idealawg

George Carlin's last interview

About George Carlin's Last Interview to which I am linking, Carlin said:

...I really appreciate all the thought you’ve put into all these questions. Really, it’s the most complete interview I’ve ever done.

The long interview was conducted on June 13, 2008, by Jay Dixit. Read it and think about the message of this extraordinary comic and provocative philosopher.

Law School in a Box: All the prestige for a fraction of the price

Law School in a Box even includes a "rolled diploma with real Latin words." Learn more about this cheap alternative to law school here.

Sure, you could spend $100,000 on a law degree from Harvard or Yale. But then you’d have to deal with crowded classrooms, inconvenient course schedules, and rigorous academic study.

[Here's] an alternative: Law School in a Box. This prestigious boxed university offers a complete legal education ... [including]:

• Law School in 96 Pages: Your Comprehensive Textbook
• 10 Heroes of the Courtroom Trading Cards
• 10 “You Be the Judge” Cards
• A devilishly complicated legal-trivia bar exam

Any alums out there?

A month of playful picks from YouTube

Need some play in your day? Spirituality & Practice has created a Play Month. For each day of April, they have chosen a YouTube video selected especially for its playfulness. Play selections are mainly songs from the 50s: "Purple People Eater," "YMCA," "Dizzy," "Great Balls of Fire," "Splish Splash," "Louie Louie" and more. Do not miss "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"! Click on over; I bet at least a couple will make you smile, if not stand up and dance. Hey, play!

It is a happy talent to know how to play.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I count that day lost when I am not moved to laughter or tears, but even more if I have not played.
- George Sheehan

Image credit: Piney at flickr

New book out today: HOW TO SLEEP ALONE IN A KING-SIZE BED

For a while when I lived in Santa Fe, I had a very funny and insightful roommate. Today her new book was published. I congratulate Theo Nestor on How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed: A Memoir!

Click to read "Dating again after divorce?" (msn.com), an excerpt from the book. In the excerpt, Nestor discusses the "rule" about waiting one year after a divorce before dating. I love her style and voice.

From Amazon:

A divorced mother’s funny, chatty, revealing take on Splitsville–with just enough anguish and sadness to be utterly believable...An unexpected treat here is a vivid portrait of the author's thrice-married, utterly nonmaternal but generous mother...Women going through the pain and turmoil of separation and divorce will appreciate Nestor’s candor and wit. Not another slick how-to, but a comforting reminder that life goes on after the spouse is gone.—Kirkus

Pick up a copy for yourself for an entertaining and inspiring read, and get another copy for anyone you know going through a divorce.

Related:

• Review of the book (fictionwise.com) includes this sentence: "It marks the debut of an enchanting, deeply truthful voice."
• Article on memoirs: "Everybody has a story -- but is it worth telling?" (cnn.com)
• Interview of Nestor at Ask Allison
• Review of How to Sleep Alone in a King Size Bed in Seattle Times: "Rather than preach about hope, forgiveness, self-awareness or other themes of many divorce-focused tales, she offers a chance to experience the quiet, secret, less dramatic aspects."
• Excerpt from How to Sleep Alone in a King Size Bed (USA Today)
• Another review: "Dealing with divorce in the new millennium" (The Olympian)
• Interview of Nestor (a little over halfway into the program)

Start your weekend off with the Soviet Red Army Choir

I found this rendition of "Sweet Home Alabama" by the Leningrad Cowboys and the Red Army Choir great fun. I bet you just may, too. Click.

From YouTube:

The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock and roll band famous for its humorous songs and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir.

Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, and performed in English, have themes such as 'vodka', 'tractors', 'rockets', and 'Genghis Khan', as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all with lots of humour.

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The Red Army Choir (Choir Aleksandrov) is a performing ensemble that served as the official army choir of the former Soviet Union's Red Army. The choir consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble. The songs they perform range from Russian folk tunes to Church hymns, operatic arias and popular music.
In 1991, The Red Army Choir participated in Roger Waters' The Wall concert celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall. They performed an anti-war song "Bring the Boys Back Home".

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Red Army Choir has continued performing, entertaining audiences both inside and outside Russia.

March 22 is Holi, festival of colors and water balloons—and joy!

Today let's paint each other, not argue, and have some fun. Holi is a day of colors and togetherness. From the Colors of India Website:

Holi is the festival of freedom from social norms. Colors . . . are showered on the people dressed up in white clothes and the whole community seems to merge into one big fraternity under the guise of colors, without any distinction of caste, creed, color or sex. Children with 'pichkaris' (big syringes to squirt colored water) and faces smeared with color look adorable. People exchange good wishes, sweets and gifts. Holi parties are organized in the grounds where people dance to the rhythmic beats of the drums and sing Holi songs.

Food and beverage are a part of the holiday, too. Wherever it is celebrated, Holi ushers in spring and says good-bye to winter.

A report from New Delhi:

The festival of colours, Holi, is being celebrated across the country today.

One of the most auspicious days of the Hindu calendar, the festival marks the beginning of spring. But it's the riot of colours spread with the arsenal of water balloons and water guns and some great food that brings the country alive.

See photos from the BBC News. A very nice Holi photos slideshow at Flickr. In Bollywood, 32 celebs talk about their Holi plans. And from the UK:

HINDUS have been throwing dye, eating Indian food and listening to live music at a community centre in Northolt as part of a spring festival.
. . .

Amrik Birbec, of Lawson Road, Southall, said: "It's lovely. Beautiful colours. It's a religious festival but in India everyone enjoys it no matter what religion they come from.

"Everybody gets involved and there are no arguments."

The biggest Holi celebration in North America is in Queens, New York, with 25,000 expected this year.

What are your Holi plans? To get you started, here's a Holi video; I bet you cannot listen without some parts of your body moving. From Diane Levin, I learned that this year Holi is sharing the calendar with World Pillow Fight Day. No matter what you choose to celebrate, it appears that today the world will see lots of frivolity and camaraderie. You gotta love spring and communities of happy people.

Image credit: lilndnmonkey at photobucket
Hat tip: writebrained for the flickr slideshow

New Web site: Law Is Fun

Excerpt from Law.com Legal Technology:

Fun Law Site Standing Out in Its Field
Attorney making enjoyable blogs, games and forums part of online legal community

By Douglas S. Malan
The Connecticut Law Tribune
February 19, 2008

Michael Fryar is launching a new Web site based on two revolutionary premises: the practice of law should actually be enjoyable, and lawyers by and large have great senses of humor.

The current state of the legal profession doesn't always lend itself to believing those two points, but Fryar's recent launch of Law Is Fun is aimed at spreading the word.

The profession is "shifting away from the idea of attorneys as accessible and friendly and more toward a corporate environment, jacket and tie and making sure you get your billable hours," said Fryar, a Hartford attorney who serves as the Connecticut Bar Association's program development specialist.

"Law is fun in the sense of enjoying what you're doing," he said. "This Web site is about getting back in touch with why you became an attorney."

The site purposefully strays from the typical, legal-related corporate Web sites both in design and content. It will serve as a community site for lawyers to share opinions and stories about a range of topics regarding life in the profession, rainmaking and tips on the restaurants that offer the best atmosphere for client development and meetings.

Click to read the rest of "Fun Law Site Standing Out in Its Field."

Laughter truly has some serious benefits (even for lawyers): Take advantage of those benefits today

I have posted before about the many benefits of humor and laughter and wrote for Law Governance Review the article "Don't Deck the Clown: Inviting Humor into the Law Firm." On this winter Friday, let's remember the many psychological and physiological benefits of humor and laughter. (Click for much more about the gifts of laughter—and about laughism, the prejudice against laughter.)

For a jumpstart on some smiles and laughter, can any of you watch this and maintain a straight face and silence?

Note (added January 25, 2008, 12:40 PM Mountain): From Science Daily: "Laughter Is The Best Medicine."

Laughter is the best medicine. We’ve heard the expression time and again. For decades, researchers have explored how humor helps patients relieve stress and heal. Melissa B. Wanzer, EdD, professor of communication studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, has taken it one step further, with her research on how humor helps medical professionals cope with their difficult jobs. She also looked at how humor affects the elderly and how it can increase communication in the workplace and in the classroom.

 

Those mediators! Didn't know they were so destructive

I laughed out loud when I read a post at Say What?! titled May 1994 - Lawyers May Destroy The Earth. The post provides this quote from a Midland Reporter-Telegram news article:

Eight year-old Jennifer Patterson, a second grader at Rusk Elementary in Midland, Texas, explained recently that millions of years ago dinosaurs became extinct "when mediators hit the earth."

Greet 2008 with hope and a smile: "There's a million things to be . . ." "There's a million ways to go . . ."

Such a quiet time as the year rolls quickly to a close. Not much e-mail. Even the prolific bloggers are not at their computers. Lulls and some whispers.

At the very end of December, I always feel potential pushing and pulling me into the new year. Today that feeling was accompanied by some lyrics in my mind. I looked for the song on the 'net and found even more than what I sought. The lyrics, yes—and a video. Each time I watch this video I grin and celebrate the hope of 2008. Click to watch and listen.

Image credit: alisonkatgraham at photobucket