Brand New Vintage

Paris Hilton, the rock star?

2004-08-25T22:27:00.000-04:00

According to GQ Magazine's News Bites, Paris Hilton is recording her own version of Kim Carnes' 'Bette Davis Eyes.' The song will be released on her own Heiress Record label.

Where to start with this little news item?

I guess the first question is why does every famous person think that they should be a rock star? Come on, just because you're pretty and stupid may make you perfect for reality TV, but music? (Apparently, Tommy Mottola is working with Lindsay Lohan on an album of her own too.)

Then, there's the name of her label -- Heiress. Who would name their record label Heiress? We get it, Paris, you're rich. You an heiress. Sort of sickening that you need to shove it in everyone's face.

Then song slection ... I won't even go into her choice of tired old choice material ... but what is she thinking, just because she smokes cigarettes and parties hard, does she think she going to have Kim Carnes' voice?

Whatever. I'm sure it will be huge in Germany.

Benjamin L. Ginsberg is a partner at Patton Boggs

2004-08-25T10:31:00.000-04:00

Today's big news story is that Benjamin L. Ginsberg, the Bush campaign's top outside lawyer and a major player in the Florida recount, admitted that he has given legal advice to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the political group that has been attacking Senator John Kerry's Vietnam War record in high profile television spots. This is being used by democtrats to show another close tie between the Bush-Cheney campaign and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

What shouldn't be news is that Benjamin L. Ginsberg is a partner at Patton Boggs LLP. Despite acknowledgement in the NYT headline that Mr. Ginsberg is the Bush campaign's top outside legal counsel, no where in the story does the name of Mr. Ginsberg's firm appear. A review of other news sources reveals a similar reticence to name the firm that Mr. Ginsberg works at.

But is is publicly available information. Mr. Ginsberg is prominently featured on the firms website as is his role in the Bush-Cheney campaign and his representation of various PACs:

"In both the 2004 and 2000 election cycles, Mr. Ginsberg served as national counsel to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign; he played a central role in the 2000 Florida recount. He also represents the campaigns and leadership PACs of numerous members of the Senate and House, as well as the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee."

So why all the secrecy? My guess is that not all of Mr. Ginsberg's partners agree with Mr. Ginsberg's political views and asked not to have the firm tied to this controversy. Still, why have all of the news outlets complied?

But maybe I'm wrong -- the firm does seem like the perfect fit for Bush -- a man of privilege who masquerades as a man of the people. This is from the firm's "About Us" page:

"We're not a traditional law firm in either appearance or operation. From the museum-quality art on our walls to attorneys who don't feel compelled to button their jackets in meetings, you'll see that we enjoy what we do."

3i's head of US operation is going back to school

2004-08-24T20:55:00.000-04:00

Is this the plot line for a remake of Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School? Apparently, Martin Gagen, the US Chief of mega-private equity shop 3i, is leaving the firm after 20 years to go back to school! When I first read the story at AltAssets, I assumed that they had meant to write that he was going to Stanford to teach.

But after a quick search on Google News I found that the Times Online was reporting the same story. According to the Times, Gagen, "the head of 3i’s US and Asia Pacific operations is to leave the FTSE 100 venture capital group with a £430,000 payoff in order to study philosophy and history."

You can but a lot of Cliff Notes with £430,000!!

It seems strange that such a major power player would just drop out to pursue philosophy and history. Strange and really really cool. Also, really honest. None of this "to spend more time with his family" song and dance. I am sure that he has plenty of options, but I guess he has enough money and this is what he wants to do. How refreshing! How gutsy!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I would love to have a chance to be a student at the end of your career at an institution like Stanford -- just for the pure enjoyment of learning.

Nude photos of Jennifer Ellison?

2004-08-24T07:40:00.000-04:00

Nude photos of Jennifer Ellison?
Ananova has a story about the theft of Jennifer Ellison's personal laptop computer. Apparently, the computer contained some of Jen's "private" photos.

According to the starlet's manager, Sarah Conacher, in addition to the run-of-the-mill vacation photos, "There was also some pretty racy stuff [on the laptop], such as Jen changing her bikini."

Why would her manager want to broadcast that information? Call me a cynic, but I think this is an orchestrated, "inside job."

The good news is that we should be seeing those photos on the web soon enough!

The Shining -- Bunny-style

2004-08-22T18:51:00.000-04:00

Angry Alien Productions has done a series of famous films in 30 second versions using animated bunnies in the place of actors. The most recent one appears to be a 30 second-version Jaws, complete with Roy Scheider and Richard Dreyfeus-like bunnies.

I personally dig the Angry Alien version of The Shining. Somehow with cartoon bunnies, it isn't as scarey as the original.

Lindsay Lohan - Nipple Slip

2004-08-22T18:46:00.000-04:00

Apparently May was a very busy month for Lindsay Lohan's breasts. In addition to the national exposure that her chest got on Saturday Night Live, she also displayed one of her nipple for the papparatzzi. (I guess the other nipple is camera-shy.)

For such a young woman, she has a very busy bust ...

Tara Reid at the I Robot Premiere

2004-08-20T17:26:00.000-04:00

Do I suddenly have x-ray vision or is this dress completely see-thu?

More pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Christina Aguilera's "Naughty and Nice" campaign

2004-08-20T17:08:00.000-04:00

Skechers' provocative new print campaign featuring pop star Christina Aguilera is being referred to officially as the "Naughty and Nice" campaign. My prediction is that men will simply be saying "nice."

See for yourself if you don't agree.

My personal favorite. I call it "Nice and Nicerer."

Which one isn't nice here? Nurses are all good, aren't they?

Here the question is which one is nice?

Dear Modest Mouse

2004-08-20T16:49:00.000-04:00

(this is from The Royal Magazine.)

Dear Modest Mouse,

I hate everything about you.

I hate your fans, those pathetic posers who proudly play your music to showcase their knowledge of indie music.

I hate your publicy which touts you as the biggest indie hit since Wilco. You're not indie if you're constantly played and hyped by MTV, VH1 and Entertainment Weekly.

I hate your damn catchy name, clever design scheme and incredibly not-modest success.

Most of all though, I hate the fact that you make such fucking great music and that I can't stop listening to it. You make me hate myself.

Way to go assholes.

Google Coastertop

2004-08-19T18:42:00.000-04:00

GoogleCoastertop
Originally uploaded by j11spencer.

I found this on Flickr! I thought it was appropriate for today.

Paris Hilton's dog, Tinkerbell, found

2004-08-19T18:35:00.000-04:00

In honor of the recovery of Paris Hilton's Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, I thought that I would post this picture from Maxim. Besides featuring Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and a strippers pole (those girls are klassy) -- there is also a little green figure in the center of the photo that I have to assume is Tinkerbell. Not the recently-recovered pooch, but the Peter Pan's sidekick from Never-Neverland.

It warms the heart to see these nice young ladies embracing icons of childhood fancy.

Nicole Richie flahes breasts in airport

2004-08-18T07:09:00.000-04:00

Nicole Richie (not at the airport)

If it weren't for the fact that Nicole Richie was required to show her bobbies in a semi-private part of the Reno airport, we would have just assumed that she had a few too many in the cocktail lounge. But, in fact, the slutty second-fiddle's breast became an issue of national security when her nipple ring set off an airport metal detector on a recent trip from Reno to New York.

With the quick-wittedness of a character from Three's Company, Nicole offered to let the guard cop a feel -- just to prove that it was real (the nipple ring, of course):

"I'm like: "What if I say you can touch it? It should be fine." [The guard's] like: "No, I'm not allowed to do that."

Damn rules!

"So they brought in two female officers and took me not to necessarily the most private place in the airport and made me take off my top. Thank God I'm not a shy person, but what if I was shy?"

Well, Nicole -- if you were a shy person, this wouldn't be news but, then again, neither would you. (via Ananova.)

G-d Damn Hipsters

2004-08-17T20:13:00.000-04:00

It is a well known fact that in times of strife, people turn to God and religion. So I guess that it should come as no surprise that the people of Williamsburg, Brooklyn are turning to God now more than ever.

In the last decade, housing prices in this area increased more than in any other part of the City -- a staggering 67 percent in the years from 1990 to 2000.

Add to that an indigenous population of Hasidic Jews and an insurgent artist community and the results is the most contentious real estate holy war this side of the Tigris.

The local Hasidic community has been distributing a prayer, in Hebrew, "For the Protection of our City of Williamsburg from the Plague of the Artists."

Here's a taste. It shows just how blind faith can be:

"Please place in the hearts of the homeowners that they should not build, God forbid, for these people, and strengthen their hearts so that they can withstand this difficult test and so that they will not sell for the lure of money."

Do they really live in the same city as me?

The rest of it can be found at Harper's.

Ultraviolet Stupidity

2004-08-17T06:54:00.000-04:00

I like to check out what people are doing with Flickr! There are some really great photos posted there and some really bizarre ones.

This is a really stupid one. Some guy who calls himself Izzard took a photo of the contents of his wallet under ultraviolet light. The effect is pretty cool -- until you realize that you can clearly read the numbers and his name off of his credit cards. If that's not enough, he photographed his license too!

As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon."

________________________
Editor's note: It looks like Izzard tried to smudge the numbers on one of his credit cards in the photo, so I took down my post of the original photo. I really don't want to help anyone commit credit card fraud. If I can figure out how to post it so that you can see how clear it was but still can't read the numbers, I may post it again. But don't get your hopes up. You can still check out the doctored photo -- and I don't think that "Izz" did such a great job of hiding the numbers even now.

Brand New Vintage scoops the world!

2004-08-16T20:09:00.000-04:00

Today's New York Times has an article about Warner Brother's cooperation with an MP3 blog, music (for robots) -- here's the link to the NYT's story called "The Warner's Tryst With Bloggers Hits Sour Note."

A little known fact: I am the original source of the that story! (At least, I'm pretty sure I am.)

Even if you didn't hear it here first, you should have heard it here first -- the problem is that you haven't been visiting my site everyday like you should have been! Don't worry, all is forgive. Just don't let it happen again.

Here's how news gets made:

On August 9, I noticed what was going on with Warner Bros. and Robots and posted "Warner Bros. helps an MP3 blog" right here.

Then Boing-Boing linked to it on August 10.

Now, a week later, the New York Times joins the party. (NYT -- you're late, but thanks for coming.)

Moral of the story? Brand New Vintage is awesome! Read it religiously and you will know important things first!

Lindsay Lohan on Saturday Night Live

2004-08-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

This is an old story and I am sure that a lot of people have already written about it. But I haven't and I just found this link to the Harry Potter sketch from when Lindsay Lohan hosted SNL, so I'm writing about it now!

When Lindsay hosted SNL on May 1, she was only 17 years old. Still, that didn't stop SNL (or Lindsay) from exploiting her sexuality. (I don't want to be unfair. Maybe Lindsay wasn't exploiting her sexuality. Maybe she was just showing off her new supersized breasts like any other high school girl.)

Even in the opening monolgue, there was a running joke about the number of days until she'd turn 18 and be "legal". But the nadir was this skit. It is all clevage and fetishized school girl fantasy. Thing is -- she really is a school girl -- a high school girl.

Of course, the other thing is that she really is hot. And the skit is funny.

Things about Jay

2004-08-15T20:55:00.000-04:00

Jay, from the blog Jay's Party, has a post of 35 things that he says we'd rather not know about him. He's probably right, but its still pretty damn funny.

Here's a sample of some of the items:

"14. I speed and I do it well.
15. I want little Jays. And maybe little Jasmines.
16. On that topic, I want to fucking tell people she’s mine goddammit. Soon…
17. I don’t lie.
18. #17 is a lie."

Olympic Dishonor

2004-08-15T14:53:00.000-04:00

This is a dark day for the Olympics. Iran's world judo champion Arash Miresmaeili refused to compete against an Israeli opponent Sunday.

The official reason was that the Iranian didn't make weight for the match, but in Tehran, the Iranian National Olympic Committee said: "This is a general policy of our country to refrain from competing against athletes of the Zionist regime and Arash Miresmaeili has observed this policy."

So much for the Olympic dream of bridging the distance between people of different nations and fostering understanding and good-will.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) is trying to figure out whether any penalty would hit Miresmaeili alone or the entire Iranian team. The IJF already held an emergency meeting and plans to hold further talks on the issue Monday.

If the International Olympic Committee hopes to "uphold the ideal of sport transcending national barriers," swift and decisive action must be taken against any individuals or teams that violate those ideals. In this case, it appears that the Iranian team has a policy that is anathama to those ideals and it should be sanctioned.

Fox TV's The Partner

2004-08-15T12:13:00.000-04:00

This season Fox will air an Apprentice-style reality show called The Partner, in which recent law school graduates will compete for a lucrative position as a "partner" at a major law firm.

This show should bring the same type of honor to the legal profession that Halliburton brought to the oil and gas industries, Jeff Skilling brought to Enron, and Dick Cheney brings to the office of the Vice President.

But don't get me wrong -- I'll be home to watch every episode. Its going to be great entertainment, its going to be terrible for the profession.

Its going to be like one season-long lawyer joke.

"What do you call 10 episodes of The Practice at the bottom of Nielsen's? A good start ..."

Probably the biggest problem with the show is its very premise. The very focus of the competition is on showmanship and on lawyers instead of issues. For the puroses of the show "it doesn't matter who's right or wrong in the case, it's who does a better job arguing," as Fox's reality programming executive Mike Darnell freely admits. That's just wrong.

Its the opposite of what our legal system is designed to do. We shouldn't reward the party that can hire the best lawyer. Yes, better lawyers win when they should lose and that is part of the reality of our systems, but it is not the part that should be celebrated. Our legal system is designed to ferret out the truth and give redress for wrongs. The system is not about the lawyers, its is about the plaintiffs and defendants. The show is about the lawyers and that's wrong.

But it is more than that. Even the purported prize is perplexing. What "major law firm" is going to hire an attorney based on a reality TV show? Maybe a plaintiff's bar firm like Milberg Weiss or Lerach Coughlin would, but I seriously doubt that any major "white shoe" law firm would. Major law firms have major clients -- clients that aren't looking for flash and publicity, but for honor, discretion, experience and knowledge. Those aren't the "goods" that reality TV delivers.

Then, the idea of making a first year lawyer a partner at a major firm! Absurd. Major firms have legions of smart, hard working young associates who slave away for years -- often 8, 9, 10 years or more -- just for the opportinity to be considered for partnership. Are they really going to piss off all those loyal associates by letting a first year associate leap frog them all and become an instant partner? In my opinion, that's not likely to happen.

And there's also the proposed catch phrase. Word is that Rocket Science Laboratories, the show's production company, is scrambling to trademark such phrases as "You're disbarred" which will be uttered Trump-style by the "judge". Why? Do they even understand what that term means? To be disbarred is "to be expelled from the bar or the legal profession." It happens if you steal money from your client or intentionally throw a case, not because you lose a make-belive case in mock trial. It just doesn't make sense. And its offensive.

But don't get me wrong. I'll be watching despite it all.

Nebraska Sextuplets

2004-08-14T17:16:00.000-04:00

First I doubt the veracity of Moby and now I question the character of the fine people at Stuff Magazine. So if you're thinking its me, you may be right. Still, to be fair, how is that only Stuff Magazine has any information about the "Nebraska Sextuplets." I did a quick google seach and the only hits that I got were from Stuff or referred to Stuff. I just don't think it works like that. I would expect fan sites, photos and news articles from local papers. None of that. Zero.

Minimally, I would think that any sextuplets willing to pose for Stuff would have their own Fox reality T.V.

Moby: Strippers, Cocaine and Lies

2004-08-13T16:35:00.000-04:00

Moby

You almost have to believe him. Almost.

After all, why would anyone tell a humilating story about himself in which he hires a stripper, snorts her cocaine and then shits himself, only to add "face-saving" lies to it?

It doesn't seem like anyone would, but then again, the "facts" as told by Moby just don't sound right. At least not to me.

But you can judge for yourself.

Not long ago Moby told this story to an audience gathered at the Moth.

A 38 year old Moby went to a strip club in Times Square "for the first time in his life." While there, he paid a stripper $400 "just to talk."

The stripper then "gave" him her bag of cocaine, which "he tried for the first time." Since it was his first time doing coke and he didn't know the proper etiquette, so he did all of it. Surprisingly, he didn't end up in the emergency room attached to a defibrillator. Not surprisingly, he did piss the stripper off pretty badly.

But Moby says he was able to appease her by buying a $400 bottle of champagne. After that he left the club. But the night was far from over -- he capped off his escapades by crapping himself and having sex "all night long" with his ex-girlfriend.

Yeah right.

via The New York Daily News.

Pixies reject "the man"

2004-08-13T16:17:00.000-04:00

The Pixies have decided to go it alone -- no recording agreement for the band this time around.

"Record companies, schmecord companies," Thompson said. "Who needs 'em?"

The band intends to generate revenues from touring and related merchandising. Techdirt hails this as fulfillment of the digital music promise:

"Ever since Napster came out, it was easy to see that it was going to be increasingly difficult to just make money selling CDs. This seems fairly obvious, of course, but when people asked where the money would come from, it seemed equally obvious that the money would come from using the music to promote other items for sale, such as concert tickets, fan clubs, access to the artists and plenty of other ideas."

I am not so convinced. You've may have read it here before, but others things seem pretty obvious to me.

For example, it seems pretty obvious to me that people want music on their iPods and are willing to pay for it. It also seems obvious that people are willing to buy music at point-of-purchase locations, like at Starbucks.

What doesn't seem so obvious to me is that touring is going to the basis for an entire mature industry -- one that appeals to baby boomers as well as teenie boppers. One that sells living artists as well as dead artists.

Touring and performing has always been a part of the music industry. I am sure it will continue to be. And I am sure that there will always be bands that make most of their money from (like the Grateful Dead did), but come on -- The Pixies aren't a trend. They are a unique anomaly.

Eisner in divorce talks with Miramax

2004-08-11T07:09:00.000-04:00

When I was little and would complain bitterly to my parents that everyone was mean and awful and terrible, they would stop me and say, "if everyone is so awful, maybe the problem is with you, not them." I hated it, of course, but the point wasn't lost on me.

I guess Michael Eisner's parents didn't share that philosophy with young Michael.

The latest news (but not exactly new) is that Harvey Weinstein might be leaving the House of Mouse to go off on his own. Given the rocky relationship between Miramax and Disney, this is not a shock to anyone.

What is a shock is that this is being spun a victory by Disney because Bob Weinstein isn't leaving too!

Physical graffiti

2004-08-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

I know that "it takes all kinds" and "that's why Baskin Robbins makes 31 flavors of ice cream" and all that sort of stuff, but how could someone do this to themselves? And who thinks its attractive?

Well, there must be someone, because there is a whole site devoted to these people call "Suicide Girls."

I think its like spray painting the Mona Lisa -- It just shouldn't be done.

Warner Bros. helps an MP3 blog

2004-08-09T18:48:00.000-04:00

Hilary Rosen is barely out the door of the RIAA and Warner Brothers Records is already helping an unaffiliated website, Music For Robots, distribute an MP3 from one of its artists, for free.

Have we entered the Twilight Zone?

Even the folks at Music for Robots can't quite figure this one out:

"We have no idea where this is heading, but it's nice to have the support of the major labels (take that RIAA!) and to know that we're not operating in constant fear of being shut down (not that we were). "

It may be a little premature to say take all that away from this one possible anomaly, but it is nice to see any support for these independent sites that help to promote interesting, non-conventional artists.

Maybe something will come of it. I think that an ongoing relationship between the MP3 blogs and record labels could be mutually beneficial -- helping to expose record label's artists to a wider audience without having to spend huge ad dollars to do it.

We'll see what happens and hope for the best.

Anastasia Myskina sues GQ

2004-08-09T18:31:00.000-04:00

Myskina
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Not enough smut on Brand New Vintage today? Don't worry, there's more!

Anastasia Myskina filed an $8 million federal lawsuit against GQ magazine today, claiming that it allowed topless photographs of her to appear in a Russian magazine without her permission.

Although never available though GQ, the pictures did appear in the in the July/August issue of Medved magazine. As we understand it, the above picture was o.k. with Myskina, but a couple of others were not. Those can be found here, along with some other Lady Godiva shots.

Looking at them, it seems obvious that she knew and consented to the photos being taken. So what's her beef? According to her attorney, "she never intended for two shots of her appearing shirtless to be published anywhere." And what about the shots on horseback?

Huh. Then why have them taken at all and at a magazine shoot?

Olympians

2004-08-09T18:05:00.000-04:00

Olympians
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Worried that crass commericalism has ruined the Olympic ideals? No need. The true meaning of the Olympics is alive and well at FHM.

FHM has a feature call "US Olympic Girls" filled with inspiring quotes like:

"I wear a two-piece a lot to train in, and I wedge it right up my butt. We swim like we’re Brazilian swimmers: We have it up our asses. " Amanda Beard

"When guys find out I’m a high jumper, they’re like, ‘You can jump me.’” Amy Acuff

"I'm pretty comfortable naked. " Haley Cope

“I feel sexy in my track clothes. " Jenny Adams

"[My teammates and I] like dancing with each other. We’ll grind and do whatever, because I’d rather dance with them. I’m like, ‘Wait a second. I’m straight, right?’” Logan Tom

Makes you proud to be an American ...

Doughboy Massacre

2004-08-08T11:01:00.000-04:00

Doughboy Massacre
Originally uploaded by selva.

Strange photo that I found on Flickr.

Segway

2004-08-08T10:35:00.000-04:00

Segway
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

We here at Brand New Vintage hate the Segway. It is slow, dangerous (to pedestrians) and dorky.

And we think we're being kind about it.

Even worse, we think that calling it a scooter probably confuses some people in a way we consider to be very dangerous -- we are petrified by the thought that when we talk about our "scooter," people think we ride around on a Segway! We do not.

This is not the sort of harmless confusion that we can live with or forget about. Let's just say that we now know what Kurtz was getting at in Heart of Darkness* when he talked about "the horror."

That is why we have such mixed feelings about "America at 10 mph." While it should be good fun to laugh derisively at the daily dispatches from the idiot who is crossing the country on an "upright, glorified wheelchair" (as the Register calls it), we have some concern that it is only going to make matters worse by publicizing the vehicle.

Read the Register article too. Very funny

_________________________________
* Or Apocalypse Now, for those who prefer films.

Change of name

2004-08-08T08:27:00.000-04:00

name change
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

I just changed the name of this blog from A Practiced Life to Brand New Vintage. (You found the site, so I guess you already know that.)

What you may not know is why.

Well, there are a few reasons.

When I semi-randomly chose the name, A Practiced Life, I didn't know if I was going to pursue blogging with any real ardor. And although my dedication has vacillated over the months since I began, it seems that this blog is here to stay.

That's kind of nice, but the name wasn't. So I decided to change it.

The old name also reflected what I was doing professionally at the time -- practicing law. (Get it? A practiced life, practicing law? I know, it sucks.) Since I am no longer practicing law, the name is no longer the slam-dunk, sure-thing it once was. *

Finally, the old name just wasn't getting the job done. Well, let's be honest, the blog isn't attracting readers and I've chosen to blame the name. No one is visiting it. No one is reading it. So I am changing the name to solve the problem!

You can think of Vintage Vinyl as the Arcadia College of blogs.

For those of you who don't know the story of Arcadia, it is a school in suburban Philadelphia that used to be known as Beaver College. Back in 2000, the school was facing some major obsticles in attracting and keeping students. So what did the trustees do? Raise the quality of the academics? Improve the facilities? Focus on improving the profile of athletic program? The trustees realized that those are really difficult things to do. So, instead, they changed the name. **

They reasoned that if they changes the name, students would flock to Beaver. Makes sense, right? So, the college is now known as Arcadia. ***

Well, friends, I feel the same way. Improving the writing is too hard. Thinking up more interesting stories would take too long. And effectively promoting the blog is way beyond my abilities. (Besides what's the point of promoting a blog with bad writing and lousy stories?)

But changing the name? Well, that's easy. A few key strokes and all my problems are all solved! ****
_________________________
* I am out of the law racket into the insurance game! I could have thought up some really cool insurance-related name for the blog -- but let's be honest "cool" and "insurance" don't really go together. In fact, that's the whole point of insurance -- its not cool, its safe and conservative.

** President Landman said in a letter to alumni that the old name "too often elicit[ed] ridicule in the form of derogatory remarks pertaining to the rodent, the TV show 'Leave It to Beaver' and the vulgar reference to the female anatomy." Besides, many firewalls were blocking Beaver College's website as a probable porn site.

*** I guess Harvard was already taken.

*** Gawker and Boing-Boing were already taken.

Peewee graffiti

2004-08-07T23:06:00.000-04:00

Peewee graffiti
Originally uploaded by purplejavatroll.

A really bad idea -- Fog Cutter board keeps CEO

2004-08-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

How's this for questionable board behavior -- Despite the fact that Andrew Wiederhorn, the CEO of Fatburger-parent company Fog Cutter, is headed for prison after pleading guilty to two felony counts that go directly to corporate responsibility, integrity and judgment -- filing a false tax return and paying an illegal gratuity to the former chief executive of another Portland company -- the Fog Cutter board of directors voted to continue Mr. Weiderhorn's salary during his 18-month long visit at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan.

We know that you will be shocked that the board counts among its members several old friends of Mr. Wiederhorn.

The board even voted to give him a special $2 million "leave of absence" bonus in consideration for the advise he would give the company during his stay at Club Fed. Even worse, Federal prisons don't allow inmates to conduct business while they're in prison.

There is a bright side -- the Company has now made TheStreet's Five Dumbest Things list twice!

Vespa-mania in New York City

2004-08-07T12:41:00.000-04:00

Vespa
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Look around New York City these days and you will notice something new. Weaving around the taxis, trucks and cars are a new breed of transportation. Scooters, long a staple of London, Paris and Rome, have arrived state-side and are growing in popularity.

As someone who's been riding one for over a year, I can tell you that there's a reason for the popularity -- riding a Vespa around the city is pure bliss.

Even better than riding one is parking it. While technically parking on the sidewalks of the city is illegal, I have found that the police are generally willing to overlook the infraction if you keep it out of the way of pedestrians. Bike racks usually do the job. In most neighborhoods, parking legally is easy enough too. Vespas fit with ease into spots that even Mini Coopers have to pass up.

In another sign of how popular scoots have become, the Motorcycle Safety School now even offers a class specifically designed for scooterists. Its in Williamsburg, of course. I took their Motorcycle Saftey course when I got my license a few years back and highly recommend taking one.

Besides, you get a discount on insurance.

Watchismo

2004-08-07T11:56:00.000-04:00

Little Lip Bach
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Watchismo is a very cool site that sells vintage watches. Even if you're not interested in buying, its worth a visit. Think of it as a sort of virtual museum of L.E.D. watches.

via Manhattan User's Guide.

My friend Flickr!

2004-08-07T09:24:00.000-04:00

From The Speckled Band
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Flickr is the service that I discovered last weekend and now use to add photos to my posts (like the one you see above). But apparently, I am just scratching the surface -- Flickr can do so much more.

A guy who calls himself Electricinca * created an "illustrated version" of a Sherlock Holmes story using Flickr. ** Here's his description of the project:

"I decided to utilise *** the comment feature and create an illustrated version of the Sherlock Holmes tale The Speckled Band. I broke the text up into 58 sections, picked a keyword from each bit of the text then searched for a photo that was tagged with that word. I then wrote the text into the coment *** box for each photo linking to the next photo and bit of the text."

Ok. Its a pretty cool idea, I guess. But then his introduction to the story ends with the following tag:

"I'm Male and Single."

So what is that -- The worlds strangest pick-up line or some wry comment on the life of a guy who would spend his evenings illustrating "The Speckled Band" using Flickr?

via Boing-Boing.

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* Wouldn't the masculine form of Electricinca be Electricinco?

** The photo above is one of the "illustrations" from the story.

*** "utilise"? "coment"? Doesn't he have spell checker or is he a brit and a bad speller?

Esquire interview with Jack LaLanne

2004-08-07T08:29:00.000-04:00

Jack LaLanne
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

The August issue of Esquire has a great interview with Jack LaLanne, the iconic exercise guru who's turning 90 this September.

But even as Jack enters his ninth decade, you shouldn't expect to see his photo in the obits any time soon. Jack has no plans to go anywhere. As he says "I can't afford to die. It'll wreck my image."

Besides, he's probably healthier than most of us. Says the guru, "I work out for two hours every morning, seven days a week -- even when I'm traveling. I hate it. But I love the result! That's the key, baby!" *

And if living until 90 isn't enough motivation to get you to put down that crispy cream and the remote, Jack has an ace in the hole, "If you lose a couple of inches off your stomach, your business down there will look an inch longer."

Excuse me, I have to go for a run now ...

You can link to the full interview here.
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* What's with the rat pack lingo? Do you think he's being a swinging hipster, or is it just that when you hit 90, everyone else is a baby?

Go Bags

2004-08-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

"Go" Kit
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

These suggestions from the NYC Office of Emergency Management have been out for a while, but in the face of the new threats and the Code Orange, it is worth a little blog space. *

The Office of Emergency Management advises the city's population to assemble "Go" Bags and "Emergency Supply Kits" in case of disaster. **

Many people have already questioned the efficacy of the these kits in the face of an all-too-likely terrorist attack in NY. (Really, aren't we just rearranging the deck chairs? How are these kits going to help us if we're at the epicenter of an Israel-style blast or are exposed to sarin gas on the subway?)

I have another question to add to the mix -- how are these going to help if they're at home and we're not? Are we supposed to carry these everywhere we go or are we going to ask the terrorists to only strike when we're close to home? (And we're all going to need Segways *** to carry these its along with our cell phones, palm pilots, blackberries, newspapers, work files, unread professional reading and gym clothes.) ****

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* I think it should be called "burnt orange" or something, since we were already at orange before the big announce that there's an imminent threat of a terrorist attack. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense. We have a big announcement and then go to ... orange. What is that? Should we have been something else before the announcement?

** As with everything also in New York, someone else will even do it for you. The picture (above) is from Saratoga Trading Company, which offers a staggering variety of survival kits.

*** I tried one out in Hartford. The had some Segway-sponsored rally that was near my hotel. Its seems pretty supid to have millions of these things cruising around on the sidewalks along with pedestrians, but they are a lot of fun to play with. I just hope no one took a picture of me -- they are not exactly cool looking.

**** No wonder Swiss Army now makes suitcases.

Martha dumping Omnimedia stock

2004-08-04T07:09:00.000-04:00

Martha Stewart
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote that "there are no second acts in American lives." But recent history seems to indicate that that's no longer true. (Just think Clive Davis, Marv Albert, Bill Clinton ...)

That's why I've been thinking about lining my family's little nest with some Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock (symbol: MSO). Things are at a "moment" -- The American public hasn't quite forgiven and forgotten yet, but the worst seems to be over. (At least for the company.)

Plus, traders like certainty. So, whether she wins on appeal or not, once prison (or the threat of prison) is behind her, they should give her stock a nice little bounce.

So, now's the time to buy, right? All indictaors are pointing in the right direction, so to speak.

Not so fast. It appears that not everyone is as confident that arrow is going up for MSO.

In a three day period, from June 14 through June 17, Martha sold around $3 million worth of her company's stock at around $9 a share.

If only she had waited -- The stock is currently at around $11.15.

Kobe acquitted of all rape charges

2004-08-04T06:37:00.000-04:00

Kobe Bryant
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Not really. At least not yet.

The New York Times reports today that the court (judicial, not basketball) will allow jury members to hear evidence that suggests that Bryants accuser had sex with a second man not long after her encounter with him. The new information both undermines her credibility and provides defense lawyers with an alternative explanation for the injuries she suffered. Most importantly, it gives the jury emebers something to hang their hats on when it declares "not guilty." Looks like an easy lay up now.

But not all the news is so good for Kobe. After winning the old west style, "this town ain't big enough" contest against Shaquille O'Neill in L.A. and cementing the ill-will of the big man, Sports Illustrated is reporting that Kobe may have to face Shaq in court (again judicial, not basketball). According to the magazine, prosecutors have contacted Shaq about testifying as a character witness against Kobe in the rape case. (via NBC 4 - News)

I bet he wishes he had played a little nicer in the sandbox now.

Anish Kapoor's "Cloud Gate" (aka the "Bean")

2004-08-03T22:36:00.000-04:00

Cloud Gate (aka the "Bean")
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Artists can fatuous to the point of absurdity. Take Anish Kapoor as an example. Apparently, the sculptor is taking umbrage at the nickname given to his latest piece, the new legume-shaped sculpture in Chicago's Millennium Park that was officially (and belatedly) named "Cloud Gate". (Could it be that he thinks that calling the "Bean" sounds stupid?)

umbrellas
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

It reminds me of a famous (and perhaps apocryphal) story that I heard about "The Umbrellas", a work of temporary sculpture by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists placed 1,760 yellow umbrellas in the Tejon Pass, just north of Los Angeles, and 1,340 blue umbrellas in a lush inland valley seventy-five miles north of Tokyo. All of the umbrella (each of which stood more than 19 feet high, opened to a 28-foot diameter, and weighed 448 pounds) were supposed to be opened simultaneously. But the opening of the umbrellas had to be delayed because of ... rain.

A journalist asked Jeanne-Claude if she didn't find that to be ironic. Her cold and firm response was "No." *

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* Also ironic, but not so funny, is that two people -- one in the U.S. and one in Japan -- were killed by the sculptures. Here is one report about the U.S. death, "Tejon Pass is often very windy and on the last day of the exhibit a mighty wind blew through, lifting an umbrella off it's base. It fell on a young woman and killed her. As it turned out she was terminally ill." There is a movie about all this -- not surprisingly, its called The Umbrellas.

Where's the bounce?

2004-08-02T18:25:00.000-04:00

Kerry
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Lou Dobbs Tonight asked, "Where's the traditional post-convention bounce for Senator Kerry?" *

Well, maybe if the Networks had showed more than 3 hours of the convention, Kerry would have gotten more of a bounce.

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* As seems typical of our "unbiased" media, there's no consensus as to how large the bounce was or even if Senator Kerry got one at all. Some news outlets even suggest that there was a "reverse bounce" in favor of President Bush.

Day 1: DJ ends up 0.19%

2004-08-02T18:03:00.000-04:00

DJ Stock Price
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

The market has spoken!

News of Ms. Rosman's first day at the Wall Street Journal helped push its parent company's stock up .08 (0.19%) to end at 42.46.

In the face of a threat of imminent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average also reacted favorably to Ms. Rosman's decision and ended up 39.45 (0.39%) at 10,179.16.

We told you to buy! Get on it!

Marketing Genius?

2004-08-02T15:00:00.000-04:00

AIM Plumbing
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Is this just some crappy marketing gimmick or a brilliant way to capitalize on people's willingness to send around pictures of anything even remotely funny to all their friends (and to post them on their blogs)?

By the way, Aim ... Plumbing ... Toilets ... Are we supposed to connect the dots or is it just a happy accident?

The music industry isn't dead

2004-08-02T07:15:00.000-04:00

Hear Music coffee's
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

All this talk about the death of the music industry is, as Samuel Clemens might have said, much exaggerated. It is not so much "death" as re-invention, with some of the old winners (i.e. the major record label) losing their strangle hold and some new upstart (i.e. iTunes) gaining ground. *

Hear Music, the record label owned by Starbucks, has been one of the big winners. They don't release information about sales or profits, but they have been cleaning up. I love the business model of bring music to people where they are -- whether its online or in line. I also think it is brilliant to have established artists "Dj" for you -- what they call their "Artist's Choice" series. They are not the only ones doing it, but they do it well.**

Now they have introduced a natural extension of this concept -- a "Hear Music" coffeehouse in Santa Monica. Time will tell, but I think that they will be the ones to actually make music kiosks successful.

One things for sure, if it is a hit, it'll be on your corner soon enough.

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* It is not the first time this has happened and it won't be the last. The history of the music industry is the history of innovation and change. The example are countless -- The phonograph was the "killer app" that destroyed the sheet music hegemony and R & B did a little shake, rattle and roll to the status quo of the 50s and 60s, just to name a couple.

And don't cry too hard for the majors. Aside from their historical ability to find a way through tough times (usually by acquiring the innovators), there have been at least one unexpected benefits from the slow down -- mergers, like Bertelsmann-Sony, that never would have gotten anti-trust approval before, are sailing through their reviews. When the industry "comes back" to life, these mergers may not seem so good for the consumers.

** FYI, other people make coffee too.

An historic day for an historic newspaper!

2004-08-02T06:20:00.000-04:00

frontpage
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Today is Ms. Rosmania's first day at the Wall Street Journal. She is now officially a staff reporter for the Weekend Section.

First they introduce color to their pages and now this! If I were you I would seriously consider buying up blocks of Dow Jones stock (symbol: DJ)

Since they seem to be on a roll, is it too much to ask for them to do something about this new code orange threat level?

Conspiracy theorists rejoice!

2004-08-02T00:25:00.000-04:00

Bush Flow Chart
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

After years (and years) of trying to make a world-class conspiracy out of the Carlyle Group*, conspiracy theorists may have fodder for a new Washington-Wall Street conspiracy theory.

The New York Times today has the wedding announcement of Apollo Management** and the CIA -- well, to be more accurate, of Cheryl Gordon, a senior executive for strategic planning at Apollo Management, and A. B. Krongard, the executive director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Both the bride and groom have been widowed. I hope that the conspiracy theorists will take a moment to appreciate the magic of second-chance love before they "uncover the shocking truth."

______________________

* There is even a concentration-type game and a 48-minute video about the evils of the Carlyle Group. The game is fun. I didn't watch the film.

** In the interest of full disclosure, I worked with Apollo Management on several transactions during my years as a lawyer. I never saw any signs of conspiracies, other than the one to deprive me of sleep and keep me away from my friends and family. They make so much money because they are very smart and very hard working. I have no personal basis to comment on the Carlyle Group, but I bet its the same.

Fun with my camera phone!

2004-08-01T11:22:00.000-04:00

Governor Rowland's Parking Place
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

I am a little late with this one, but I only just figured out how to post pictures on my blog today.

This picture was taken on June 30 *, the day before former Connecticut Governor Rowland actually left office. Governor Rowland had resigned the week before, in the face of an impeachment investigation into his receipt of impermissible favors. He is the only Connecticut Governor to resign under such circumstances.

By the way, Governor Rowland is looking for a job. So if you have any odd jobs that need doing around the house, please consider John. I think he's really learned a lot about the "dos" and "don'ts" of renovating your house.

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* You may be wondering why I was in Hartford -- Well, as an insurance man, I am required to take annual pilgrimages to our holy land -- Hartford, Connecticut. I was taking the curative waters at the statue of Lawrence (for non-insurance people, that's the name of the Hartford stag).

If hope is on the way, where is it now?

2004-08-01T08:54:00.000-04:00

John Edwards
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

I don't get it -- John Edwards kept telling us that "Hope is on the way" during his speech at the Democratic National Convention. I assume that he was saying that there is the hope of a Kerry/Edwards administration instead of four more years of Bush. *

But if we are hoping for a Kerry/Edwards administration, doesn't that mean that hope is already here?

Ms. Rosmania also had an interesting point about Edwards' speech. Despite all this talk of how the convention was "more scripted than most Shakespeare plays" **, it seems that someone dropped the balloon in allowing Edwards' speech to harp on the "two different Americas" after Barack Obama's powerful speech about how there's only one America -- the United States of America.***
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* A powerful point for those of us who shutter to think about any more Bush. Think about it, if he's reelected, that means that a George Bush will have lead the country for 18 years out of a 26-year period. And that's only "George Bushes"! We still have Jebs, Jennas and Barbaras to worry about.)

** From a post on Michael Moore's site called "Uninvited Guest: Michael Moore Takes Boston By Storm." By the way, why did they say "than most Shakespeare plays" instead of "any Shakespeare play?" Which play are they thinking is more scripted than the DNC? Did Lear have ballet or something? You should check Moore's site out, if for no other reason than to laugh about how great Michael Moore thinks Michael Moore is. The post with my favorite title is "'Fahrenheit 911': Most Democrats and Independents Give Michael Moore's Movie Good Marks and Think it Treats President Fairly." Yeah, and Mike's Mom liked it, too.

*** I think that section is worth quoting more fully. It was a very powerful moment (making it even worse that Edwards stepped on it with his cheesy "two Americas"):

"Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.

Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America.

There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America -- there is the United States of America.

The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states; red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too ... We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."

Can't Buy Me Love?

2004-08-01T07:54:00.000-04:00

Avril Lavigne
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

Maybe the Beatles were right and you can't buy love, but Avril Lavigne proves that you can buy a top 10 hit from Billboard Magazine.*

That's basically what she did with her single "Don't Tell Me". (Provide your own witty and biting remark here about the irony of the song's name.)

In May, the song was trying to crack the top 10, but coming up short. The solution? Buy ad time and play the entire song. (And then play it again and again. How often? On May 23rd, Billboard reported that it was played 18 times from midnight to 6 a.m. on WQZQ in Nashville.)

It worked. Avril Lavigne's single became a "bona fide" top 10 hit on Billboard.

How? Well, apparently Billboard doesn't distinguish between "spot buys" (basically paid advertising where the entire song is played) and actual programming.** As Gertrude Stein might have said, "A spin is a spin is a spin." Enough spins and you've got yourself a Billboard's top 10 hit.

It is really the ultimate product placement. The public is never let in on the secret that "popularity" was bought and paid for. And the worst part is that once its on the top 10, radio stations play it even more (during peak times) because its on the top of the Billboard?

Makes sense, right? After all, now its a hit and people want to hear hits. Right?

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* For more on this, read James Surowiecki's article in the New Yorker. He makes very interesting points about how this is worse than "payola" (the now illegal act of paying DJs to spin particular records) ever was.

** For a more detailed look on how Billboard's Top 40 works, check this article on Howstuffworks.com.

Kerry's speech goes over well in North Adams

2004-08-01T07:45:00.000-04:00

John Kerry Reporting For Duty
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

"Kerry's speech goes over well in North Adams"

That is an actual headline from a story in today's Berkshire Eagle, the local paper in Western Massachusetts (where my mom lives).

As they say, all news is local!

Why not just have it read: "George Ferris says Kerry 'did well', Barry Garton thought zingers 'effective'"? Sort of sums up the article just as well.

But I agree with George Ferris -- I liked the zingers too. Kerry did a very effectively job of turning "Republican" issues against Bush. (see full transcript of the speech here.)

My favorite were his comments on faith:

"I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve. But faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday. I don't want to claim that God is on our side. As Abraham Lincoln told us, I want to pray humbly that we are on God's side. And whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give of ourselves for others and for our country."

Not only did he turn the Republican's issue against the current White House, he used Lincoln, one of their own, to do it! I guess we have a new "party of Lincoln."

Another Freaky Friday moment, was when he talked about bringing honor back to the White House:

"I will be a commander in chief who will never mislead us into war. I will have a Vice President who will not conduct secret meetings with polluters to rewrite our environmental laws. I will have a Secretary of Defense who will listen to the best advice of our military leaders. And I will appoint an Attorney General who actually upholds the Constitution of the United States."

Basically, I think he knocked it out of the park with his speech.

But not everyone agrees. Here is a sample of some other headlines about the speech.

"Hard to Find a Positive Review of the Kerry Speech", ChronWatch

"Kerry speech plays well at 'house party' ", Muncie Star Press

"Kerry speech 'top-notch stuff'", The Scotsman, Scotland

"Deception: It formed basis of Kerry's speech", Evansville Courrier and Press, Indiana

"Kerry speech garners mixed notices", The Daily Star, Lebanon

"The pundits on Kerry: He nailed it", Salon

"Texas GOP governor says Kerry speech 'relatively good'", Miami Herald

"This speech had to be great. It was better", The Guardian, UK

"Kerry fails to convince press", BBC News

Historical Decisions?

2004-08-01T07:39:00.000-04:00

Freaky Friday Poster
Originally uploaded by jehrlichny.

The major networks should have their licenses to broadcast taken away from them.

Seriously, what is wrong with those people? 3 hours of convention coverage over 4 days? Nuts. (And they plan the same extensive coverage for the Republican National Convention too.)

I guess they had more important things to show the American public last week during the convention -- like crappy summer re-runs of crappy shows.

What audience are they catering to -- 18-35 year old viewers in Crawford, Texas?

So, on Tuesday night, as Barack Obama was giving the speech of his life, riveting a nation and placing himself squarely on the national political stage (literally and figuratively), here's what the majors were showing instead:

NBC -- Last Comic Standing -- Episode #10 ("Returning Comic Revealed")
CBS -- Big Brother -- Episode #10 ("Holly's Not So Jolly")
ABC -- According to Jim -- Episode 24 - ("The Toilet")

I Thought I was Kidding!

2004-07-27T22:12:00.000-04:00

I really thought that the idea of selling my blog to a corporate sponsor was a joke. I should have know better. I should have seen it coming. Really, if they already have product placements in books, why not blogs?

Today's Wall Street Journal* had an article about Robert Schoble. Mr. Schoble is a paid blogger (and for) Microsoft. The idea of brining Mr. Schoble in to Microsoft was to influence its employee's perception of Microsoft from within though his blog. Not a far cry from product placement, in my opinion.

As far as I can tell, Mr. Schoble's sole responsibility is to promote the company. As Mr. Schoble said, the company "hired him after one of their executives saw the success of his guerrilla marketing efforts on behalf of computer manufacturer NEC."

One thing in Mr. Schoble's favor is that he and the company seem to be very upfront about their nature of the relationship:

"[D]oes Mr. Schoble consider himself a Microsoft spokesman? 'I think it's pretty clear that I am a spokesperson for the company ... I'm not talking on behalf of Microsoft but I can affect things on behalf of Microsoft,' he says."

And it seems that the notion is catching on. Other companies are following suit.

So, if I suddenly seem to be shilling for some company, I just might be. (Another hint might be if I'm suddenly cruising around in a pimped out Mercedes CLK convertible.)

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* my wife's new employer -- but do we get a free subscription? No, at least not so far. (I am still hopeful.)

Jumpin' the Shark

2004-07-25T12:38:00.000-04:00

By now, I think we all know what is meant by the phrase "jumping the shark." It initially referred to that moment in a T.V. show's life cycle when the writers throw in some oddball plot twist or character that makes the audience collectively groan in mental anguish. At that moment we know that the end is inevitable (and hopefully near).

It comes from the now infamous THREE-part "Happy Days" where The Fonz actually jumps over an open shark cage on water skis.* ** Now the phrase is applied to more than just T.V. shows -- it refers to the point when anything that was great and pure starts on the decline.

The latest victim of shark jumping is ole Joe Pilates, the inventor of the exercise regimen that bears his name. (It seems that you are not even safe after death.)

In Memphis, some woman (who must hate Joe Pilates) is offering Punk Rock Pilates classes. *** Not bad enough? The class meets in the First congressional Church.

Let me guess, her next act will be starting an Exorist Exorcise class?

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* Why, you may ask? In the episodes, actually named "Hollywood", the whole gang goes to L.A. so that the Fonz can take a screen test to be the next James Dean (which, I guess, brings the character full circle). While there a local on the beach (improbably and unfortunately called the "California Kid") challenges the Fonz to jump a shark cage on water skis. The Fonz accepts. And the viewers suffer.

** Ironically, the readers of the website Jump the Shark have decided that Happy Days "jumped the shark" when the show went to a live audience -- a moment that must have happened long after I stopped watching. Could the show have jumped more than once?

*** I found out about this class via a post on Scenestars, a really great MP3 site. While you're over at Scenestars, you should also check out the new (and as yet unreleased) songs by Fiona Apple. Here and here. Both are great.

This Space for Rent (Cheap)

2004-07-23T20:40:00.000-04:00

I watched "The Rookie" yesterday. On and off throughout the film, Dennis Quaid wears a Jiffy Lube hat. What was this -- was it an "authentic" detail of Americana included in the film by its Costume Designer or a bit of paid advertising (better known by the euphemistic name "Product Placement").

It got me to thinking, if I, as the viewer, don't even know (if I even conscientiously think about it) whether this or that product is there for advertising or artistic reasons, how is it any different from subliminal advertising, which was banned by the FCC in 1974 as "contrary to the public interest"?

It is technically different from subliminal advertising because it is not "below the threshold level of normal awareness." But isn't that really just a technicality? After all, the 1974 Public Notice banned subliminal advertising to protect the public from an advertising technique that was "intended to be deceptive." Is product placement any different really?

While the visual impact of the Jiffy Lube hat was not "below the threshold of normal awareness", it seems that it was intended to be deceptive.  It wasn't set off from the narrative in any identifiable way. And that's the point of product placement.

To my thinking, unless we are told which products are bought and paid for, we are being deceived just as much as we are by a message that is displayed for only 1/3000th of a second. In fact, it is much worse, at least according to some.

According to this post at Snopes, the whole study that precipitated the 1974 Public Notice was based bad science. Put simply, subliminal advertising doesn't work. Product placement does.

So that got me to thinking, "We've got to do something about this. The public should be protected from this deceptive practice, just as much as from subliminal advertising. We need disclosure of this practice, if not an absolute ban."

But then I thought, "Nah. Screw that. I want in. I want a piece of the action."

So, from now on, this space is for sale. Any company that wants me to seamlessly weave their product's name into my entries merely has to ask (and, of course, pay a reasonable fee).

Here's an example of how the first paragraph of this post might have looked with product placement from Disney and Sony:

"I watched Walt Disney Pictures' The Rookie yesterday night. What a great film from . (I love those guys at Disney! Amazing films. You should look out for "The Incredibles" next. It's scheduled to hit your local cinaplex on Novemeber 11 and I hear its going to be great!) I have to say that modern times are great -- the experience of wacthing movies at home these days is amazing -- high quality of DVDs with mind-blowing sound. (Especially if you have a good sound systems to play it through. Mine is a Sony. It rocks!)   What a great way to pass a sultry summer evening. Go out and rent it tonight and let me know what you think!"

Maybe it doesn't have quite as much "content" as the original, but I'll be rich (or less poor)!

For the record, it seems that the Jiffy Lube hat in The Rookie was paid product placement. In connection with the film, Jiffy Lube started a program to "recognize outstanding baseball/softball high school coaches" like the character portrayed in the film.

2004-07-23T08:52:00.000-04:00

Not this Joe, but Joe Pilates -- the inventor of Pilates. I found this post

I Pledge

2004-07-23T08:22:00.000-04:00

It has been a pretty rough summer around the Practiced Life homestead. there's been no shortage of excitement -- new jobs and old jobs, surgeries and family illnesses and, on top of it all, more school (to get my insurance license -- Apparently, just because the state is willing to let you practice law doesn't mean that you are trust-worthy enough to sell insurance. Go figure.).

Still, there is no good excuse for not posting. In fact, it is all material that I should have been posting about all along.

So, I pledge that I will be more consistent about posting here.

Stayed tuned! (Or re-tune or something with your tuner or your browser or your tunser. Whatever. You know what I mean. And I know who you are, so just do it.)

Now it begins ... I hope

2004-07-11T13:52:00.000-04:00

In an earlier post, A Trend in Music, this blogger postulated that the intersection of music and the blogsphere had the possibility of creating a way to bypass the mega-hit-machines, like MTV and the majors, and bring exciting underground music directly to the people who shared the blogger's musical sensibilities.

Today I read this article in The New York Times that indicates that the future is closer than I thought. Check it out.

Of course, there is always the question of when the RIAA will choose to shut these down, so act quick and enjoy. (Note that I do not say if the RIAA will act because where money is involved, you can be sure that people will always act to protect their perceived rights and interests.) As an interesting aside, one of the sites Royal Music seems to be trying to take the game to the RIAA by posting the following message to the public:

"songs are for sample purposes only. please support the artists by buying their albums. if you are the copywrite holder of any of the songs posted here and would like the song removed please contact me. if you want to send me some love please contact me."

Naive? I think so, but also genuine and fair.

To save you some time, here a links to a few other taste-makers profiled in the article:

Fluxblog, an eclectic mix of different styles and sounds.
Soul Sides, which focuses on "underground hip-hop and forgotten R&B."
Tofu Hut, a wide range of sounds from gospel to rockabilly and soul.
Said the Gramophone, which has indie rock, folk music and hip-hop.

More on Mel

2004-06-23T07:13:00.000-04:00

And a little lesson on the use and misuse of rhetorical techniques.

This Sunday, The New York Times ran an interview with Sumner Redstone, the CEO and Chairman of Viacom.

Of course, The New York Times' first question was about the departure of Mel Karmazin. And, of course, Sumner couldn't resist the opportunity to get in a little public dig, while still trying to appear to be above the fray.

The New York Times asked: "How will Viacom be different now that Mel Karmazin is gone?"

Mr. Redstone's response (note the way it starts):

"Well, I would never denigrate Mel, but Mel was great when the economic environment was poor and the company agenda was to cut expenses and control expenses. But now we have an escalating economy and the name of the game is creativity and content."

Hmmm. Mr. Redstone would never denigrate Mr. Karmazin? Sort of seems likes he does. Mr. Redstone then goes on to imply that Mr. Karmazin stopped (or, perhaps, only delayed) a plan to introduce a gay-centric television channel because of his "agenda to cut expense and control costs."

To clarify the point, the NYT asked Mr. Redstone if he is saying that Mr. Karmazin actually was responsible for the decision to put the plan on hold.

"Well, let's just - I don't want to say that. Just say it was held up. It was not on the front burner because it cost $30 million."

Not too subtle, is it? It is not too hard to connect the dots between the concept to "just say it was held up ... because it cost $30 million" and Mel's "agenda to cut expense and control costs." Contrary to his words, it not only seems like Mr. Redstone wants to Mr. Karmazin, it seems like he does.

This rhetorical technique is called apophasis. It what the device is called when a speaker asserts or emphasizes something by pointedly seeming to pass over, ignore, or deny it. ("I will not even mention my opponent's drug addiction or philandering because I believe that personal matters should be left out of the politics.")

Here, the real meaning of Mr. Redstone's words is pretty clear, even if Mr. Redstone pretends to hide it.

Now it can be told.

2004-06-12T16:49:00.000-04:00

Now that I am an ex-O'Melveny & Myers attorney, I feel that I can post this email that Walter Dellinger sent around after the first episode of Sopranos this season.

In addition to being a partner at O'Melveny & Myers and head of the firm's appellate practice, Mr. Dellinger a professor at the Duke University School of law. He has also served in several positions in government including as Solicitor General and Assistant Attorney General.

Apparently, he also has a wonderful sense of humor about himself:

From: Dellinger, Walter
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2004 10:39 PM
To: Feinstein, Marc; #ALL PERSONNEL
Subject: RE: Sopranos

It's was a quite honorable reference on The Sopranos tonight to O'Melveny & Myers . Federal prosecutors and some FBI folks are discussing an Assistant US Attorney who a few years earlier had lost a major criminal case he tried for the government. The prosecutor is thought to be bitter about the loss "since it probably cost him his big chance of being hired by O'Melveny & Myers." (or words to that effect). Personally, I'm glad that the firm didn't have that one-big-loss-and-you-can't-be-hired-at O'Melveny rule when interviewed me not long after l lost Clinton v. Jones.

-- Walter

Another Reason to Quit ...

2004-06-10T06:50:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe not a reason to quit, but a cool unintended consequence of quitting is that you find great stuff as you clean out your office.

Here is a little gem I found in my email inbox.

I totally forgot that it existed. It has a seasonal theme, but since I'll forget about it again before next Christmas, you get to enjoy it now.

What My Departure Email Won't Look Like

2004-06-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

As my last day rapidly approaches and the accumulated junk from nearly seven years of deals gets boxed up and stacked in neat piles awaiting the shippers, I thought I would share this example of the type of departure memo that I will not be sending to my friends and colleagues on my last day ...

Of course, I should not be critical of Mr. Evans. His goals (and obviously his experiences) were very different from mine. Mr. Evans wanted to have "the smoke from any bridges [he] burn[ed] be seen far and wide."

Well, Mr. Evans, I am glad to help you achieve your goal! I only hope that I am as effective with my goals in life as you have been with yours in sending that email.

By the way, I am assured that this is very real. Paul Hastings' "response" or "explanation" is included at the bottom of the page, below Mr. Evans' email.

Subject: Goodbye...

As many of you are aware, today is my last day at the firm. It is time for me to move on and I want you to know that I have accepted a position as "Trophy Husband". This decision was quite easy and took little consideration. However, I am confident this new role represents a welcome change in my life and a step up from my current situation.

While I have a high degree of personal respect for PHJW as a law firm, and I have made wonderful friendships during my time here, I am no longer comfortable working for a group largely populated by gossips, backstabbers and Napoleonic personalities.

In fact, I dare say that I would rather be dressed up like a pinata and beaten than remain with this group any longer. I wish you continued success in your goals to turn vibrant, productive, dedicated associates into an aimless, shambling group of dry, lifeless husks.

May the smoke from any bridges I burn today be seen far and wide.

Respectfully submitted,

Gregory Evans

ps. Achilles absent, was Achilles still. (Homer)

This is Paul Hastings' response:

Some of you may have seen or heard about a widely distributed email sent by a former PH associate in our San Diego office. For the obvious reasons, the Firm plans no response at all.

However, since you may be asked questions about the email, we wanted you to have some background information. Greg Evans was an associate in our San Diego office. He left the Firm by mutual agreement. He is obviously very angry about that outcome. The wide distribution of the email is unfortunate, but its just the nature of the email culture in which we live...people have a taste for the sensational (the email that is, because the circumstances surrounding his departure were very unextraordinary) and the means to distribute it widely. Nonetheless, we wish Greg well.

Jim Owens and Elizabeth Noe
Co-Chairs, Attorney Development Committee

Cross-My-Heart-And-Hope-to-Die-If-Its-Not The Famous Original Ray's

2004-06-03T07:48:00.000-04:00

If you live in New York City or, frankly, if you've ever even driven by the city or seen it in a movie, you've probably wondered what the frig is up with all the Ray's Pizza.

There are about a million of them -- one on every corner, it seems, and every last one of them claims to be "famous", "original" or both.

"How can this be?" undoubtedly you've wondered. "I must know!" (Well, you can at least pretend you've wondered, as a favor to me.)

In response to your emails and letters, A Practiced Life has scoured the earth to, once again, save the day for you. The answer is ... well, we kind of came up with a couple of conflicting answers, to be honest.

According to Heath Row at Fast Company the original Original Ray's is at 12th Street and 6th Avenue in the Village.

But Jeff at Pizzatherapy (and I'm wasting my hard earned cash on "trained medical doctors" when I could be getting my therapy on any corner for $1.50!) tells us that the original (and famous) Ray's Pizza is at the corner of 75th and 3rd Avenue.

For my money, Jeff's answer is more convincing, but I expect that if we continued our search (instead of doing productive work) we could find other people with other answers.

But the really scary part is that all these different Ray's are part of a silent empire. Although, not all of the Ray's are owned by any one company, the names are virtually all licensed from the same company, U.S.A. Famous Original Ray's Licensing Corp. (Now, that name's a mouth-full.)

As Jerry Markon at The Wall Street Journal reported:

"Even in New York City, where pizzerias named "Ray's" have sprouted on seemingly every corner, most are owned or licensed by one company -- U.S.A. Famous Original Ray's Licensing Corp., which has trademarked the names Ray's Pizza, Famous Ray's Pizza, Famous Original Ray's Pizza and The Original Ray's Pizza. If any other pizzerias open using the name Ray, the New York-based company regularly stops them with lawsuits or letters threatening action.

'People crop up all the time trying to copy a successful trademark, and we intend to continue stopping them. They are infringers,' said Stephen Feldman, a lawyer for U.S.A. Famous Original Ray's."

What's the legal lesson from our crack A Practiced Life legal department? Protect yourself before you invest a lot of dough in a name.

Mel Karmazin, Sabateur

2004-06-01T09:24:00.000-04:00

Mr. Karmazin, we know your secret.

The man behind the A Practiced Life curtain (namely, this blogger) formally announced his resignation from his position as counsel at O'Melveny & Myers LLP today. The legal community is naturally very shocked and saddened by the historic announcement.

At the same time, Mr. Mel Karmazin, in a thinly veiled attempt to diminish this important event, announced his own resignation from the nominally important roles of "president" and "chief operating officer" of some small media company based in New York called "Viacom Inc."

We know what you're thinking, "Yawn, but did anything important happen today (besides your resignation)?" We agree.

Any doubt as to Mr. Karmazin's true intention were eradicated by his failure to announce any future plans for employment. In the company's press release, Mr. Karmazin only given impetus for the announcement was the stock reference to "personal and professional reasons."

Well, Mr. Karmazin, it won't work. What type of fool would think that your little announcement is more important than ours? Certainly no one in the New York business community.

Still, being above petty fueding, A Practiced Life wishes Mr. Karmazin the best of luck with whatever he chooses to do next!

Quote of the Day

2004-06-01T08:10:00.000-04:00

Well, this is from the "klog", so technically, it is not the quote of this day, but the quote of a day (and that day was May 17, 2004).

"We're a business that trades on quality" said Edward Salas, a representative of Verizon Wireless.

The quote is from an article in The New York Times about new technologies that allows international cellphone calls to be routed over the internet, resulting in much cheaper rates for consumers.

According to Mr. Salas, Verizon and the other carriers do not need to be concerned about any serious challenge to their businesses being mounted by these upstart companies because the industry is driven by "quality".

Quality? A Practiced Life just has to ask, really? Did we have it wrong all this time? We thought that we put up with the quality because we didn't have a choice.

Thank you, Mr. Salas, for pointing out our embarrassing error!

Of course, the new upstarts see things a little differently. They are counting on business being driven by price.

Even more shocking, on the question of quality, these upstarts have the gumption to contend that "cellphone calls routed through the Internet to other cellphones have cleaner signals than cellphone calls sent directly to other cellphones." (emphasis added.)

So, I guess we may get to see if Mr. Salas is right about quality being the driver of the business. A Practiced Life thinks that quality may just be an unruly passenger that's about to get thrown out of the car by the bigger companies.

America's Army coming to Game Consols

2004-05-31T22:23:00.000-04:00

Since 2002, the U.S. Army has used a PC-game called America's Army as a tool to recruit "civilians" into its ranks. According to the Army's website, the game:

"provides civilians with an inside perspective and a virtual role in today's premier land force: the U.S. Army. The game is designed to provide an accurate portrayal of Soldier experiences across a number of occupations. In the game, players will explore progressive individual and collective training events within the game. Once they successfully completed these events they will advance to multiplayer operations in small units."

Now, the Army is teaming up with a private producer of popular military games, Ubisoft, to develop a consol version of its America's Army game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. According to the press release, specifics about the consol version are not yet available.

A Practiced Life has a couple of suggestions about how the game can be made even more "accurate", such as by giving "civilian" players the ability to take photographs of themselves brutalizing and sexually abusing prisoners, destroying mosques in occupied countries, and granting lucrative contracts to White House allies without competitive bidding.

Get a Cheap Lay in London.

2004-05-31T21:07:00.000-04:00

You expect this kind of thing in Mexico or central Baghdad, but in London?

A new super-cheap hotel group is just getting started. Think of it as JetBlue with private bathrooms.

The place is called easyHotel. According the company's website, the first easyHotel will be located in Lexham Gardens, just off the Cromwell Road, and room rates will start at £5 a night! Other cities will follow. And just like JetBlue, the rooms are cheaper the earlier you book and will get more expensive as they sell out.

Here is a picture of a room. Small, but stylish.

How does A Practiced Life bring you these stories? If you're as cheap as our editorial staff, you just find out about these things.

More Language

2004-05-24T11:06:00.000-04:00

Don't expect this word to sweep the blogsphere (although I personally think it should), but here is a word that I am trying to coin -- "klog". It is meant to describe the blogging phenomenon of having too many ideas and too little time to blog about them.

Its basically an amalgam of a "back-log" on your "web log". Sort of like that bit on Sesame Street where they smash sounds together to make word -- only, if you've ever seen it, you know its not like that at all. Those are real words. This is an A Practiced Life-ism!

Use it. Attribution is appreciated, but not necessary. Its wide spread use will be reward enough. That and the nominal royalty fee ...

Brutally Honest Personal

2004-05-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

Esquire Magazine has a section in this month´s magazine called "Brutally Honest Personals." (Can you guess one of magazines we took on vacation?)

Some of them, like this one from Stefan Johnson, are brutally funny.

He provides the following irresistiblee description of himself:

"I'm lanky, ridiculously in debt, and almost always stoned. I don't have much ambition and live at home. Nonetheless, I'm optimistic and have a vexing confidence. You can usually find me on my couch or in bed or, if I'm feeling active, eating cookies in front of the TV. When I do drag myself out of bed, I actually enjoy limited exercise, frivolous indulgences, and frequent masturbation."

Obviously, a guy like that could have any woman, but Stefan not superficial. He´s looking for a "gorgeous model blinded by my brilliance and ready to run away with me to Jamaica."

He does note that "you'll probably have to pay."

If you can´t resist (and who could blame you), you can contact Stefan at stefan@esquire.com.

Total aside -- other than it has to do with Esquire Magazine and all the subscription cards in the magazine feature it -- Esquire recently had this killer homage to Angie Dickinson with Britney Spears.

Do you think Britney knows Stefan´s email address?

More About Puerto Escondido -- Mario´s Restaurant

2004-05-22T22:32:00.000-04:00

In case you were concerned by A Practiced Life´s last post on our trials and tribulations in Puerto Escondido -- the post about the rudeness of René Salanis at the Central Surf Shop on Playa Zicatela -- I am happy to report that all is not bleak here in Oaxaca, Mexico. In fact, we just had the most delightful dinner in town at a little italian joint called Mario´s.

Yes, you read correctly -- the place is italian, the country is Mexico and the food was delicious. Mario´s is owned by a family that lives in Oaxaca-- the wife is Mexican and the husband, Italian. (They met in England, of course.) Paolo, the owners´ son runs the joint. He is a charming, gracious and entertaining host. We enjoyed every minute of our evening there and will certainly go back.

When in Puerto, we recommend that you do the same!

So Sorry, William. So Sorry, Mary

2004-05-22T20:58:00.000-04:00

This is courtesy of my brother-in-law-ish, Al DeFreece. Read it. You won´t regret it.

But for those of you unwilling to put in the effort to click through, here is a sample of Jon Stewart´s (now, apparently, Dr. Jon Stewart´s) inspiring word of wisdom to the 2004 graduating class at William & Mary. It makes you proud:

"I am honored to be here and to receive this honorary doctorate. When I think back to the people that have been in this position before me from Benjamin Franklin to Queen Noor of Jordan, I can´t help but wonder what has happened to this place. Seriously, it saddens me. As a person, I am honored to get it; as an alumnus, I have to say I believe we can do better. And I believe we should. But it has always been a dream of mine to receive a doctorate and to know that today, without putting in any effort, I will. It´s incredibly gratifying. Thank you. That´s very nice of you, I appreciate it."

Friendly Service: The Esconididian Oxymoron

2004-05-21T19:10:00.000-04:00

In fact, René Salanis at the Central Surf Shop in Puerto Escondido may have created the first and only one word oxymoron: Service.

"You are the worst" was René´s retort when I said that, despite his "rule", my day-glo white wife and I would need to wear sunscreen during our mid-day surf lesson. (He had just told us that we could not wear sunscreen and that if he even thought we were wearing sunscreen, he would refuse to give us a lesson!)

Let me back up a little to give you a flavor of our experience at the Central Surf Shop in Puerto Escondido.

Ms. Rosmania and I innocently walked into the Salanis´ shop on Zicatela beach shortly after we arrived in Puerto Escondido. Our outlandish purpose? An unblushing attempt to get surf lessons from the shop´s surfing instructor and co-owner, René.

Of course, stupid American Gringos that we are, we didn´t understand how rude we were being. In our defense, I will tell you that the Salanises advertise surf lessons on their website. Still René made it clear that surf lessons were only an option -- his option.

René didn´t come out and say that, he just made it clear by being the least accomodating person that we have ever met. (And coming from NYC, that´s saying something!)

First clue, the price (or should I say, the Gringo price). René told us a lesson would cost 800 pesos (which is about US$80). Maybe that´s not very much by NYC standards, but when you consider that in Puerto Escondido, for 800 pesos, you can go out all night long (with dinner and drinks -- lots of drinks) and crash in a decent hotel room and still have a little jingle in your pocket, well, you begin to get the idea.

Still, we were intrepid. (One of the main reasons that we chose Puerto Escondido was because we wanted to take some surf lessons.) We sucked it up and said o.k., we will willingly get ripped off by René and the Central Surf Shop. We are on vacation, we are here to have fun, we will pay through the nose. (Vactioners having fun is obviously a foreign concept to René.)

He continued his efforts to discourage our Gringo resolve. He complained about how much work it was going to be for him to give us a lesson! Interesting. Friendly. Professional.

Still, we wanted a lesson! The nerve! It was time for René to pull out the big guns. That´s when he told us about his sunscreen rule.

We told him that we had surfed before and had never heard that rule. He demanded, incredulous, to know where we had surfed before.

We finally took the hint and went elsewhere.

Thanks, René.

Tom Hanks

2004-05-21T12:41:00.000-04:00

Isn´t it great when someone else does your work for you? Well that`s how I feel about Mike D'Angelo`s article "Saving Tom Hanks" in this month`s Esquire Magazine -- like he`s nailed it and all I have to do is link to his article.

But,unfortunately, you need a premium subscription to access it online, so I guess there`s some work left for me to do. Still, I think that the deck gets to the heart of the issue:

"Is the Academy's favorite son regressing to his Splash -era silliness? Man, we hope so...."

For years I´ve always said is that Tom Hank`s career has been in a deep slide since he played Kip Wilson on the TV series "Bosom Buddies"*. A bit of hyperbole, I admit, but it does help to make the point.

And what is that point? That Tom Hanks has suffered (and, along with him, all of us) because he took his own success way too seriously. And who could blame him? (Besides me ...) Winning back-to-back academy awards obviously went to his head. Well, the awards and just about every man, woman and child-actor in Hollywood constantly puckering up to kiss his little Oscar. So, it had an impact. How could it not have? How could you blame him for that?

But here is the thing -- I do. The super serious and super famous Tom Hanks was also super unbearable. It wasn´t just that an egotistical Tom Hanks outed his high school drama teacher** and called his wife his "life partner" when he accepted the Oscar for "Philadelphia", it was also the roles that he took after that. They were all so righteous and superior. They were better than us. It was like they were there to provide valuable life lessons from which we should all learn something about the indominable human spirit. Yuk! Who needs that?

Where was the silly Tom Hanks? Where was Kip Wilson? Or the over-sized goof from "Big"? Or even the hypochondriac Joe from "Joe Versus the Volcano"? (A movie which I consider to be sadly under-rated.)

Well, he may be back. At least there seems to be hope. Mike D'Angelo thinks so.

And I agree. There does seem to be light in that long, dark tunnel. Ms. Rosmania and I recently attended the star-studded "Earth to L.A." gala which benefited the NRDC. Tom did the M.C. duties for the event and was showing some of his zany charm. Among his moments was when he delivered the following line -- a line which shows that he can still laugh at himself (FYI, this is a paraphrase, not a quote):

"I am happy to be able to report that people are really embracing hybrid technology. From what I hear, the Prius is selling very well. In fact, I even hear there`s a long waiting list to get one. But, for some reason, I got mine right away. I don´t know why ..."

* A couple of asides about Bosom Buddies. I was absolutely in love with Sonny Lumet (Donna Dixon), who is now married to Dan Ackroyd. That´s must be one Blues Brother! And as much as we suffered a the hands of the super-Tom Hanks, how must Peter Scolari feel? His post-Bosom peaks seems to have been a supporting role on "Newhart"! I once saw him on Letterman. He seemed very bitter on the topic of Tom.

** Which, of course, inspired a movie.

Massachusetts Governor attempts to Stop Combe/Knauss Wedding

2004-05-20T17:24:00.000-04:00

A Practiced Life has just learned that Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney´s opposition to out-of-state gay couples receiving marriage licenses in Massachusetts is nothing more than a veiled attempt to stop our good friends, Rachael Combe and Orlando Knauss, from getting married this summer. The Combe/Knauss nuptials are planned for August in the Berkshires.

By attempting to prevent out-of-states gays from marrying in the state by enforcing a 1913 state law that bars licenses from being issued to out-of-state couples that do not live in the state or plan to move there, the Massachusetts Governor had hoped to disguise his true intentions -- namely to stop our friends´ summer wedding.

Well, Governor, it won´t work!

As you can see, the Massachusetts Senate is with us in this fight. Long live true love, in all forms (even hertrosexual)!

Habita Hotel

2004-05-20T10:18:00.000-04:00

My sweetie, a.k.a. Lady Rosmania, and I just had a lay-over (no snickers from the audience) in Ciudad de Mexico (that's Mexico City to you and me) on our way to Puerto Escondido for a little R + R at the beach. We tried to avoid the hassle, but Mexicana de Aviacion was having none of it. Apparently, they simply do not do afternoon flights into Puerto.

Well, it turns out that we loved the lay-over! (Now you can snicker.) We had such a great night here in the city of smog that we plan to return intentionally later (maybe even at the end of this trip)! It is such a cool, cosmopolitan city. Sort of a mix of L.A. (the smog, sprawl and weather), New York (the hip cosmopolitan vibe) and Madrid (the European, Hispanic feel).

So, go to Cuidad de Mexico! And when you do, consider the Habita Hotel. It is a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World (which has always been a very reliable designation, in my experience). The hotel has a very nice staff and a coolness factor that is off the charts. (Warning: It is modern, so don´t expect sink-into-the-sofa opulence.) But they have a major terry cloth-thing going (terry covers everything from couches and chaise lounges to Kleenex holders!), which gives it a beach feel, even in the city. There is a roof top bar and swimming pool with views of the city, which we hear from the younger set really rocks at night. I would call it a boutique alternative to the W Hotel. Same type of cool factor, but more intimate and without the problems that the Mexico City W is suppose to have.

Another feature of the hotel that I loved is the Habita´s twist on Musak -- instead of instrumental versions of "Like a Vigin" in the elevator, Habita pipes great down-beat music into just about every crack and crevice of the hotel, including the rooms, the elevator, and the gym. (In the room, you can control the volume or even turn it off, if it´s not to your taste.)

Check out our undoctored pictures to get an idea about the look and feel of the place at Rosmania. You can also see professional ones at Design Hotels.

The one negative about the place is that the walls are Lara-Flynn-Boyle-thin. If it´s happening in in the halls, it sounds like its happening in the room. At 2 a.m., we thought some refugee from the roof top bar was trying to put his key (yes, they do have actual room keys) into our door. Turns out it was a neighbor across the hall putting his key into his own door -- it only sounded like our door.

Friend of Israel?

2004-05-20T10:16:00.000-04:00

One of the great mysteries of the current administration is how (or maybe why) it is such a great friend and supporter of Israel and, at the time, so dangerous to the tiny nation-state. All of our Middle East policy seems designed to hasten a war between the West and the Middle East, with Israel at the epicenter of the struggle.

Well, the mystery may have been solved by the Village Voice. It seems that a Christian fundamentalist group that has the ear of the White House has some pretty wacky views that could explain BushÃÂ´s thinking on the matter.

Here is a quote from the story:

[the Apostolic Congress] fear[s] an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza might enable just [a Palestinian state], and they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and David's temple rebuilt, they believe, Christ won't come back to earth.

Despite the administration´s attempt to object (on the very modern and reasonable grounds that the land that Israel is proposing to turn over to Palestine wasn´t really all that important to the ancient Israelis, of course), the Apolstolic Congress was unpersuaded.

The result, as reported in the Voice:

Three weeks after the confab [between the Bush Administration and the Apostolic Congress], President George W. Bush reversed long-standing U.S. policy, endorsing Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in exchange for Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

I´ll be voting Kerry in November.

Language is a Virus

2004-05-19T19:51:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking about adding a new feature one my blog -- a section that looks at language and usage.

Part of it will be a look at business-ism. A sort of glossy of colorful business phrases and expressions.

A friend of mine gave me a good example recently -- "putting on the knee pads."

An example of how it would be used is: "Yeah, I took an unpopular opinion on that report. Now the boss wants to see me. I guess I better put on the knee pads for that meeting."

translation: prepare for abuse.

I am sure that my sophisticated (and mostly non-existent) readers have already picked up the derivation of the phrase. For any that are struggling (or are pretending to struggle) -- think about what a wife won't do after marriage ...

Still lost? Think about what Bill Clinton doesn't consider sex but every parent of a teenage daughter does.

Like it? I hope so. There will be other sub-genres too, like newly coined phrases and other expressions du jour -- you can think of it as William Safire's "On Language" done with all the sophistication and intelligence of a Jessica Simpson.

Its not me ...

2004-05-18T13:51:00.000-04:00

I swear that I don't want to keep writing about Luke Perry. Its just that fate keeps conspiring against this wholesome, innocent blogger.

Remember how the ceiling was falling in on Luke when we last tuned in? Well, it appears that it still is. Today it was announced that Michael Landes is going to replace Luke in the role of Harry.

Michael played Jimmy Olson on the T.V. series "The New Adventures of Superman". Jimmy replacing Dylan? Now that's gotta hurt!

More Headaches for Eisner?

2004-05-18T13:24:00.000-04:00

Not since the machinations of Judge Doom nearly spelled the demise of detective Eddie Valiant in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" has any cartoon caused so much trouble for any human! If Michael Eisner can survive being shunned by Buzz Lightyear, he may still have to face a fearsome bear named Winnie (again), as the 13 year old Winnie-the-Pooh case against Disney makes a last ditch effort to stay alive.

Stephen Slesinger Inc. is now asking for a new trial because, it contends, Judge Charles McCoy is unfairly biased in favor of Disney.

The Judge, of course, denies the allegation.

A few more years of this and Winnie's case should be eligible for a driver's permit.

Luke Update

2004-05-18T07:59:00.000-04:00

I know what you're thinking -- "More about Luke Perry? Is A Practiced Life going all Luke all the time?"

Fair questions. But I think you'll forgive the additional post when you see this.

It seems that Luke has resurfaced in London with Alyson Hannigan (of "American Pie" fame) in -- get this -- the stage adaptation of When Harry Met Sally". I'm guessing its pretty awful.

Already enough to justify this blogger's extra attention? Well, as they say on T.V., "Wait. There's more!" (And you won't even have to shell out $9.95 to get it!)

It seems that the roof is not only caving in on his career, but the theater as well. Literally. It must be noted that Luke did act the hero and help evacuate the theater (or is it theatre if its in London). Very Dylan of him.

What ever happened to Luke Perry?

2004-05-15T22:05:00.000-04:00

That was the burning question that some of us were talking about at work the other day. (To be fair to my colleagues I should note that we were also actively ignoring some insurance specialist from the west coast who was telling us to buy some special insurance policies that he's offering to M&A lawyers. I expect that that explains a lot about how we could be so interested in the sad demise of Luke Perry's career.)

Anyway, one of my colleagues said that she thought that Luke had lost his stature in Hollywood when he lost his hair. Sounded like a solid theory to me. After all Hollywood is not known a bald-friendly kind of place. Notwithstanding the rare Bruce Willises or Telly Savalases, the Hollywood rule seems to be that human flaw = character actor. (In Telly's parlance -- Who loves ya, baby? When you're bald, its no one in L.A.)

Since I didn't know if Luke had actually lost his hair, I had to think back to the days of 90210 and wonder -- had Dylan's hairline shown some wispiness as he was dumping Brenda for Kelly? Or were there the first signs of his fledgling male pattern baldness as a brooding Dylan careened down the Baja coastline in his Porsche Speedster, looking for waves and a little space to "sort things out"?

I began to think "maybe there was ..."

And then I looked on the web and discovered a startling number of recent photos with Luke donning a variety of caps and hats -- a baseball cap here, another baseball hat there, and there, a scarely picture of Luke in a baseball hat here,a beanie, and even some sort of Asian style hat! It makes you wonder -- Is he an ardent baseball fan or is he hiding something? The plot thickens ... (Or does it thin?)

It turns out Luke Perry is hiding NOTHING these days,as this picture from his stint on Oz shows very clearly!

To paraphrase what Kansas said on "Behind the Music" when asked "What are you doing now?" He's still here!

I found him again as I was flipping through a magazine the other day. Luke was right there on the pages of a glossy doing his "James Dean" thing for Serengeti Eyewear, which looks more like the kind of brand that Andrea Zuckerman would have worn. But not Dylan! Ugh.

Maybe the ads tag line should read -- Passe Fashion for Passe Actors.

And it gets worse. A glance as the "Upcoming Events" section of his "official" website touts the following "news" about Luke's career:

POPULAR SCI-FI SERIES "JEREMIAH" IS RENEWED FOR 2003.

(Hmmm. Is this some strange new definition of "Popular"?)

So I guess that whatever else Luke's doing these days, we know that he's not spending a lot of time updating his website.

But that's o.k., Dylan, we don't update everyday either!

Where's His Vespa?

2004-05-14T07:42:00.000-04:00

Anyone who knows me at all must have been scratching their heads and asking that very question when they saw my "Cool Stuff" post from a few weeks ago.

Well, the short answer is that it's right outside, wedged between a couple of parked cars on our block (and chained to a sturdy iron rail, of course). But that doesn't answer your real question -- how could I have posted my list of cool stuff and left my Vespa off it?

I am ashamed to admit that I have no good answer for you.

Let me try to rectify my error, at least a little -- Vespas are cool and beyond cool. Besides their grace, beauty and utter coolness (the cool part), they are also the perfect vehicle for getting around in New York (Fuckin') City (the beyond cool part).

Not only can you zoom around the city faster than any Andretti (or even a taxi driver on crack), you can park the bitch just about anywhere.

So far, I found that the "rule" for parking in NYC is that if you don't bother anyone, no one will bother you. (Really just an adaptation of NYC's general rule which is "mind your own fucking business.") Translation of the rule? Don't get in anyone's way -- i.e. don't park in the middle of the sidewalk, don't block car doors and don't park in front of doormaned buildings -- and NYers (including the DOT) will generally leave you (and your Vespa) alone.

Everyone in NYC should be riding one. It just makes sense (and is a ton of fun). It is also very very cool.

"Don't Be Evil"

2004-05-11T20:24:00.000-04:00

Those are the shocking words from Google's co-founder Larry Page's Owner's Manual for Google Shareholders. Of course, they shouldn't be shocking, but they are.

After all, we live in a world where our villains (just like our heroes) can be identified by a single name -- Martha, Quattrone, Skilling, Kobe, Kozlowski. Where our own government is involved in atrocities like those committed at Abu Ghraib. And we live a world where corporate (and governmental) leaders regularly sacrifice moral obligation at the alter of quarterly profits (or, even worse, personal enrichment) -- think Enron, Tyco, Halliburton and Alephia.

So, for Google to state that it won't be evil, that it will, in fact, aspires "to make the world a better place", is both unique and admirable. And it deserves to be applauded.

Is it a little naive? Maybe. Unachievable? Perhaps. Is it disingenuous? I don't know. But whatever else it is, it is good and it is worthy of emulation. Maybe if some of these other companies had even tried to make the world a better place, they wouldn't have done as much harm.

And even if Google's goals are naive and unobtainable, they are also intrepid. Google has invited the world's scrutiny. In essence, it has said, "Look at us. Inspect us. Investigate us. See if what we say is true." And, of course, that is just what we have been doing.

How does Google fair? What are the result of the investigations so far? Well, they are mixed. Over the next few weeks, I am going to take a look at some of the issues that have been discussed in the media. Sometimes, we will cheer, but certainly not always. I invite your vigorous involvement in the process.

Cool Stuff

2004-04-23T09:29:00.000-04:00

I was recently asked to think about my personal sense of cool. Not a question that lawyers are often asked. Obviously, there's a lot of stuff out there that I think is really nifty, but if I were to try to define my own personal sense of style I would have to say its retro-techno-dork.

Its gotta make you wonder: How can something that's so wrong feel so right?

So here are the beginnings of my own little museum of cool:

Clothing

I love the croc -- been wearing it for years now. (or should I say again?) Really, I am no-Rene-come lately to the Lacoste ethos.

And I have the emotional scares to prove it. For the last 7 or 8 years, I have had to suffer the slings and arrows of my outrageous and unsophisticated colleagues every time I don a Lacoste polo -- which has been pretty much every warm summer day.

And I did it gladly -- I did it for the cause.

But now its so "in" that, for me at least, it is beginning to be out -- In fact, it is beginning to lose its dorkiness. Some might consider that a positive, but not me!

So its time to move on. You may be asking, "What will be the next brand that will go from 'I wouldn't be caught dead in it' to 'I can't live with out it'?" Some might tell you Fred Perry. Others may say Penguin. For my money, two words -- Le Tigre.

Video Games

PlayStation and Xbox may be able to deliver mind-blowing graphics, but who needs that when you can have Pong? Atari was making great games when Microsoft was still in diapers! Still, for money, you've got to go with the little known and little revered classic: Mattel's Intellivision. Really, what could beat Intellivision's NFL Football? A lot, you say? Well, it really was something back in 1979 when we were all wearing our original Le Tigre and Izod shirts. And even today, it has a simplistic retro-digital cool.

Communication

I also dig old telephones. I'm not just talking about the 1970s vintage phones, but also the solid old 1950s 70 lbs models that could be used as a lethal weapon, like this one. We have one at home. When you have that around, you stay out of fights with your wife or you sleep with one eye open!

The key thing with retro-technology -- to be really cool, it has to work. Ours does. If it doesn't, you just have the answer to some bizarre game of Clue -- Ms. Rosmania did it in the Living Roon with the vintage phone ....

Vinyl

No convo on retro would be complete without a mention of the ultimate in cool -- 12" Vinyl LPs. There nothing like the sound, the feel and the experience of vinyl. iPods and iTunes are great. Who can knock a device that let's you carry around 200 albums worth of music without even making an unwanted bulge in your jeans? But seriously, what can match the beauty of some thick vinyl, a needle and some cool cover art?

A Trend in Music?

2004-04-21T07:32:00.000-04:00

I will have many more thoughts on the intersection of blog-marketing and web-based music publishing (like positing the question: could this be the salvation of the music industry?), but for now I just want to be a messenger.

In the vein of DJ Dangermouse's controversial and wildly successful "Grey Album" comes "London Booted", remixes and riff's on the Clash's famous album "London Calling".

via Boing Boing.

Interesting Decision and Interesting Coverage in the Blogsphere

2004-04-21T06:34:00.000-04:00

This morning on Boing Boing, I read about a very interesting case that was recently decided by the Second Circuit. (Read the Court's opinion here, of you want.) The case involved the "Fair Use Doctrine" (the doctrine that allows the unauthorized use of copyrighted materials in certain situations, such as parody and criticism) and a defendant's purported bad faith. The plaintiffs had urged the court to disallow fair use as a defense when the defendant had impermissible obtained the copyrighted materials. The court held that, while bad faith is and should be a factor in their decision, it does not preclude application of the fair use doctrine. All very interesting and, to me at least, the right conclusion. If the use is permissible, it should not become impermissible merely because of how it was obtained.

What is even more interesting is the coverage the case received on Boing Boing. Boing Boing picked up the following quote from the case:

"Fair use is not a doctrine that exists by sufferance, or that is earned by good works and clean morals; it is a right--codified in § 107 and recognized since shortly after the Statute of Anne--that is "necessary to fulfill copyright's very purpose, '[t]o promote the Progress of science and the useful arts . . . .'"

The quote is the exact same, word for word, as the one that was used in the story Boing Boing linked to on Corante.

That's o.k. in my book. You see something interesting and you pass it on. That's the law of the blogsphere. What is less o.k. to me is that Boing Boing missed a key fact -- it failed to note that the quote came from Judge Dennis Jacobs' concurring opinion, not from the majority opinion. The Boing Boing item makes it seem like the quote is the majority's opinion. Not true. It is just one judge's opinion on the case. That's not to say that its wrong, it just means that it comes from a judge who's saying that he agrees with the court's conclusion but not necessarily all of the reasoning that went into that conclusion. Does the majority disagree with this quote, I don't know and neither does anyone else.

Since Boing Boing is the 1,000 pound blog-rilla, I expect that this mistake will get picked up and passed along by other bloggers. It makes me wonder, "who's checking all this stuff that I'm reading out there in the blogsphere?" An interesting question as the blogsphere gains prominence and importance.

I guess, so far, the answer is that other bloggers like me are policing the blogsphere and reporting back to you. Wow! How often does that mean that we see and believe the mistake, but miss the correction?

I think we all need to be a little afraid ....

Food for Thought

2004-04-03T08:34:00.000-05:00

This blogger has been crazed with work. Not enough time to create original and interesting posts for you right now, so, instead, I will recycle someone else's thoughts!

This is from Woody Allen's 1977 film, Annie Hall:

ALVY: (Gesturing) I've a very pessimistic view of life. You should know this about me if we're gonna go out, you know. I-I-I feel that life is-is divided up into the horrible and the miserable.

ANNIE: M'hm.

ALVY: Those are the two categories ...

ANNIE: M'hm.

ALVY: ... you know, they're- The-the horrible would be like, uh, I don't know, terminal cases, you know?

ANNIE: M'hm.

ALVY: And blind people, crippled ...

ANNIE: Yeah.

ALVY: I don't-don't know how they get through life. It's amazing to me.

ANNIE: M'hm.

ALVY: You know, and the miserable is everyone else. That's-that's all. So-so when you go through life you should be thankful that you're miserable, because that's- You're very lucky ... to be ... (Overlapping Annie's laughter) ... to be miserable.

So, I want to hear each of you say along with me "We're lucky to be miserable!" Not exactly a rallying cry, but its strangely comforting to this blogger when I'm working at 4 a.m.

Thanks to God Among Directors for making the script available online.

You Learn Something New ...

2004-03-30T09:36:00.000-05:00

Apparently, my friend Mark D. Sullivan is dashing! I have heard him called a lot of things over the years but this is the first time "dashing" has been among them.

Still, according to Stephen MacMillan Moser at austinchronicle.com, he is just that and more. This is from Moser's "After a Fashion" column from March 26, 2004:

"[At the Human Rights Campaign's gala] I hobnobbed with the ... dashing international socialite and writer Mark Sullivan and his escort Tim Braun."

I am intrigued by the "escort" reference to Mark's longtime boyfriend Tim. Are things that different in the land of Bush?

Maybe cultural differences also explain how Mark's an "international" anything. My guess is that that is a Texan's oblique way of referring to Mark's lost years in New York City.

Look, Up in the Sky ...

2004-03-27T07:38:00.000-05:00

Its a bird? Its a plane? No, its a .... video game?

If you've wandered through Time Square in the last few days and wondered what that huge billboard at 43rd and Broadway is, you know, the one that looks like a giant video game, we here at A Practiced Life have scoured the world wide web to bring you the answer -- its a giant video game! (You saw that coming, didn't you?)

Yahoo! is promoting its enhanced Yahoo! Autos with this giant interactive video game. Passers-by can race against each other or a computer opponent by dialing a special 800 telephone number (and waiting their turn for about a hundred years, of course).

A Practiced Life acknowledges that this is a great promotional idea. (After all, it would be hard to deny it as we help to spread the word to our legions of readers.) Our problem is that we don't like our Taxi drivers to be (further) distracted as they talk on their cell phones and careen between cars in Times Square at 45 miles an hour.

Also, since the law firm that this blogger works at has just moved into about a million square space of office space in Times Square, we would prefer that Yahoo! not try to attract even more people to idly stand in the street and look up at all the pretty tall buildings there ... . (I can almost hear them saying, "Little Jimmy, that's where they drop the ball on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve ... .)

The game will run through April 22.

via Gothamist.

Thought for the day ...

2004-03-24T07:24:00.000-05:00

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work, I want to achieve it through not dying."
- Woody Allen

The Apple Underwood

2004-03-23T10:21:00.000-05:00

Apple has long been a design innovator in the computer industry. To prove that to yourself, all you need to do is survey some of Apple's contributions to the world of chic from the last few years: the iMac, the iBook and the iPod (to highlight a few).

Still, when it came to making a retro-modern computer, it took an outsider (and a heavy nod to Terry Gilliam's "Brazil") to really think outside the computer box.

The result? An Underwood PC.

It combines the classic beauty of a 1923 Underwood Typewriter with the brains and guts of a 1988 Macintosh SE. Now that's what I call retro-modern cool. (Although, since you are combining a 1923 device with a 1988 device, maybe it should be retro-retro cool.)

I learned about this from the folks at Gizmodo.

Editor's guilty admission: This is not the first time I have been capitivated by a Macintosh SE. c. 1989, your faithful blogger ran a "bbs" (bulletin board system) out of his apartment on a Macintosh SE with a 9600 baud U.S. Robotics modem. I got the modem for about $450 (a steal at the time) through a special program for Sysops (System's Operators) that U.S. Robotics offered back then. You can now pick up that bad boy for about $1 on eBay.

My, how the world of communication has changed!

More Thoughts about the Concept of "Market"

2004-03-22T17:29:00.000-05:00

Last week I posted some ruminations on the subject of the existence of "markets." Specifically, I addressed the question of whether there are standard "market" terms for indemnification provisions in acquisition agreements. In the end, I concluded that while there may not be an absolute and unchanging market for such terms, there are ranges of commonality -- i.e. ranges in which most typical deals will fall.

I was reminded of this issue when I recently guest lectured a couple of sessions of an advanced seminar on "Deals" at Columbia Law School. Forgive the pun, but I realized when I was teaching those wide-eyed young students that the question is not merely academic.

First, let me give a quick example of what I mean by a "ranges of commonality." For purposes of this explanation, I will stick to a discussion of indemnification provisions in acquisition agreements, but I hope later to show that the applicability is much broader.

Let's start with a question: What would happen if I took the position that it is "market" for indemification provisions in acquisition agreements to last two years? Well, some people would argue that I am wrong and that "market" is really for them to last longer and others would say that I am wrong because they should really last shorter than two years. What's more, all of the people I surveyed (including me) could back up their position with lots of data derrived from professional experiences.

So, who would be right?

Every one and no one. There are a number of factors that would inform each person's answers. For example, were they thinking of large deals or small deals? Private deals or public deals? Who were the parties to the deals and what were their relative bargain positions? Where were the deals done? What were the other terms of the agreement?

All of these factor would influence the answers that I get.

But even if we normalized these factors, we would still get a wide range of responses. So, does that mean that there is NO market?

I would have to say no. Even though there is a range, the extremes would be rare. For example, it would still be unusual for there to be no indemnification provision in a deal involving the sale of a private company. It would also be unuasual for the indemnification provision to last indefinitely.

And that's what I mean by a "range of commonality" -- Most deals would be clustered pretty closely together, but there would still be plenty of outliers.

So far, so good.

So what did these students at Columbia add to the debate? An important reminder, at least.

The first class I taught was about buying and selling companies in an auction process. It is a subject that I am intimately framiliar with from my own professional experience. I have been involved in numerous autions. I have represented buyers, sellers, bidders and banks.

Put simply, I could have taught the class in my sleep. So I hardly noticed that a lot of the questions I was getting were about what is typical in an auction. I just answered them. To some, I said "it depends on the circumstances." To others, I replied, "there is no typical answer here." But a lot of the time, I simply gave a definitive answer and backed it up with examples from my own experiences and the experiences of my colleages.

Was I wrong to do that? I didn't think so then and I don't think so now.

The next class I taught was about publishing contracts. It is not a subject that I am completely unframilar with, but it is hardly my specalty. I was given a sample contract to use for the class. I reviewed it and took notes. During the first part of the class, the students negotiated a series of positions based on facts that I handed out at the beginning of class. After that, we spent the remainder of the time discussing the exercise as a group.

Once again, I was asked a lot of questions about what was "typical." A lot of the questions I could answer from my review of the contract and from my own knowledge and experience. And since I prepared well, I even had answers for the more esotric and technical questions. But instead of answering from my own personal experiences, I related the experiences and observations of others that work more regularly in that industry.

It made me realize that that is what those students wanted -- to hear about and learn from the experiences that we have acquired through years of practice in our given area of the law.

It also made me think about how rare those opportunities are in law school. These students were thirsty for real knowledge -- practical knowledge -- knowledge that they would be able use after law school and in the market place.

They wanted to know what was "market" because knowing maket would make them better attorneys after they left the class room. It would give them an edge and allow them to progress more quickly.

It would get them in the game.

And that, to me, seems to be a great reason to find out what is "market."

Breaking News at Rosmania!

2004-03-22T11:46:00.000-05:00

Today is a great day for Rosmania, my wife's blog. Not only has she scooped the blogging world by linking to this humble blog, but one of her other stories got picked up by the blogzilla of media blogs -- Gawker.com.

Check out the whole story at Rosmania and the link to it at Gawker.

For those of you who can't wait for the page to load into your browser to learn more, here is a little teaser:

Is it the ghost of Jayson Blair? The New York Times seems to have been fooled again. (What is that saying? Fool me once ... .) One of the wedding announcements it published a few weeks ago contained (by its own admission) some pretty substantial inaccuracies. This weekend, it was forced to admit that it had failed to properly check the facts before it went to press. Sound familiar?

How much damage will this cause to The Grey Lady? That remains to be seen. Minimally, I suspect that they will be taking a long hard look at their editorial policy for fact-checking wedding announcements.

But that's not the point here. The point here is that Rosmania rules!

Today Gawker, tomorrow the world! Go Rosmania!

You can bet that there will be more on this later ...

Thoughts on Scalia's Decision not to Recuse Himself

2004-03-21T19:17:00.000-05:00

A lot of pixels have been spent on this topic, so I will keep this brief.

The background (very briefly) is that Justice Antonin Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court and Vice President Dick Cheney went on a hunting trip together three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case involving the Vice President and The Sierra Club. The Sierra Club asked Scalia to recuse himself from the case because of the "appearence of impropriety."

The relevant rule in this case is that Supreme Court Justices must disqualify themselves from any case in which their impartiality "might reasonably be questioned." The justices are allowed to self-police the rule.

On Friday, Scalia issued a memo giving his reply to the Sierra Club. He wrote, "Since I believe there is no basis for recusal, I cannot. The motion is denied."

In my opinion, that is the wrong answer and hurts the court and our country. The question here should be basic -- Should we guard the reputation of the entire court more jealously than the feelings of any one of its members?

The simple solution in a case like this would have been for the Justice to remove all doubt by steping aside. But he didn't. So now I think we need to question the system that allows justices to judge their own impartiality.

The SPAM Poet

2004-03-21T13:39:00.000-05:00

Want a clever thing to do with those annoying SPAM messages you get? Kristin Thomas has the answer. She uses them to make her SPAM poerty.

I think Maya Angelou is safe for now. After all, how many poems do we need with the line, "Want a bigger penis and stronger erections?"

If you do go over to Kristin's, be sure to check out her poem "American Patriots" from Friday, March 13.

Even if her idea doesn't sweep the nation, it could make a great bumper sticker: Make SPAM poerty, not bigger penises and stronger erections.

OPI = Other People's Ideas

2004-03-21T10:00:00.000-05:00

I am going to use this space to share some of the things that I find interesting out there in the blog-o-sphere. Hopefully, you will find them interesting too.

For example, there is an interesting post on Julian's Lounge from Friday, March 19 about the difference between a "slippery slope" argument (which, stated very simply, says that if we give someone an inch, it will be used eventually by that person to justify taking a yard) and a reductio ad absurdum argument (which is sort of like a Socratic argument -- it says that the argument underpinning the position which the speaker is trying to prove can be used effectively to support another position that we know to be absurd or otherwise objectionable). Check out the post for more. It is a quick and easy read.

By the way (and to give proper credit) I found the link to this on The Volokh Conspiracy.

This really appealed to me for a couple of reasons. First, I enjoy thinking and talking about the fine distinction between closely related idea. As my wife will complain to you, stuff like that is just right up my alley.

But I am also particularly amused by this topic because of the over-use of the "slippery slope" argument among lawyers. Seriously, it is practically an obsession for lawyers! Before I went to law school, I had never once even heard the term. Since then (and especially during law school), it has seemed like I can't get through a day without tripping down one slippery slope or another.

It makes me want to go skiing.

Cool Products -- Philips Magic Theater

2004-03-21T08:45:00.000-05:00

Among the things that I am going to use this space for is to share products that I think are very cool or trend-setting.

And this is the first cool product I want you to check out -- the Philips Magic Theater. I saw it is in Wired Magazine (along with a bunch of other cool and not so cool products). Wired describes it as "a psychedelic slide show for infants." Philips describes in a more baby-friendly way as projecting "gently rotating images on the wall or ceiling" while it plays "reassuring heartbeat or relaxing trickling water sounds" while your baby gently glides off to sleep.

I am very excited to hear what Moms think of it.

I just purchased one for my brand new little cousin, Zoe Rose Hecht, the first addition to the Rick Hecht and Sharon Panitch's family in Vermont. I hope Zoe will love it.

One feature that seems like it could be a lot of fun for Mom and Dad is the ability create your own slides for the projector. Philips promises that feature can even be used by Mom and Dad to "make bedtime stories more fun." I would love to know how people are REALLY using that feature.

Maybe it helps explain Wired's review -- the editors over there made their own "psychedelic slide show" for the Magic Theater. Otherwise, rotating images of little white ducks, happy-faced yellow suns, fat smiling airplanes and fluffy white clouds are not usually described as "psychedelic."

I wonder if communities will evolve to trade new slides for the Magic Theater? If they do, I hope that the editors at Wired Magazine will share any psychedelic slides they may have made with the rest of us. If that happens, I might even get one for the wife and myself (even if we don't have kids yet). I guess we'll have to wait see what develops!

Is it too easy to blog

2004-03-20T21:38:00.000-05:00

As my first day as a blogger draws to an end, I have to wonder ...

Is it too easy to blog?

Before very recently, when someone wanted to disseminate an idea to the public, there was a necessary lag between the time when the author had the idea and the time when the world could be exposed to that idea. It simply took time to go through a process that usually involved actually printing words on a page of paper and then personally delivering it to people.

But now, it takes no time at all. It can be done instantaneously. I've done it myself. Today. I got this funny idea this morning to enter the world of blogging and now, at the end of the same day, I am an official (if underappreciated) member of the publishing community, with published items and at least one devoted reader (my wife).

Still it does make me wonder -- were we better off when there was a built in period of time when we could think better of our ideas?

The adventure continues tomorrow ...

These are a few of my favorite blogs

2004-03-20T19:42:00.000-05:00

If you take a gander to your left, you will notice that I have added links to some really great blogs. Check them out.

You may accuse me of bias, but Rosmania is the place to start.

I'll be adding more as I continue my adventure in blogging.

Its the Contracts, Stupid.

2004-03-20T14:50:00.000-05:00

If we can learn lesson about business and leadership from Tony Soprano, maybe we should learn about relationships from D.H. Baines (Jeff Goldblum) of the film "Igby Goes Down."

D.H.'s wisdom and insights into humanity are self evident in this quote:

"Contracts. Contracts. See, families should be run like companies, with everybody's responsibilties clearly defined. Children, at the age of reason should be provided with legal representation and a contract. Drawn up. All the best relationships are based on [pause] contracts. Bunny and I have a [pause] contract."

A corporate attorney for every man, woman and child (above the age of reason, of course) -- now that is beautiful vision for our entire troubled society.

Is that "market"?

2004-03-20T11:41:00.000-05:00

I recently attended a CLE (continuing legal education) seminar on the topic of indemnification provisions in acquisition agreements.

For the uninitiated (who want to be among the initiated), the phrase "indemnification provision" refers to a provision that is often found in acquisition agreements and other agreements that provides that one party will compensate another party for certain agreed upon losses that that other party incurs. For example, if Party A tells Party B that it doesn't need to worry about getting sued for copyright infringement on its main product, Party B may accept that, but ask Part A to back up its words by agreeing to indemnify it if it has losses because a court determines that it is infringing a third party's copyright.

The point was to educate the audience about the different elements of a "typical" indemnification provision as they appear in acquisition agreement associated with the purchase or sale of a business. The main speaker started by saying that there are no standard or typical terms -- in other words, there is nothing that can be accurately characterized as "market" or a "market term." This is not a unique position to take. But is it true?

I think its an interesting question (which, I guess, is why I raised it here) and I will get back to it in a moment. But first I want to talk about why I think it is a good proposition for a young (or, even, not so very young) lawyer to adopt in negotiations -- even if it turns out not to be 100% true.

All too often, lawyers will negotiate by telling each other that their position is "market." For example (and keeping with our theme), one lawyer may tell the lawyer for her adversary that all of that adversary's indemnification claims should be limited to an amount equal to 10% of the purchase price because that's "market." The other attorney may counter that "market" is for an amount equal to the entire purchase price be available for indemnification claims.

So what next? Both parties have justified their position by alluding to some remote concept of what is "customary" in the "market." Where can the argument go from there?

There is no outside source to refer the debate to and, even if there were, neither party would be willing to abrogate their autonomy by allowing an outside source to dictate the terms of their deal. And that's the problem with thinking and negotiating by reference to "the market" -- At the end of the day, the parties are still going to have to come to an independent agreement that they both can (or at least are willing to) live with. So, doesn't it make more sense to think and negotiate in terms of principals? Shouldn't we instead negotiate in terms of notions like allocation of risk, superior access to material information, expressed expectation of the parties to the agreement and the like?

So back to the main question -- are there market terms? Well, I think it is a tricky question. Sort of yes, but sort of no. I tend to agree that people do individually negotiate deals and that , as a result, the terms of those agreements differ from one deal to the next. In fact, my experience shows that sometimes they differ very substantially.

At the same time, I think that there are what we can call "clusters." These are areas or ranges in which most deals that get done in particular industries and at a particular times tend to fall. For example, I would say that it is not currently market in private equity transactions for an indemnification cap to be set at the entire purchase price. Does it happen? I am sure that it does. I have not personally seen it or even heard about it in connection with the sale of an entire business, but people do all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, so I am sure that people do it. In some cases, it may even be the savvy thing to do. But I would say that there is a market here and that 100% of the purchase price is not it.

What's more, I think its a good thing that there are some areas where there are "market" terms. It makes life easier. Without them, transaction costs would skyrocket. People would be forced to negotiate everything from scratch. Not only would that cost more, it would unnecessarily extend the process (which would lead to other transaction-related costs that I will discuss in another entry).

And that brings me to my last point on this entry -- knowledge of the "market" is one of the things that we are selling to our clients. A great securities lawyer is not a great finance lawyer. Can she understand the agreement? Yes. Can she give you great legal advice? Probably. But can she perform efficiently? Isn't that part of what people hire us for? Aren't we saying, in part, that you should hire me to represent you in this transaction because I have done it before and know how it is customarily and efficiently done.