When you grow up

Sorting. Selling. Packing. Moving. iBook freaking. Posts will likely be sporadic for the next couple of weeks until things settle down a little and the computer decides to behave. (For the first time in 1.5 years, my computer is freezing and crashing; I have no idea why this is but it makes me very, very unhappy. I'll wipe the hard drive and start over when I get a chance...)

For now, here's a question for everyone in law school or headed there soon: How long have you thought you wanted to practice law?

The question arises from Gary A. Munneke and William D. Henslee's article on using a legal education for a non-legal career [link via jd2b a few weeks ago]. Munneke and Henslee write:

No one ever completely escapes that childhood question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" As long as the answer to this question is "a practicing lawyer," it will be difficult to find satisfaction outside the practice of law. Similarly, if the answer to the question never has been "a practicing lawyer," it will be difficult to find happiness within. An honest self-appraisal focusing on your fundamental aspirations in life is useful. As simple as it sounds, law graduates who choose a nonlegal career because that's what they want to do are most likely to succeed.

I'm headed to law school, yet I'm not sure I've ever wanted to be a practicing lawyer. I know I certainly never thought so as a child, and I'm far from sure about it now. Thoughts?

Posted 06:12 PM | Comments (4) | law school

Dreaming Law

Last night I had what may have been my first dream about being a lawyer. I'd say it was heavily influenced by the fact that I just finished reading Brush With the Law because it involved drugs, biking, and lawsuits. It also involved grading papers, so my subconscious hasn't left the old life behind quite yet. Of course, in my dream I righted wrongs and saved people from exploitation by wielding my knowledge of law like a righteous sword. Too bad it was just a dream.

Posted 07:50 AM | Comments (3) | law school

Yale Bomb

A bomb exploded at Yale Law School yesterday. According to this NY Times story, the bomb was originally either in the student mailboxes or in a classroom. Or maybe the classroom was next to the mailboxes? (Is the NY Times really slipping, or is it just me?)

So why would a bomb be exploding at Yale? A disgruntled student, perhaps? A Unabomber revival of some sort? Nobody seems to know much more than that it was a bomb:

``We suspect it was some kind of device that caused the explosion,'' [New Haven Mayor John] DeStefano told reporters gathered more than a block away from the law school building. Asked about any evidence that the explosion was meant to kill or terrorize law school students or faculty, Mayor DeStefano said: ``We have no reason to believe that it is anything other than what it is. It doesn't appear as if any message was being sent.''

Um, I find it hard to believe that someone would make, plant, and detonate a bomb w/out hoping to send some kind of message. How stupid does Mr. DeStefano think we are?

Posted 06:27 AM | law school

Still Reloading 2

Sure there are other, more important things going on, but I'm too preoccupied with the tasks of getting rid of all my worldly possessions and moving to think seriously about serious stuff. (Do you feel safer? How about now? Yeah, me neither.)

So did you hear about that new movie? I think it's called "The Matrix Reloaded" or something like that. Gtexts was not impressed, but he offers a link to Useless Matrix Trivia by Melissa Maerz. Somehow I'm not surprised that a serial murderer dug "The Matrix"; as Snoopy says (long story): "If you remain calm, you just don't have all the facts." However, I wish someone would have told Mr. Boyd that killing people is never an appropriate way to express your lack of, um, calm...

Gtexts also notes that some hackers approve of Trinity's skilz, while others scoff. Meanwhile, DG says Ebert got "Reloaded" right. I, too, enjoyed Ebert's review, and recommend it. Still, I can't see how Ebert can claim that "Reloaded" promotes Neo to a "Christ figure in training" -- the film explicitly demotes Neo from that position. ("The One was never meant to end anything. It was just another system of control." Translation: religion, prophecy, faith = systems of control, not solutions to Zion's problems.) But still, Ebert concludes w/a clever little allusion:

Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time tells the story of a cosmologist whose speech is interrupted by a little old lady who informs him that the universe rests on the back of a turtle. "Ah, yes, madame," the scientist replies, "but what does the turtle rest on?" The old lady shoots back: "You can't trick me, young man. It's nothing but turtles, turtles, turtles, all the way down."

Fun.

Posted 11:23 AM | Comments (2) | ai movies

Still Reloading

Professor Yin has a few good posts on "The Matrix" (also here) and "Reloaded." He seems primarily concerned with technical and plot questions, and he has a lot of good ones. But hey, it's sci-fi, I'm obviously willing to give it some serious "suspension of disbelief." The films are certainly more fun that way.

Professor Yin also points to this collection of essays about the first film and various strands of philosophy. Just FYI.

Tom Tomorrow jumps smartly on the Matrix bandwagon with his latest comic: The Republican Matrix:

What should we do today, fellas? Any damn thing we want, George.

(Calling all Democrats: Find your freaking Neo, and do it fast. Which reminds me of something L. said about "Reloaded" —what Neo and everyone else in Zion need to realize is that they have more power than they think, if only they would assert it. This could not be more true for the Dems.)

And don't miss Salon's review of "Reloaded"—it's definitely one of the better reviews of the film. It suggests another reason many people are disappointed in "Reloaded":

It's a sadder, wiser, more grown-up movie than its predecessor. It was made, one might almost say, for a sadder, wiser, more grown-up world.

Yeah, or it may just be a cool kung-fu movie. But then, what is Cornel West doing there?

Reached by telephone in his office in Princeton, Dr. West said that he and the Wachowski brothers had come together in "acknowledging the full-fledged and complex humanity of black people, which is a relatively new idea in Hollywood given pervasive racist stereotypes." And, indeed, "The Matrix Reloaded" gives prominent roles and screen time to African-American stars like Laurence Fishburne and Jada Pinkett Smith. A more tantalizing connection seems to be Dr. West's notion of the jazz freedom fighter that concludes his book "Race Matters." He writes: "I use the term `jazz' here not so much as a term for a musical art form as for a mode of being in the world, an improvisational mode of protean, fluid and flexible dispositions toward reality suspicious of `either/or viewpoints.' "

This seems to jibe with the direction that Neo, the character played by Mr. Reeves, is taking, as he discovers that the world of the Matrix is not operating by fixed rules but is something more permeable and uncertain. Dr. West also pointed out that "the second Matrix movie actually critiques the idea of the first. It's suspicious of salvation narratives. It's deeply anti-dogmatic. The critics haven't figured that out yet, but the scholars will get to it."

Hmmm, really? Oh, and one more thing from Dr. West:

He has some advice for the audiences going to see the movie: "You've got to look beneath the special effects."  

See, I'm just following doctor's orders. ;-)

Posted 10:14 PM | ai movies

Locke

I know I said I was matrixed out, but this is good: Rick Klau suggests that Commander Locke's character refers to John Locke, the 17th century (Enlightenment) philosopher known for his beliefs in empiricism (all knowledge comes to us through experience) and the tabula rasa (idea that humans begin life as blank slates and then acquire knowledge through experience). Locke is known for many other things (social contract, natural rights and natural law, what else?), but I'm not sure if any of them have any connection to Cmdr. Locke's character in "Reloaded." However, empiricism would explain why Cmdr. Locke simply does not believe in "the prophesy" that Morpheus lives by. The fact that Locke's defense plan fails so miserably suggests the film is being critical of empiricism. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud with all this, you know.

(DG wonders whether "the movie was really deep or if people are making too much out of it." This is a good question, and one we should ask of any book, movie, or other cultural production. Is Ulysses really deep or have people made too much out of it? The thing is, cultural products become "great" or "classic" or influential by nothing more than consensus—a critical mass simply agrees that they're great, and so they are. I think the Matrix films are great; perhaps if enough other people agree, the films will become "canonical" (or classic or whatever you want to call it) and their smart allusions and social commentary will become common knowledge. Worse things could happen.)

Posted 11:59 AM | Comments (1) | ai movies

Reloaded Rehashed

If you just can't get enough off "Reloaded," Rotten Tomatoes has a lively forum devoted to the movie. There's a lot of junk in there, but also a few provocative theories and comments. Highlights include:

A transcript of Neo's conversation w/the Architect. (How did they get that? Someone must have had a recorder of some kind in the theater, which isn't a bad idea, actually....)

Various theories about the film—high signal to noise ratio. A major controversy seems to focus on whether Zion is a "matrix within the matrix." People are going nuts about this.

I didn't think I'd be saying this so soon, but I'm about Matrixed to the max, right now. "Hey, it just sounds to me like you need to unplug, man. You know, get some R and R." Yeah, that's it.

Posted 11:03 PM | ai movies