10.31.2006

George’s Café v. Lava Java

As many others have already mentioned, George’s Café is now open for business, and only about a year late for what I understand. Now I could just say which I like better, but that might be based on pure emotion, so here we go, a head to head comparison on the factors most important (to me): food quality, cost, variety, hours, environment, and convenience.

Food Quality (2 points)
This one is no contest. George’s has a decent selection of breakfast tacos, but Lava Java has a different kind of variety. Granted, I’ve never had a black bean and spinach on wheat, it’s nice to know that if I ever did, it’d be there. Lava Java is skimpy on their filling, but George’s doesn’t have the quality ingredients. As I ate my bacon, egg, and cheese and potato, egg, and cheese tacos, I couldn’t help but notice the obvious fast food ingredients. It tasted like Burger King in a tortilla. Also, the tortilla tasted like it was cold before the taco was even made. This was despite being there at 8 a.m. The winner: Lava Java.

Cost (2 points)
No question, for less than $3 at Lava Java I can get two tacos and a small coffee, at George’s that would set me back more than twice that. Plus, since they are currently not taking credit cards, you might have to add an ATM fee onto that. Winner: Lava Java.

Variety (1 point)
Much of this was covered in the Food Quality category, but there are more factors to consider. I’m not sure whether to include Po-Boy’s with Lava Java, but I don’t think that would change my decision. George’s not only offers the tacos all day, but they have sandwiches and soups. While I will probably never eat them, I’ve heard they are good. Winner: George’s.

Hours (1 point)
Lava Java 7:30 – Midnight, George’s 8:00-7:00.
While Lava Java only sells tacos until 10:30, George’s sells food all day. But when finals time comes to the Tarlton and Ex.Coll. needs his coffee fix at 10 p.m., I’ll be heading to Lava Java. Plus, the extra half hour in the morning helps out early birds like myself. Winner: Lava Java.

Environment (1 point)
George’s: contemporary look with lots of space, bright colors and new furniture. There are two big screen HD TVs keeping you up to date with the goings on at the law school.
Lava Java: Small, cramped, uncomfortable chairs, dark, and kind of hippie-ish. Personally, I like Lava Java better. I’d rater have hippie-ish more than Aramark-ish, a coffee shop more than a cafeteria, Austin more than everywhere else. I can see the appeal of George’s, but it’s not for me. Plus, it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the Law School. Winner: Lava Java.

Convenience (2 points)
Notwithstanding the hours, George’s defiantly wins this. Why? Location, Location, Location. Winner: George’s

So the final tally is 6-3 for Lava Java. Sorry George’s.

Halloween

I really dislike Halloween. I have since I was about en years old. I guess I was always the party pooper that time of year, but I just hated the whole concept of the costume thing and going out panhandling for candy. Most people I know fell out of the whole thing around middle school and by high school it was rare for people to make anything out of it. About half of the people who did would simply wear their Dungeons & Dragons outfits in public. I suppose I just grew up in a town full of Halloween Grinches.

I really don’t remember what the Halloween situation in undergrad was like, but I was the polar opposite of a frat boy and my undergrad school was far from being known as a party school.

Seeing the hype around this place with Ex Parte and others baffles me. I guess it’s just not in me to do this kind of thing. Oh well, to each his own.

If you want to look for me tonight, I’ll be at either the Tarlton Book Cemetery or in the apartment with the porch light turned off.
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10.30.2006

More on cigars

For those who may be interested, the auction I referred to a couple posts back to raise money for the children of the Dominican Republic raised over $50,000 for the kids. The Culebra sold for over $1100 alone. If only I had the $$$.
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And speaking of wishing I had the $$$. I decided to go over to Arlin Liss’s website. He makes what I consider to be the best humidors in the world. I’ve meet Arlin and he’s a great guy. He offered me a discount on one of his humidors, but unless that discount was in the range of 80-90%, I told him any negotiations would be moot. They are beautiful pieces of art and I have yet to hear of ANY complaint about them.
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I finally got to smoke a bit over the last couple of days. Yesterday I smoked a bundled Honduran cigar from a bundle I got for free from Holt’s. I had bought very expensive (at least by my budget) box of cigars from them about a year and a half ago and they threw in the bundle for free. I couldn’t afford the box, so I split it with about 10 other guys. It was cool and I must do it again sometime.

As for the Honduran, it was good for the price. I think they go for about $3 a stick, and easily worth that, however I got my first dud of the bundle. The wrapper kept coming off. Normally this would be attributable to storage, but I double checked my hydrometer and all was okay. I inspected a few surrounding cigars and they were good too. Within a quarter of the cigar, the wrapper was flapping in the wind. A few puffs later said wrapper was gone with the wind. I always wanted to test the theory that the wrapper accounts for 90% of the cigar’s flavor, but it wouldn’t happen with this one. The constriction was so poor, the damn thing was falling apart in my mouth. Oh well…

Today I smoked a Hemingway Classic. True to it’s name, it is a classic cigar in every way, from its perfecto shape, to it’s flavor profile. The weather was perfect so I grabbed a chair, a book for class, and sat next to my apartment complex’s formerly condemned pool to fire it up. It was great. It was also about 6 hours ago. I’m now in the Tarlton trying to figure what the hell this statute says and longing for the relaxation of 6 hours ago….

10.28.2006

Live Football Blogging

This is a first for me, live blogging.
I’m watching the Texas Texas Tech game.
More than 6 min left in the First quarter.
Texas is playing like Shit. No other way to put it. Tech is already up 14-0 and Texas has already lost one fumble.

UPDATE:
1:04 left in the first.
Colt throws an interception that is run back for their third touchdown.

Now I know what it feels like to be on the other side. UT still playing like shit.


UPDATE:
11:18 left in the 2nd.
Longhorns are playing better. They just scored, score now 21-7. The last drive wasn’t pretty and they almost last the last one, but they scored. Keep it up horns.

UPDATE:
4:35 left in the half.
Texas is finally getting better. The seem to have woken up the defense. Maybe they should tell them every play is first and goal. Texas just had a very nice run and pass. 14-24.

UPDATE:
2:15 left in the half.
Finally a break for the Horns. A turnover followed by a facemask on Tech. Ball now on the 45.

OMG! As I was typing this Colt throws a 45 yard pass to Sweed for a touchdown. 7 seconds for a turnover and score. 21-24.

UPDATE:
:24 remaining in the half.
Proving no good turn goes unpunished, Tech scores. 21-31.
If Texas doesn’t turn this around in the second half, they deserve to get knocked out of the top 10, if not the top 15. At least Texas gets the 2nd half kickoff.

UPDATE:
8:30 left in the 3rd.
Colt makes about a 10 yard run for a touchdown. Tech is reviewing it, he may have stepped out at the 3. If it is reversed, it will be only the second time a Big 12 call has been reversed, and will also be the second in this game. And the officials say… . he was out at the 2. Not a bad call.

UPDATE:
7:51 left in the 3rd.
3 hard plays later, Texas Scores. 28-31.

UPDATE:
Just when I think the Horns are getting into shape, they screw up. This time a fumble by Young. Luckily, they were finally able to stop Tech. Horns still down 28-31, but they are getting better, or probably more accurately, Tech is getting tired. End of the third.

UPDATE:
13:24 left in the fourth
Texas Touchdown, a beautiful play. 4th TD pass for Colt. Texas finally takes the lead. 35-31. just 6 more to beat the spread.

Final Update:
Game over about 20 minutes ago. Sorry, but I just couldn’t blog. My blood pressure was too high. Turnovers, penalties, good calls, close calls. Longhorns win. With USC’s loss to an unranked team, the horns should go up a bit in the rankings, but, and it pains me to say, UT was not playing like a top 5 team. To Tech’s credit, they should be ranked. They have a great team and deserve credit.

10.25.2006

Awesome cigars

The good folks over at Cigar Family are having their annual auction to benefit the kids of the Dominican Republic. A fantastic Charity, IMO. For this auction, Carlito has his rollers make some of the most unusual cigars ever made. They are truly works of art, and they sell for very high prices. I’ve seen some of the less unusual ones, and even smoked a few. But some like the Opus Spiral Culebra, the Opus Pope’s Hat, Opus Roller's Nightmare, or the Hemingway Unedited Story, I’ve never seen in person. Just click this link and check out any of the threads for pictures of these amazing cigars. Any football lover will love this one; it was originally made for a Dan Marino tribute and auctioned for charity. And yes, it is smokeable.

10.24.2006

When will OCI end?

While for most of my class, OCI is but a fond memory of a bygone time. It’s still kicking me in the stomach.
I suppose I did okay for the limited number of bids I put in. I got callbacks form two thirds of the interviews I was selected for and thus far have gotten offers from zero thirds. I’m still waiting to hear back from two firms. I hope to hear from them very soon so I can start strategically placing my resumes where lawyers can find them (i.e. the back of ambulances).
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On a related note, overheard in an interview,
Senior Partner: This firm is a cross between a gym class, a sweatshop, and a locker room.

10.23.2006

Are you a policy wonk?

What do you get when you cross ESPN and C-SPAN? Sports Illustrated and the New Your Times? Weed and Acid?

Answer: One of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of. Find out here.

10.18.2006

Go Kinky!

Kinky Friedman has picked up yet another endorsement. This one is from the Round Top Register, the on-line newspaper for Round Top, Texas. In case you were wondering, Round Top is close to Carmine, Texas.

From their ringing endorsement:

He is clearly the most qualified to serve.
Therefore, our endorsement goes to Kinky Friedman for Governor of the State of Texas.
Why? Because he's the only one who is honest. He admits he's full of BS while the others try to hide what is obvious. Politics in Texas could use a little humor. God knows, there is little a rational person can do these days but laugh or cry, and laughing would be a lot more fun. We think paying someone to poke fun at the legislature until the next election would do the state a world of good. . .
As Kinky says: “Why the Hell not?”


Eat that Chris Bell.

10.17.2006

More cleaning out the Law Mail


Law Mail group: Student Life

If you would like to learn some strategies for handling the stress associated with law school, please come to a Stress Management Workshop on Monday, October 23 from 3:30 until 4:15 in the Eidman Jury Room. The workshop will be facilitated by the UT Counseling Center. This session is limited to 15 students, first-come, first-served. If you want to participate, email Paula Taylor at ptaylor@law.utexas.edu.

Let’s just hope that there aren’t more than 15 people stressed out, otherwise people will be stressing out to figure out how to get into the workshop that tells them how to not to stress out. Or maybe, that’s the plan, stress them out so they crack now.

For those who will not be able to make it, I give you the Ex.Coll. 4 simple steps to stress-free finals:
1. Find your closest liquor store. Make sure to get to know the guy behind the counter, after all, you’ll be there a lot.
2. Buy alcohol. I have found that brown liquors work best, e.g. bourbon, scotch, aged rum. Of course there is the exception of vodka, I recommend Tito’s
3. Consume said alcohol. I suggest mixing at a rate of 50/50 mixer/alcohol. This can continue until your knowledge of Contracts/CivPro/Torts/Property/ConLaw is so immense that you find it difficult to walk a straight line, find your nose, or speak coherently. At that point, dispense with the mixing and drink the alcohol straight until it becomes to cumbersome to pour. Commence drinking straight from the bottle.
4. Repeat. Repeat nightly until finals are over and grades have been posted. Once grades have been posted, you should then decide whether this therapy should continue.

10.13.2006

I cannot believe that a stupid party would be blown so out of proportion.
This concludes my posting about said party.

10.10.2006

TLF Auction

Is it just me or has the TLF hype for their auction been pretty lame? Come on guys, can’t you do better than annoying papers hanging form the ceiling?

For the first time this week, I read my LawMail. Among the items up for auction was this donated by Professor Rau:

~Alan Rau~ First auction item: Lunch for 3 with Professor Rau, his treat.
Second auction item: Lunch for 3 with Professor Rau, students’ treat.

That is quintessential Rau.

10.09.2006

Miscellaneous ramblings

If there was any doubt prior to Saturday that OU sucks, said doubt has been alleviated.
While I liked seeing OU get trounced just as much as any Longhorn fan, was this footage from the game really necessary? I just hope his parents didn’t think this was so cute that they saved a tape of it to play for all his future girlfriends.
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How cool is it when your case book has a paragraph length footnote describing a Saturday Night Live sketch? What makes this all the more unusual is that it was a sketch featuring Norm MacDonald and that I was thinking of the sketch as I read the case.
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Now we have a real controversy! I’ve refrained from commenting on it because of the high level of attention given by other blogs (including the UT Law Blog of Record), but I feel it my responsibility to compliment the Dean on his message to the student body. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen the words “heedless,” “odious,” and “foolhardy” used within three paragraphs.

I guess that just goes to show my lack of culture.
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And to you, Westlaw, I got your email but I have not yet gone to see if you made it to provide breakfast. Once bitten, twice shy, my friend. Once bitten, twice shy.

10.07.2006

On Politics and Football

The second biggest smackdown in Dallas the weekend went down last night.
Funny how Perry only agreed to one debate and that it be on Friday night during Texas high school football and the day before the UT/OU game, but I digress.

In my unbiased, professional/amateur opinion, the winner was clearly…. Chris Bell. ?!?! Yes, I said it. While I still support Kinky, I have to say he was not his normal self at the debate. Chris Bell, on the other hand proved that he was, despite contrary reports, alive. He did have the best line of the debate. When asked if he knew whether there were term limits for the governor, his response ( I don’t remember the quote, but it was very close to this): “That is the single best reason to vote for me. There are no term limits for Governor and our current Governor has said if he wins this election, he will run again.” Snap!

More High/low lights:
Carole Keeton Rylander McClellon Strayhorn Jinglehimer Schmidt didn’t know who the president of Mexico was nor how long unemployment benefits last.

Perry – proved his was a douche and looked bored. His hair was of typical porn-star quality. He lied through his teeth about the Trans Texas Corridor.

Kinky – got in a few zingers, but nothing new if you have been following him. Frankly, I was disappointed. I saw him speak at the Student Union this week, and basically he said the same things. Kinky lost an opportunity, albeit, considering the timing of the debate, not a big one. Hi did include his definition of politics joke; “politics” come from “poly” meaning more than one, and “tics” meaning blood-sucking parasites.

James Werner – the Libertarian Party candidate who, despite being on the ballot, was not invited to the debate. The clear loser, since he wasn’t even there. Why wasn’t he invited? According to Belo, they didn’t want to turn the race into a circus. LOL, a bit late for that. This will be the first time in my life not voting for a Libertarian.

Go Kinky!

Give em Hell
Give em Hell
Perry Sucks!

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And moving on to Foosball, the bid Texas / OU game is this afternoon.
Texas is favored by 4. IMHO, you should put your money on Texas (I did) no way this will be a single digit game. Hook em Horns!

Give em Hell
Give em Hell
OU Sucks!

10.05.2006

Karma

Wow, I've been posting a lot these last few days. Looking over my posting over the last week, they seem pretty negative. So to lighten things up a bit, here’s a little Ex.Coll. joke telling:

Ex.Coll.: Hey Jimmy, next semester’s schedule sure is crappy.

Jimmy: How crappy is it?

Ex.Coll.: It’s so crappy, I’m thinking of taking Rau again.

[rim shot]

Every breath you take…

I’ll be watching you.

Hello Westlaw. In case you check back in, please note the menu suggestions in the comments of my previous post. Remember, I like my pancakes with Pecans. And no cheap syrup either.

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Westlaw still sucks

This morning, just for grins, I went to blogsearch.google.com and searched “Westlaw.” It looks like my “Westlaw is Dead to Me” post appears as number two. This is a testament to my blog’s influential presence on the web, or it’s lameness in that I am one of the few people who would even give a damn enough to blog about Westlaw. Either way, I wonder how long before the fine (breakfast-teasing) folks over at Westlaw / Thompson see that posting. Hopefully soon enough to bring in some breakfast.

And for the record, Westlaw, you got some serious making up to do. Krispy Kremes and bagels will not cut it for make-up breakfast. This is calling for breakfast tacos… good ones… lots of them… soon.

10.04.2006

10.03.2006

Westlaw is Dead to Me!

Westlaw Sucks! Yesterday I get an email form Ashlea Allsup with the subject line “UT Westlaw Table - Get breakfast!” The email read: Come by and see your Westlaw(R) Representatives on Tuesday, 10/3, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Westlaw table in the atrium. We will have coffee and breakfast!

So I head over to the Atrium around 9:15-ish, and all they have is free coffee. I go back at 10:20 and still only coffee. Hell, the reps weren’t even there.

Westlaw, nobody like a breakfast tease.

From now on, I’m all about Lexis. Westlaw, you’re dead to me.
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Reason I Regret Moving #4

This series of postings was formally called Signs I Moved Into A Bad Apt Complex, but with this incident, it goes way beyond being a sign. I am now completely in regret. First a bit of context.

Over this weekend, I spent over 20 hours in my car and drove nearly 1100 miles. It was not exactly fun. My travels took me through Austin, San Antonio, Houston, New Braunfels, and inexplicably, Luling (where, by the way, I learned that no matter how delicious it sounds, buffalo jerky is not good). Tonight will be m first night since Wednesday night that I will sleep in my own apartment. When I return, what do I find next to my door? A nice little note from the staff. I wish to God that I was kidding or somehow exaggerating this, but I’m not. I don’t even want to try to paraphrase what the note said so I’ll just quote the whole thing here:

Residents:
We have had several complaints about homeless people living in the woods on the back side of our property. We please ask all of you to be aware of this and ask that if you see anyone who looks suspicious in any way to please call the police immediately. We do encourage you to contact this office, but only after you have called the police to report what you have seen. We have also had several reports of cars being broken into. We would like to remind you to not leave anything of value in your vehicles at any time, day or night.
Again we ask that if you see anything suspicious to please contact the police before you call the office, as they can better assist you than office personal. Our staff is doing all it can to help prevent this, but it is imperative that all of you be part of the solution. With all of your help, we can make this a better community for everyone!


What makes the situation worse is that when I came to look at the property I noticed the woods and thought that it would be nice to have an apartment that faced the woods since that would be quieter than the parking lot.

Why, oh why, did I move???

Oh, and by the way, OU still sucks.

10.01.2006

Longhorn Football; 56-3

Give 'em Hell, Give 'em Hell, OU Sucks!

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I’m not sure why I even went to the football game this week. I honestly have no idea why they even played the game. It literally served no purpose. One commentator had it right when he said on Friday that he couldn’t believe that they were actually charging admission for the game.

The opponent was Sam Houston State University (in Huntsville, for those who don’t know). Apparently Mac put this team on the schedule because Texas College for the Blind already had Texas A&M scheduled this year. The sad thing is that TCB is favored by 6.5.

And speaking of point spreads, the spread for the UT vs. SHSU game were… if you know, please tell me. I checked USA Today, Bodog.com, Sportsbook.com, and a couple other Vegas odds makers, and none of them even bothered to set any odds. Just sad.

I think the most ironic thing about the game was the unsportsmanlike conduct call in the first quarter against the Longhorns. Hell, the fact that SHSU was even on the schedule was unsportsmanlike conduct.

And one final note. The official attendance for the game was 88,956, meaning there were only 466 fewer people than were at the Ohio State game. If true, the 466 who didn’t go must have all had tickets in my section because I had a heck of a lot more elbow room that I did for OSU. Personally, I think the “official attendance” number is worthless.

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I felt that the Bearkats deserved something for their efforts besides the hundreds of thousands of dollars from their cut of the game.

While not quite as noteworthy as say achieving ABA accreditation, the fact that they showed up, played four full quarters of football, came back on the field after being down by 49 points at the half, and survived (meaning no fatalities), deserves some kind of award. Since this accomplishment is not quite worth of a prestigious Ex.Coll. Thumbs Up Award ®, I am now awarding the first ever Ex.Coll. Salute® to the Sam Houston State Bearkats! Congrats Bearkats, please feel free to print out this award and hang in a place of prominence in your locker room.
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