a World of Cliche Fans

Blogs

2006-08-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

I forgot I had one of these. Isn't it pretty 2005?

Mentor / mentee

2006-07-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

I have signed on to be a mentor for the upcoming academic year.

My mentee is from Spain.

I will show him around town, take him to parties, bars, etc. Probably encourage him to break American laws. I will learn his class schedule and avoid seeing him around the law school at all costs. Any questions about law school will be answered in vague, noncomittal terms. Ideally he'll suspect that I'm not a student at all; that it's a weird American con.

If my plan doesn't work out I intend to gain full Spanish fluency by year's end.

New crib.

2006-07-10T17:33:00.000-07:00

I am going to be living underneath this tower.

I will have a new roommate named Paul.

Life: Full Throttle

2006-06-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a status report, world:

Carl Nicholas Wedoff
anagram: A World of Cliche Fans

1. I am in three bands.

Bro v. Wade is one the most attractive groups anywhere ever.

America Too is a semi-improvised rock project. Rave reviews.

Malachi Constant is going to Europe in a major way in January. Oops?

2. My grades are through the roof. I am a top scholar. Job offers and riches await me.

3. Brooklyn back to Minneapolis. Alexander Paul McCown and Paul Matthew Sprangers are soaking up the Midwestern Mecca, the Prairie Paradiso, the Heart of Lightness.

Minneapolis is bumping.

Dereliction of duty

2006-06-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

I have not been updating my blog.

Since most/all readers are people I communicate with otherwise, it is superfluous + redundant.

Perhaps DoubleIndemnity.Net will re-rear its ugly head?

News flash!

2006-05-23T15:53:00.001-07:00

Nobody cares about a horse who had surgery. At all. PLEASE stop reporting on the horse who had surgery.

9-11 CONSPIRACY

2006-05-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

With all the conspiracies swirling around 9-11, any kernel of conspiratal truth is likely to be lumped with the inane and consequently disregarded. A reasonable person hears a claim that the four hijacked airliners "never existed." This claim will be treated with skepticism. However, more plausible claims will meet the same level of skepticism. I think conspiracy theories' plausibility should always be analyzed with Ockham's razor. If a "conspiracy" theory is simpler, and deals with fewer hypothetical assumptions and entities than the "official" explanation, it should be taken very seriously. On the other hand, the more Rube Goldberg a conspiracy becomes, the less likely it actually took place. More things can go wrong, and there are more people who can bring down the house of cards.

Which is a simpler explanation? The Bush Administration . . .

(a) ignored urgent intelligence that a terrorist attack was imminent.

(b) designed and executed the attack.

Ignoring intelligence that the World Trade Center and Pentagon would be attacked is relatively simple. A calculation, perhaps unspoken, is made that such an attack will catapult the administration into dizzying heights of popularity and allow for tremendous political opportunity. The beauty of this "conspiracy" theory? Nothing needs to be done on part of those involved. Intentional ignorance and inadvertent oversight leave an identical paper trail. "Nobody could have imagined the attacks of September 11."

On the other hand, using laser imaging, faking flight manifests (and faking scores of victims' families), setting up explosives in the World Trade Center, shooting missiles at the Pentagon, etc. would be prohibitively messy and prone to exposure.

Anyway, there's a niece piece on Salon about flaws in some of the competing theories, and a link to a site that articulates the "red herring" theory a lot better than I'll ever able to do.

Query

2006-05-13T20:01:00.000-07:00

First I had a beard.

I have since converted it into long sideburns and a transluscent mustache.

Today a friend said I looked like Matthew McConaughey. (O! a far cry from Bill S. Preston.)

Should I lose the mustache before I interview on Monday?

Should I erase it before I visit the Stillwater Correctional Facility on Tuesday?

Should I even leave the house tonight? Really, Big V's is so far away.

Golden Summer

2006-05-11T13:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening is the big-time. Like "Kiss" said. No more teachers telling me what to do because I will be free so much.

Until then:

It's raining and under fifty degrees.

My home is hills of books and a valley of papers. Wires, party hats, a Hawaiian lei here, maybe a postcard there. DayQuil. Ibuprofen. Diet Pepsi. Nail clippers. Unmade flashcards. A shotgun shell. A knife from Alaska. Guitars, cassettes, and speakers. Untold scores of photgraphs boxed, posted, and scattered. Collector-edition rock posters dripping from the wall because they're unloved.

Stress is a mess.

bye bye

Connect the dots.

2006-05-03T22:46:00.000-07:00

2004: Ohio decided the Presidential election.

2006: Problems with voting machines?

Cool palace!

2006-05-03T22:40:00.000-07:00

National unity government.

Nelson

2006-05-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have an important test in 32 hours.

WINNERS

2006-05-02T20:22:00.000-07:00

WE WON THE FUCKING WAR.

More ranking mania!

2006-05-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

I went to the 25th best college!
The 19th best law school!

I feel a sense of immense worth.

RV

2006-04-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

"RV is Vacation for people who loved Flubber."

-- David Cornelius, EFILMCRITIC.COM

#478!

2006-04-30T13:30:00.000-07:00

My high school was ranked #478 in the country by Newsweek. MOTHERFUCKER.
Newsweek doesn't lie.

More acclaim for RV

2006-04-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

I am going to see this in the theatre.

Study group

2006-04-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

This e-mail is to my study friends.

(Evan: If you want to roll with us you have to hang with my e-mails. Be a man.)

Dudes:

I'm watching "Waterworld" right now. It was $5.50 at Target. It compliments "Gigli" and "K-Pax" nicely in my DVD collection.

Key points of interest:
(1) Scrap paper is very valuable in Waterworld.
(2) Dirt is like gold. It's because you need dirt to grow food, and there is no dry land.
(3) Cigarettes are also very valuable. (I think if the Smokers, led by Dennis Hopper, put their minds to it, they could quit. Then they would have more money for dirt and paper.)
(4) Kevin Costner's character is part fish.

I made some tacos today with pulled chicken cooked in hot sauce. They were so spicy I had to throw them away. My beverage was a pint of Mylanta.

AGENDA
Meeting on Sunday to discuss the two most recent posted Property exams from J.T. Younger. (Priceless.) I would prefer to do it laterish, as I haven't attempted either one yet and I have a show + BBQ tomorrow, meaning I will have to do both of them on Sunday. How does 7 or 8 sound? Am I crazy? Is that "house" time for you guys? If we have to do it earlier that's OK; I just might not be fully prepared.

Although I'd rather not meet at the law school, it's probably the best bet in terms of central location, etc. I live alone but I'm pretty far out of the way.

I love each and every one of you dearly.

Carl

p.s. I think this e-mail is so good that I will post it on my blog.

p.p.s. Is Younger ready to give out 5 A+'s? She better be, because after we get perfects she'll have to. We're the smartest.

R.V.

2006-04-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

This movie looks awesome.

Movie review: Inventiveness crushed under lumbering 'RV'
Film is a long, painful ride for Robin Williams fans.

Colin Covert, Star Tribune

Jeff Daniels, Robin Williams and Cheryl Hines in "RV"

In the family comedy "RV," he plays Bob Munro, a mousy soft-drink executive who is the office doormat. He's holding onto his job by his fingernails while his bullying boss, Frank (Tony Hale of TV's "Arrested Development"), grooms a younger, cheaper toady. Bob squeezes out clammy, unconvincing smiles whenever he has face time with the top man, but his eyes show that he's desperate to curl into an armadillo-like defensive posture.

Bob insulates his wife and grumpy, snappish son and daughter from anxiety by hiding his job worries. His pretense backfires when Tony demands that Bob be in Denver for business on the dates he was planning a Hawaii family vacation. Concealing the reason for the sudden change of plans, Bob piles everyone in a colossal rented RV and insists that they drive to the Rockies instead. The odyssey is a wearying, bumpy ride, for the dysfunctional Munros and audience alike.

Under the direction of Barry Sonnenfeld ("Wild, Wild West"), the picture lumbers along like a slow-moving vehicle delivering outdated comedy. It's bad enough that Bob's son dresses like a rapper, but allowing Williams to do a "yo, dawg" monologue is unforgivable. There is a sad inevitability about the family's misadventures, from invading raccoons to a broken parking brake to their prickly encounters with the Gornickis, an all-too-neighborly clan that wants to be good buddies with the Munros.

It's painful to see Williams, a famously inventive cutup, stuck in a film that finds humor in a man covered in liquid poo or clinging to the windshield wipers of a runaway vehicle. There already is an actor for such roles and his name is Tim Allen.

The actors mug as if their limp material was gangbusters, but few in the audience will be fooled. Most will agree with Bob's pouty daughter Cassie (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) as she wonders why the over-friendly Gornickis stick to them like flypaper.

"Why do they even like us?" she wails. "We're not that appealing." How true. How very true.

*½ out of four stars

blogosphere

2006-04-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

tomorrow is my last day of class. yeah dude!

I WILL WRITE BLOGS ALL SUMMER! 2006 will be the best summer ever.

Hip hop

2006-04-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

It's about time somebody took a stand.

Adding a new dimension to "rap, more like crap."

Mundane

2006-04-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

My exercise regimen for life:

(1) Walk a lot. (Monday-Friday)
(2) Play basketball. (Saturday)
(3) Ride my bike around town. (Sunday)

My bike has a flat, though. I have get it ready for some adventures.

Today is Saturday, and a grand time to play the American game of hoops. I predict a minimum of five steals against Comedian Nils Lindahl.

"Good Night and Good Luck" was okay. It felt contained and controlled, avoiding the biopic pitfall of sprawling deification. (e.g., "Ray").

"JFK" was embarrasingly bad.

Constitutional Law, penultimate class

2006-04-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

Still boring. With impending finals, I should be taking notes or paying attention. Getting off of the internet.

Before the 14th Amendment was ratified many states had State religions.

I was published in fucking NME! That is a famous thing. I took the Hockey Night picture.

See, here is where it came from.

Constitutional Law

2006-04-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Here are my notes for this morning:

Stave v Hershberger 444 N.W.2d 282

MN s ct said that we can’t make an Amish dude put an orange “slow-moving vehicle” triangle on his buggy. Violation of free exercise.
Amish dude said it was the color of the devil.
U.S. s ct vacated/remanded MN s ct ruling, in light of Smith.

BORING

This is not an ad

2006-04-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is a very cheap way to get to Chicago from other Midwestern cities. Tickets start at $1, convenience fee is 50 cents. A roundtrip from Minneapolis for $3 total sounds like a pretty sweet deal. I could buy two McChickens while I'm in Chicago and only spend $5.

My hair is getting longer, and I am growing a beard. This phase may not last long.

That's all I've got; blogging got old quick.