Stardust

Yes, this is a post about something that is NOT law school. During break I actually have a little time to do something fun, if you can believe that. This is a post about a little movie, based on a little book, written by one of my favorite little authors.

Stardust is a little book by Neil Gaiman which was either a novel first and then a graphic novel, or the other way around (I have no idea). Either way, it is one of the few of his works that I have not read, so I was not overly tainted when I saw the movie yesterday.

A little bit first about Mr. Gaiman, for those who are not familiar. He is probably most well known for his graphic novel series The Sandman, which I believe is now up to volume 10 or so with a few spinoffs as well. However, those of you who are not graphic novel fans have nothing to fear, he has written a couple fantastic books of late - most notably American Gods, which received several awards and is quite possibly one of the better fantasy tales told in the last several years.

Anyway, back to Stardust, I am not interested in spoiling the movie, only in giving a few thoughts. If you want to find out what actually happens, go watch it. Don't worry, you won't be mad that you paid for it.

It's a little fantasy story told in that similar British style as The Princess Bride, (but of course, I'm not trying to compare this movie to the materpiece that is the Princess Bride, just trying to give some context). It's a happy-ending kind of story with that little quirkiness that keeps the audience entertained without feeding them an overdose of soft cheese. Probably the most important thing to know is that the trailers and previews do NOT do this film any justice at all. The bad witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) is, actually, a pretty bad lady (and very well played by Ms. Pfeiffer). The fallen star (Claire Danes) isn't just a pretty face, and the pirate (Robert DeNiro) is . . . well you'll have to go see the movie. DeNiro alone is worth the price of admission, and I'll just say that he is not what he seems. . .

It has magic, good guys, bad guys, vaguely good/bad guys, a fair dose of quirky humor, and of course a happy ending. I give this movie $7.50 out of my $8.50 admission price, which means that it's definitely worth the price of admission, and a bargain at a matinee.

And, of course, check out the works of the author. I just finished Good Omens, a quite funny tale about the end of the world co-written by Terry Pratchett.

Enjoy!

Exams and Skunks

My last exam was last night, and now I am finished for two weeks. What a relief, I don't have to take professional responsibility again! The evidence exam was pretty difficult but I think I did fine on all of them, so we move on, right? After grades are posted, I'll be exactly halfway finished with law school!

In other news, one of my dogs killed a skunk the other night, what a mess that was. she didn't get sprayed directly, but she got some in her mouth which really freaked her out. We bathed her, bathed us, washed all the clothes and sheets, and used Ozium to sanitize the air in the house. Worked like a charm! We bathed the dog/us in a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, and that worked really well too. If you ever get skunked, I highly recommend both!

Anyway, enough adventure for one week. Now for a little time off before the national moot court problem is sent to us and I have to crack down and write that brief. It never ends!

Time, or the lack thereof. . .

As the term winds down (two more weeks, including finals), here are some random thougts on school, etc.

First, it's time to brag a little. My partner and I won the intra-school moot court competition this past week, and as a result we have been selected for the national team. We compete starting in October at regionals, so it means that my 'break' won't actually be much of a break. Doesn't matter, this is a fantastic opportunity - there are only four students on this team, and we are two of them!

This, of course, means that I have to adjust my schedule for next term. No more five classes, no more scholarly writing. I'm actually relieved, as I haven't been looking forward to writing a law review article, nor have I been looking forward to law review in my future. I know, I know, It looks great on the resume. But to be honest, I'd rather write appellate briefs than law review articles. I do love to write, that isn't the problem, but I prefer the more practical side of writing. Now that I'm on the national moot court team, I don't have to worry. There's no way I can do both at the same time, and this is just as prestigious as law review (maybe more so considering this is exactly what I want to do for a living). Problem solved :)

Which leaves me with my three finals left for this term. Con law I, Professional Responsibility, and Evidence. I hadn't given the first thought to exams until yesterday. Fortunately, I don't miss classes, and I take excellent notes, so I have that going for me, and I have a good grasp of con law and evidence, but PR... well there's a class that pretty much everyone snoozes through. OK OK not exactly, but it isn't the most intellectually challenging, demanding, or interesting class. So people, including me, put very little effort into the class during the term. Considering how much moot court took up my time this term, I suppose I'd be happy with a B out of PR... but that means that I better get cracking. Time to study.

The result? well the frequency with which I have posted here lately will probably continue, for one thing. I will update and perhaps post something about the national moot court problem, which should be out soon. The SCOTUS is off term, so not much interesting coming from them right now, and the news from the world of politics is boring. so school it is, and for now I have to focus on exams and then the moot court brief that is likely due in September. Yikes! Either way, Stay Tuned!