Academic

Say, is "Survivor" winner a JD advantaged job?

Posted on May 15, 2013
As far as I know, Harvard Law School's employment numbers are strong enough that there's no need for it to play games. That said, you have to wonder how tempted HLS is to take advantage of the most famous member...

My recap of the Run for Boston 5K on Saturday

Posted on May 13, 2013
RunOregon has my recap of the Run for Boston 5K race from this past weekend, which resulted in a Pr for me -- but a kind of frustrating one, since it was 21:00 flat. Just one lousy second faster and...

What if . . . Congressional leaders and the President could only use lines from "A Game of Thrones"?

Posted on May 07, 2013
The other night, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (yes, if I watch a late-night talk show, it's Leno's) had a pretty hilarious skit with Trevor Moore and Mikey Day. Basically, the two guys sit around in some L.A. location...

If Amazon puts Sears out of business, I'm not going to shed a single tear

Posted on May 03, 2013
I love Amazon, both as a customer and as an investor (I own a little bit). Obviously, its pricing is usually fantastic, and Prime is well worth the $79/year for me (and getting better with more instant videos available for...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

First world problems of TV critics

Posted on April 12, 2013
There's too much good TV to watch. Ha ha ha!! I love my job, but being a TV critic might be a better one. I do see the point, though. After coming back from spring break, my beloved TiVo was...

Return of NBC's "The Voice": Addition by subtraction

Posted on April 04, 2013
Season 4 of the reality TV singing show "The Voice" has started up, and not too soon for NBC considering how laughably bad the network's ratings have been during the show's absence. This is the show where the four judges...

I must be missing something about "The Walking Dead" . . . .

Posted on March 27, 2013
I missed out on "The Walking Dead" when it premiered, and I kind of regretted it, as I know it's gotten all kinds of critical acclaim -- not to mention, better ratings than just about anything on NBC, which is...

"Is Survivor broken beyond repair?"

Posted on March 21, 2013
That's the title of an interesting blog post following last week's entirely predictable trainwreck episode where the seemingly unstable Brandon Hantz had such an utter meltdown during camp that his tribe, the "Favorites," arrived at the Immunity Challenge and openly...

Michael Mann vs. Ridley Scott as visionary directors

Posted on February 27, 2013
Here's an interesting comment on the TiVo Community board that compares the impact of Michael Mann and Ridley Scott as directors. (The main thread is devoted to the pilot episode of FX's "The Americans," which is quite a rocking show...

L.A. Times' list of top 25 movies set in L.A. -- what I think it omitted

Posted on February 26, 2013
I came across this L.A. Times' list of the top 25 movies set in Los Angeles. It's hard to argue against flicks like Who Killed Roger Rabbit?, To Live and Die in L.A., and Fletch. But no Ruthless People? C'mon,...

"Argo" and the Iran hostage crisis

Posted on February 04, 2013
I got to see "Argo" over the weekend and was favorably impressed, as many others have been. Obviously, the story was exaggerated to create more narrative tension, but it's a well-crafted movie. (That makes two out of two in terms...

The Mohamud verdict -- some initial thoughts

Posted on February 01, 2013
Well, the jury rendered its verdict in the Portland bomb sting case today, convicting defendant Mohamed Mohamud of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. The jury deliberated for about seven hours, or about a full day. It's been...

Too easy to second-guess the granting of bail in this case?

Posted on January 30, 2013
I'm sure that trial judges hate being second-guessed about their bail decisions, and with good reason. We can't realistically expect that judges will be 100% accurate in their assessments of whether particular defendants released on bail won't attempt to flee...

NBC's "Deception": haven't these people heard of Google?

Posted on January 24, 2013
I somewhat regret not getting into ABC's Count of Monte Cristo-inspired "Revenge," which is about a young woman who comes back to her hometown after years of being away, under a new identity, with the mission of destroying the rich...

Former FBI Special Agent Ali Soufan trashes "The Terror Factory"

Posted on January 24, 2013
For fairly obvious reasons, I've got Trevor Aaronson's The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism on my to-be-read list, notwithstanding this fairly withering review by Ali Soufan, a former FBI Special Agent and one of the primary...

Killers, hidden bodies, and lawyers' ethics

Posted on January 22, 2013
I've got a new post up on the Huffington Post about the Parrish Bennette Jr. case here in Portland, and specifically, about how the defense lawyers kept the location of the victim's body secret for four months while representing their...

High school swimmers competing against Missy Franklin

Posted on January 15, 2013
The Wall Street Journal has a story about how some high school swim teams in the Denver area are having to compete against Regis Jesuit High, which happens to have 5-time Olympic medalist Missy Franklin on its team: In recent...

More than 10 years later, the USA PATRIOT Act is still Hollywood's punching bag

Posted on January 11, 2013
Here we are, more than ten years after the initial passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, and Hollywood keeps (inaccurately) flogging it as the source of authority for everything bad about the war on terrorism. I actually like ABC's "Scandal"...

Jury selection started in our bomb sting plot

Posted on January 10, 2013
Jury selection started today in the Portland bomb sting plot. KGW (the local NBC affiliate) caught up with one juror who was dismissed for cause because he didn't think he could keep an open mind, not after a good friend...

Is soda really like cigarettes?

Posted on January 06, 2013
This NY Times column criticizes Beyonce for taking part in Pepsi's upcoming SuperBowl promotion: Knowles is renting her image to a product that may one day be ranked with cigarettes as a killer we were too slow to rein in....

What happened to Fox (network, not news) and me?

Posted on December 11, 2012
Once upon a time, or should I say, a long time ago in a TV era far far away, Fox used to be my favorite network. It was edgy, funny, and daring, with the only sitcoms I managed to watch...

ABC's "Scandal": a big continuity error, and my speculation about how it ends

Posted on December 10, 2012
I'm finally caught up on ABC's "Scandal," with one episode left before it goes on a hiatus for the winter, and I've really enjoyed it so far this season. Well, except for the drawn-out storyline about how much Olivia Pope...

Rejoicing over my new compost rollcart!

Posted on December 06, 2012
It's been about two years of forced composting of food scraps and yard waste for me. My colleague and blogger Jack Bogdanski has repeatedly complained about the secondary effects of the program -- smelliness, pest attraction, etc. -- and eventually...

NBC's "The Voice": from 6 to 4 . . . .

Posted on December 05, 2012
All I have to say, after watching tonight's results show of "The Voice," where two of the remaining six singers were cut, is, "Maybe I should've voted." Wow. I did not expect that.

We're #17!

Posted on November 27, 2012
This list ranks the states from best-run to worst-run. Not surprisingly, California is dead last. I fretted that Oregon would be down there as well, but somehow, we rank as the 17th best-run state: In 2011, the manufacturing sector accounted...

Asian-American stereotypes?

Posted on November 26, 2012
Here's an interesting article about seven Asian-American stereotypes that the author says aren't true, including the belief that Asian-Americans can't play sports but all know martial arts. Unfortunately, it doesn't help her case that the list of Asian-American pro baseball...

USC vs. Notre Dame: who to root against???

Posted on November 19, 2012
Wow, a weekend of upsets has put Notre Dame atop the BCS standings, not to mention leaving it the only undefeated team. In its last regular season game, Notre Dame plays USC. . . . Now, normally I root against...

NBC's "Grimm" & fictionalized execution drama

Posted on November 10, 2012
Tonight's episode of NBC's "Grimm" relied heavily on an impending execution for narrative drama . . . . Of course, the show makes a big deal about its Portland setting (much appreciated!), with shout-outs to local institutions like Voodoo Donuts...

Lane Kiffin as the best coach in the Pac-12?

Posted on November 09, 2012
. . . best for the rest of the conference that is! I totally get how USC alums can be so devoted to their football program. It's not unlike the devotion that Yankee fans have to their team, and no...

The iPhone 4S and that "Talking Tina" episode of "The Twilight Zone"

Posted on November 04, 2012
Remember the "Talking Tina" episode of "The Twilight Zone"? Well, that's a little like how I felt earlier this weekend. We were wondering why my wife's data usage had gone through the roof ever since she switched to an iPhone...

Bloggers, promote your law blog by nominating your blog for inclusion in USLaw.com's Law Blog Directory and RSS Reader. Benefits described.