Outside Counsel

The 50 Most NYC albums. This list leans pop and rock, but I agree with many of the picks, and will look into the ones I am not familiar with.

I'm not exactly sure how long I have been coaching the Buffalo State Moot Court teams, and I don't want to stop and figure it out. A couple three years ago we had a breakthrough tournament: the students were hard-working and bright, and we'd figured out some of the little moot court moves that impress the judges. Last year we fielded two teams, and this year we have three, and this years' group is a delight. Because we have been improving this year we decided to participate in a tune-up invitational tournament at Ohio Wesleyan. I think it is going to make a big difference in our showing at this week's Regional. At OWU we were allowed to shuffle the teams, so that each member got paired with each other member, and I observed all six over the course of the three rounds. The students performed well, and were able to see, first of all, that they can stand in a room with anyone from anywhere, and that their preparation had been solid. (We meet with them once a week for two hours. This group also meets on its own on Thursday nights and for several hours on Sunday.) I think the part I liked best about their performance Saturday is that when it was over they were so giddy and goofy and happy. These students have become a team, and I a super proud of them.   

Henry V, Act IV, scene iii
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the Feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a-tiptoe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day and live t’old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian”:
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars
And say “These wounds I had on Crispin’s day.”
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now abed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

I'm sort of sorry that Netflix is cancelling Luke Cage, which is really well done. I like that its cast is largely African-American, for one thing- it looks like Harlem should look. On the other hand, Iron Fist is dumb, and I won't miss it, and come to think of it Marvel itself ran out of things to do with both Cage and Danny Rand in the pretty early going, which is why they teamed the two up. A good super hero story needs a strong nemesis, and although Cage does all right with this (Alfre Woodard is terrific) I don't know how sustainable that is. The same is also true, unfortunately, with Jessica Jones. Daredevil, on the other hand, should be good for a while yet. Ultimately I would rather have a couple of good seasons than a strong start followed by a long slide into mediocrity.

Our next door neighbors reported seeing a rat in our back yard. Mindful of the alternative pest control principle that destroying the habitat is the best way to eliminate the problem I moved our woodpile to a different location. (I also put down poison, because fuck rats.) As I moved the wood I encountered slugs and big black spiders and bugs with many legs. The way I felt when I saw these things was something like the way I felt reading this article about Title IX and Yale Law School. You want to eliminate Brett Kavanaughs? Move the woodpile, and put out poison.