs. Minnesota? Does anyone reading this even know a single person who watched that?). Sadly, this game has the potential (The Cardinals play *where* now?) for at least half this sort of affair, but with the Steelers playing at least some people can motivate themselves to care. With these games your enjoyment increases geometrically with how good the party is. Lame party? Strap yourself in for a long boring night. Good party? All of a sudden you BELIEVE in Fred Biletnikoff even if nobody else does. You get a little bit of that sweet, sweet Super Bowl ale in you, and all of a sudden it's go time.

These games have potential, it's all about the people with whom you surround yourself while watching them. And lest we forget, it was a number three match that gave birth to . . . the tackle!

Examples:
Kansas City v. Minnesota (1969)
Oakland v. Minnesota (1976)
St. Louis v. Tennesee (2000)*
Tampa Bay v. Oakland (2002)


4. What is a Cover-2?

OK, this really isn't a type of game but rather more a reference with the sort of people you might be stuck watching the game with. These are people who have literally seen less than five football games in their entire lives and all of a sudden decide that the Super Bowl is the trendy thing to do. Well that's fair - the good folks at the NFL, who are just scraping by really, wouldn't make any money if they couldn't pump a lot of new people to get excited and secure those lucrative network contracts and hours of pregame coverage.

But still, there's something sad about witnessing something great and not having anyone to share it with. It's as if - after finishing the greatest work of literature ever written - the only person to whom you could turn around and discuss it with was George W. Bush [or insert your favorite philistine here]. You feel like the guy in that Twilight Zone episode where you finally have time to sit down and read all your books but your glasses break - it's ironically not fair . . .

Anyway, for me this was Pats / Panters Superbowl (2003). I was watching it with a bunch of rubes in my college dorm room and they not only didn't get what was going on but were also making constantly insipid comments: "Jake Delhomme should throw to Steve Smith in the endsone every play! Roffles!" Ugh, thanks guys.

There's really no way to avoid this game except by careful planning ahead. Is your host inviting people who are the bandwagon type? Don't know about wide-right? Cowboys fans? Better safe than sorry I always say.

Examples (will vary with person to person)
New England v. Carolina (2003)


5. I Love You Guys!

And then, sometimes, it just clicks. It’s the type of game where both sides are leaving it all on the field, and you do too, metaphorically at least. You watch the game and you think that this – this – is what you will be telling your five-year-old son about when he is old enough to watch his first super bowl. The game is palpably close, so much so that the halftime line is close to even and even those who are bloated from having had too much to eat and drink are sitting on the edge. It’s about David Tyree pulling in a last minute catch, Tom Brady driving down the field in the last minute, Scott Norwood teeing up a last minute field goal, and the defense digging in at the one yard line with two seconds left and saying to Kevin Dyson: this far, but no farther.

If you’re with people you care about, you know you’re watching something special. If you’re by yourself, you’ll lament loneliness and the human condition. Either way, if you care about football – and by logical extension, life itself – you’ll be glad you tuned in.

Examples:
New York Giants v. New England (2007)
New England v. Philadelphia (2004)
New England v. St. Louis (2001)
St. Louis v. Tennessee (1999)
New York Giants v. Buffalo (1990)
Baltimore Colts v. Dallas Cowboys (1970)

Here's hoping for a #5 and fun for everyone tomorrow night.

Related:
Five Types of New Year's Eve Parties [Gawker]

A Time To Pay Attention

Famous author John Grisham, along with a panel that included a dude with a chilling story about being locked away for a crime he didn't commit and a D.A. from Dallas, spoke to a well-attended Caplin Auditorium this afternoon. Some highlights:

Marvin Anderson (African American exonerated by DNA testing after spending 15 years in prison): "Race played a big part."

John Grisham: “It often starts with bad police work . . . guys just following their hunches . . . but prosecutors are under lots of pressure . . . you can go ahead forget the presumption of innocence, a lot of these guys are presumed to be guilty.”

Craig Watkins (Dallas DA): "‘even though most of the claims of innocence we get are bogus, we should still look into it."

On having trouble getting to where he was: "I was young, inexperienced, black, and a Democrat – Democrats don’t get elected in Dallas county!"

Cool. Be prepared to come early if you want to see Justice Alito lay down some knowledge tomorrow. Prize for the person with the best headgear.

Also we understand there's some sort of event happening this month.

Related: UVA Public Service Conference [official website]
Law School to Host Conference on Public Service & the Law [Law Weekly]

It's a bird, It's a plane, It's... Air Force Two?

Probably not. But if any of y'all were looking towards the skies around 2:10 or so you might have noticed a suspiciously-large-for-Charlottesville aircraft flying fairly low and headed towards the airport. You might have also noticed it's familiar paint job: white w/ light blue trim and an American flag painted on the tail.

So, after a little research, I've concluded it wasn't teh Obama making a surprise trip on Air Force One but that it was one of the modified 737s that occasionally ship the VP around under the callsign of Air Force Two.

The plane flying in to town had only two engines, not four like the one B. Hussein Obama has use of for the next 1451 days and 20 hours (but who's counting? well the fine folks at obamaclock.org for one). It also had those vertical blades at the tip of the wings that help make the planes more fuel efficient. Oh, and there were no commercial flights landing in town between 1:35 and 2:49.

You can read more about the plane here and here. While the planes (there are four of them apparently) do occasionally serve as Air Force Two shuttling the Vice-Messiah around our fair nation, they're also used for a lot of other dignitary types, so don't expect to see Mr. Biden rolling up to Massie Road anytime soon. Speculate away but perhaps Associate Justice Alito was the one receiving the VIP treatment as he's scheduled to give a talk on Grounds tomorrow Saturday, I believe.

Lexis Is Giving Out Cookies in Scott Commons

!

Former "1L" Pleads Guilty to Corruption; Implicates Father, President

Chen Zhi Zhong (a.k.a. Chen Chih-Chung), the coolest 1L we never got to meet who lost his spot in the class when he didn't register (because he had been subpoenaed out of the country), has plead guilty to violations of the Taiwanese "Money Laundering Control Act". His wife has plead guilty as well. Chen, who was to be a 1L in § K this year before the unpleasantness, was the son of the "Blagojevich-of-the-Far-East", former Taiwanese President Chen Shuibian.

"I would like a conscientious retraction," said Chen, adding that he was unaware money-laundering was a violation of the honor code.

Here's a piece from the "Kuomintang News Network" (the Kuomintang or KMT is the party currently in power; the one that opposes Chen and his father):

Chen Chih-chung and [his wife] Huang Jui-ching have confessed. As part of a plea bargain, they are willing to reveal the whereabouts of more money, jewelry, and property . . . The Chen family corruption case has shown the public that as long as prosecutors investigate in earnest, and acquire a clear picture of the case, no matter how devious the criminals might be, they will eventually succumb to the evidence. Therefore, the cornerstone of justice is the prosecutor.

Wuh-oh. Former President Chen had just went through a hunger strike protesting his incarceration and declaring his innocence. But do the confessions of his son and daughter-and-law mean that it is tougher for the hero of Taiwanese independence to exonerate himself?

They [the Chens] may or may not have been sincere in their expressions of remorse. But legally speaking, their confessions will make it difficult for Chen Shui-bian and Wu Shu-jen to continue maintaining their innocence . . . . Since Chen Shui-bian and his wife have chosen plea-barganing, Ah-Bian [nick-name of former President Chen] cannot go innocent.

[The former President and his wife] are charged with felonies. According to the law, suspects charged with felonies cannot request a plea bargain. The most they can do is throw themselves on the mercy of the court and hope for lighter sentences. But Ah-Bian and Ah-Jen committed too many crimes, and the charges against them are too serious. No matter how lightly they are punished, prison terms are unavoidable. If they stubbornly maintain their innocence, Chen Chih-chung and Huang Jui-ching's confessions have already shattered the family's united front, making it difficult to explain away the contradictions in their stories. Public perception will be even more negative. The consequences will be even more serious.

At least they expressed remorse (we're reading The Stranger in Law & Literature . . .). Anyway, just imagine the Feb Club party Chen Zhi Zhong would have thrown! From another article (also gave us the picture):

Chen Shui-bian admitted last August that his wife had transferred money overseas without his knowledge after Next Magazine blew the cover on the US$20 million (S$30 million) the Chens held in a Swiss account. The bank account was held by the son and daughter-in-law.

KA-CHING!

Related:
An Update From Taipei [Law Weekly]
Chen Zhi Zhong: The Coolest 1L We Never Got to Meet
Media Circus Descends On the Law School [Law Weekly]
Taiwanese 1L Has Serious Daddy Issues [Above the Law]

Speaking of Tuition, Be Sure to Pay It By Today

Today is the end of add/drop - if you had a block when you completed Law School registration (i.e. your name was highlighted), there's a good chance it's because you haven't paid tuition yet.  The registration people told us that you would need to get this cleared up (paid) by the end of add/drop (today) or you would be at risk of being dropped from all your classes.  Apparently a bunch of emails about it were sent (but not received) over break. 

Also, pay with an "e-check" if you can.  Paying with a credit card incurs a large fee . . .

This Post Brought to You by Higher Tuition!

Just because everyone does it doesn't mean that it's a good thing. Please don't raise it again! UVA Law Blog / some columnist takes the novel stance that higher Law School tuition is bad:

[S]uccessive tuition increases are bad for students. While the Law School pursues valuable academic resources and plies top candidates with generous scholarships to maintain its prestige vis-a-vis its peer schools and in the legal market as a whole, higher tuition costs in the end will be borne by almost all the current students. As they are forced to borrow more money to cover the costs, the effects could be even more significant than ever before because of the poor economy and legal job market.

Just for fun - here is the percentage increase in tuition over the past few years (years mark the fall of a given academic year):

Year (IS) (OOS)
2007-2008: 9.9% 8.6%
2006-2007: 8.6% 7.9%
2005-2006: 8.5% 7.2%
2004-2005: 8.5% 7.0%
2003-2004: 9.5% 6.5%

Source: UVA Budget Office

While it's worth noting that the in-state rate was growing faster in the early years as a result of the LS's declaring financial independence from the state, now we are seeing out-of-state increases almost as marked (indeed, the same last year in real-dollar terms). One thing especially stands out - in percentage terms last year's tuition increase was higher than ever before (at least, in terms of the available data we were able to come up with - we concede there might be a higher increase outside of that range). And, obviously, it was also the highest increase in terms of absolute value as well.

There's got to be another way. Giving the Law School the benefit of the doubt and assuming that they don't increase the rate at which they are increasing tuition (as they did this year) but instead decide to keep it flat at the same rate as the increase from Fall 2007 to Fall 2008, here's what happens if we don't stop the tuition increase madness:

Academic Year (IS) (OOS)
2008-09 (current): $36,800 $41,800
2009-10: $40,423 $45,394
2010-11: $44,425 $49,299
2011-12: $48,823 $53,538
2012-13: $53,656 $58,143
2013-14: $58,968 $63,143

That means if current trends hold true, next year out of state people will be paying over $45k in tuition alone, and that current out-of-state 1Ls are seriously looking at the prospect of paying almost $50k in tuition. Of course, you should be able to get loans to cover the cost, but with the legal economy being tight and law firms are not looking to jack up their salaries anytime soon (indeed, the opposite) it's a tough pill to swallow.

Aside from the welfare of the students, there's at least some argument that keeping tuition in check (alas, I'm not naive enough to think that it could ever be lowered), would help the Law School:

Not only would [not raising tuition as much] help current and entering students and be greatly appreciated by them, it could also be a potential boon to recruiting: If UVA were to keep its tuition in check at a time when other top law schools are not, many top applicants would have an even stronger opinion of the Law School and its administration as one that truly cares about its students. Keeping tuition in check would represent, at least in relative terms, a scholarship to every single student at the Law School. . .

Besides, what is this, Law School for millionaires?

Related: Please Don't Raise Tuition Again [Law Weekly]
Suggestions On What To Do With Your PILA Grant

ADDENDUM: Cornell Law School can't appreciate good press - they just announced their tuition for entering students for next year: $48,950 (!!!)  When will the madness end?!

*While we don't have a linking policy, please don't scoop this post on any other blogs, TYIA. Also please stop pointing out the atrocious grammar, style, and content of our writing in the comments and emails, ty ty.*

1月23日隨即的事情： Financial Advice*, Softball, Moot Court, Grades, and More!

＊ Welcome back! We have a brief addendum to our post on how to successfully use ISIS from earlier. First, it seems (from our experience and your many comments / emails) that the a common pattern is Course Eval - - > [two days] - - > grade on ISIS; but we also have reports of Course Eval - - > [one day] - - > grade on ISIS; and, of course, grades on ISIS preceding the Lawweb course evals. Remember, though, ISIS is only updated once every 24 hours, overnight, so your best bet - being the true ISIS cowboy - is to check every morning and forgoe all the anxiety that comes with trying to timing it with course evaluations!

＊ Why invest money in the stock market? If you put money in an index fund five years ago as part of a 401(k), you'd have less than when you started. If you took our advice last year on the G-men money-line, you'd have more than doubled your investment. So, here it is, your license to print money.*:

- Pittsburgh Steelers -7 over Chicago St. Louis Phoenix Arizona Cardinals: Gregg Easterbrook says that the game will be a battle "between the Steeler's offense and Arizona's defense" because historically Super Bowl teams with a " \great offense and great defense roughly neutralized each other, leaving the trophy to be decided by the lesser offense against the lesser defense." Balderdash! Was he paying attention when the Giants (D) dismantled the Patriots (O), or when the Buccaneers (D) steamrolled the Raiders (O)? This one is a no-brainer: defense wins championships. Expect the on-again, off-again Cardinals offense to be stuck firmly in the "off" position. Expect Ryan Clark to be arrested in the middle of the game for assault. Expect the Steelers to have more Lombardi trophies (6) than any other club.

Great offense always "neutralizes" great defense - just ask Super Bowl MVP Rich Gannon!

- MVP: Ben Roethlisburger: Of course, the real MVP will be the Steelers defense styming the Cardinals offense, but no one will notice as Big Ben completes some easy touchdown throws and manages the hold the team together down the stretch. Sound familiar?

- At least we get to watch Mike Tomlin give a post game interview: Honestly, he's one of more articulate NFL coaches out there and unlike many coaches (e.g. Romeo Crennel, Matt Millen) he actually (1) knows what he is talking about and (2) is pleasant to listen to.

* UVA Law Blog does not endorse, condone or engage in illegal gambling. Here we agree with Easterbrook that it almost always ends badly.

＊ Longer, harder, more time-consuming, longer: Moot Court is back! Wooooooooooo. We're not allowed to talk about it, but 64 members of the 2L class are in for a fun February. And if you win, you get . . . an opportunity next semester to do more moot court! Yes!

＊ We Heard NGSL is Having its Tryouts Today: If you haven't started juicing by now, it's probably too late. Gold uniform = the pre$tige. Wearing it into OGIs is akin to beig on Law Review, at least as far as employers are concerned.

＊ Lost Is Now Better Than Battlestar Galactica: We hate to say it as much as anyone but judging on the season premiers of each, its an inescapable conclusion. Lost opens with a bang in an exciting episode with a few edge of your seat moments and a generally nice tempo and plot development. Battlestar? For those who are unfamiliar (SPOILER) BSG is about humanity's war to avoid annihilation at the hands of the Cylons, sentient robots constructed by humans and who subsequent rebelled against them, killing most of them. As it turns out, several Cylons are embedded in the surviving human society - and most of the drama of the show has been about trying to determine who exactly these secret-Cylons are. Well, low and behold, the season premier revealed the identity of the final Cylon: a character who had been (1) dead for several seasons, and (2) Tertiary, annoying, and forgettable at best. Honestly, it has the about the same significance if you were to make Jar-Jar Binks turn into Darth Vader. The worst part about it is that the revealing of Ellen Tigh as the final Cylon isn't forshadowed in the plot at all; in other words, part of having a "mystery" in a show like BSG is giving the viewer some clues about what's going to happen, not just throwing in revelation after revelation that isn't anchored to overall narrative at all. Of course we'll keep watching - but not happily.

The last Cylon is a tertiary character that no one cared about and revealed in a way that wasn't foreshadowed or made relevant to the audience at all!? OMG!!!!!!!

＊ C-C-C-Changes! Almost 80% of you thought that the Law School would not have canceled class if John McCain had won the election. Then again, a lot of you also indicated to us privately that you would have transferred to the University of Toronto School of Law anyway, so it would have been a moot point.

You're Hot and You're Cold

First Slaughter classrooms are way too hot. Then two seperate people g-chat us saying they're cold. Then MB sends an email telling us they are working on it? When will the madness end?

For Once There is An Excuse

The Copy Center gave me the wrong course packet, d'oh! So instead of doing the reading I am going to sit here, drink cheap wine, and catch up on Gossip Girl. It's hard to say what was worse, getting the wrong books (for a totally different course) or doing ten pages of reading before realizing it . . .

In general, though, we've fallen a bit behind because we arrived at the last possible minute - oy. We had forgotten how much - well - work this law school thing invovled.

A Historic Occasion

What do you think? Feel free to expound in the comments.

Online Surveys & Market Research

Are We the Only Ones Who Think This Inaguration Is NBD?

Obviously, we're super-psyched that B.H.O. is going to be our next POTUS; even if he wasn't our first choice. Still, all the pomp and circumstance (especially the millions of dollars that will be spent on glitzy inaugural balls) seems a bit inappropriate in light of the circumstances (a crippling recession and a war). Our take is that B.H.O. should do a closed ceremony from the Oval Office - broadcast on television of course - and use whatever money was going to pay for all the security, parties, planning, et ceta, toward actually fixing the country. He would be our hero if he did. As it stands, we'll probably watch the address on TV, in part because it's part of history and in part because it's required for one of our classes.

Kudos to the University for giving us at least part of the day off. We may or may not spend the whole time watching the event; considering going over to AFC instead - Obama would approve.

1月11日隨即的事情： Entering the Best 1 / 2 of Law School, Taking Questions. Also Football.

* IT'S COOL TO STAY IN SCHOOL: Don't forget to show up by next monday and sign into that little book - they threw the book at the last guy who didn't officially register! (And he had a subponea to respond to halfway around the world).

* THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM: Get to courts and commerce A S A P to get your hands on use textbooks, otherwise be prepared to give up whats left of your portfolio for new editions. OR, THE SECOND MOUSE GETS THE CHEESE (?) - Alternatively, hit up the PILA booksale sometime in the future to get textbooks that are repeats - if you go early enough you can find some in good condition - which you should anyway to support them and grab commercial outlines).

How does McNabb do it? Easy - his team his named after a bird and from a state that never bore arms against the Union!

NFL SIDEBAR: Speaking of Birds, have you guys noticed how lucky teams named after birds have been in the NFL recently? No less than three wild-card bird teams made it in to the playoffs as wild-cards during the end of the season (the Atlanta Falcons, the Baltimore Ravens, and, against all odds, the Philadelphia Eagles), and a fourth, the Arizona Cardinals, made it in as a division "winner". Teams named after birds have been undefeated in the first two weeks of the playoffs unless they played against a team named after a bird as well (the Cardinals beat the Falcons).

The second thing to note is that teams that are located in former states of the Confederacy have fared extremely poorly in the post season. Consider: Tampa lost it's birth to Philadelphia after getting rocked by Oakland (from California, a free state); Philadelphia meanwhile rocked Dallas in a shocking upset to get to the playoffs; Miami lost in the playoffs to Baltimore (from Maryland, a state that allowed slavery until the 13th Amendment but nonetheless fought for the union), and then Baltimore went on to beat Tennesee, even though the latter was heavily favored; Atlanta lost to Arizona (which never allowed slavery); and then the (North) Carolina Panters lost Arizona as well.

This is two much to chalk up to coindicdence, and there is a clear moral here: (1) The team named after a bird always wins unless that team plays another bird-team. (2) The team playing in a former CSA state always loses.

Thus I offer the following predictions (we don't support gambling, but taking the below teams is literally a licensce to print money for those who would engage in such unscrupulous behavior):

Baltimore Ravens over Pittsburgh Steelers (Bird v. Non-bird team)

The Philadelphia Eagles v. Arizona Cardinals will not be predicted by the formula, because both are bird teams and both are not in the South - we therefore predict a tie, which we previously thought impossible.

* GRADES AREN'T EVERYTHING, THEY'RE - - - -. While we have little to no good advice on how to be succesful in law school we have, in fact, a great deal of advice on how to be successful checking your grades. Consider the following, which range from conjecture and hearsay to absolute fact:

(1) ISIS Is Updated Once Every 24 Hours, When It Is Down Over Night - this means that you don't have to spend the rest of your break and the beginning of the first semester in class (Yes, 1Ls, you will still be waiting for grades when classes start) keying in your Social Security Number because you don't know your student ID number and struggling to remember your ridiculously complicated password that it is different than both your Lawweb password AND your email password AND your password to log on to the CPU lab (they all have different requirements); instead, simply check once in the morning. Better yet, wait for someone in your section to do it and email everyone else.

(2) Course Evaluations Usually, But Do Not Always, Preceed Grades - If the course evaluation shows up, it means that the grades are on the way. But the grades can show up without the course evaluations, so remember to check ISIS.

(3) Checking Grades in Class Is Considered Poor Form - Unless, we say, unless, after you open ISIS popup window you hit "CTRL +" four or five times AND you are checking your grades for the first time (must be a 1L). In that case, gun on, brave sir or madame, gun on.

Good luck to everyone.

* FEBRUARY IS THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT: It seems like every year things hit the fan in February. There is the pyramid scheme of misery journal tryouts and Dillard Fellow Tryouts for the 1Ls, Moot Court and cite checks (and grading the journal tryouts for the 2Ls), and for the 3Ls - well, something, we're sure. Plus classes (and this was going to be the semester where we try to "learn stuff").

* RANDOM: We are quite fond of Chilis Grill & Bar, an American-style casual dining restaurant chain. It's great for a first date, anniversary, family get together, or just sitting quietly by one's self and contemplating the mysteries of the universe. Anyway, everytime we go there we always order the basically the same thing, the "Old Timer Burger", which is 800 k/cal of pure deliciousness (not including the fries that come with it). In Charlottesville, it costs $8.49 (plus tax, tip, et cetra); but in a certain upstate New York town it only costs $6.49! What could possibly account for this difference - it seems especially strange because other cost of living indicators (such as McDonalds prices and Beer Prices) favor Charlottesville by a convincing margin. . . . and two dollars is a lot of money; one could put that money toward lunch at the law school!

See you all soon.

Type "Heartless Creature" into Google

You Won't Be Dissapointed! (And that's really, really weird).

Mother Died Today

Or, a reading list to which you can set your watch. It's safe to say that we are pretty psyched about next semester's Law and Literature course:

1. Albert Camus, The Stranger

2. Truman Capote, In Cold Blood

3. Nadine Gordimer, The Pickup

4. Dave Eggers, What is the What

5. Tayeb Salih, Season of Migration to the North

6. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice (Norton Critical Edition)

7. William Shakespeare, Othello (Norton Critical Edition)

8. Upton Sinclair, The Jungle (The Norton Critical Edition)

At least each book doesn't cost $159 plus tax and become obsolete in six months to be replaced by a new edition so a half dozen professors can laugh all the way to the bank. Woooooooooooo.

LawWeb Course Description: Law and Literature