International Day of Books - Holiday for Authors

I have no idea whether this is a true holiday or not, but I do trust my friends over at the Legal Writing Prof Blog and, as they say:

Another date to save! April 23 is the Giornata Mondiale del Libro e del Diritto d'Autore -- the International Day of Books and the Rights of Authors. Celebrate with a good book . . . or at least a good author.

Thanks for the tip! I'm sure Sara will be extra keen on celebrating this holiday this year and into the future.

Three Rules for March Madness

Well, the NCAA tournament is about to tip off. With that in mind, let me remind you of my three rules for March Madness. These rules are generally universally applicable but there are slight exceptions here and there. Oh, and thank you to CBS and the Internet for creating an environment where I no longer have to sneak headphones in to listen to games (like I used to have to do during school). Now, for your rules:

1. A 12 always beats a 5.
2. There will not be four 1 seeds in the final four.
3. Regardless of who you picked in your bracket, unless your team is playing, you should always cheer for the upset. Always. This rule has no exceptions.

Rule number three is the most important. I don't care if you picked North Carolina to win the whole thing. If Radford is close as time is running out, you better be cheering for Radford. I'm just saying...

Go Cougs.

--Tyson

Jet @ Eliza Magazine...

I just got word from my little sister that she will now be blogging for Eliza Magazine. Fantastic! Eliza is a great magazine; as described by its owners/creators:

ELIZA Magazine is created for women who want to be stylish, sexy, and engaged in the world while retaining high standards in dress, entertainment, and lifestyle. In a media culture that frequently objectifies and commercializes women and their bodies, ELIZA strives to provide an alternative to the current mainstream media that emphasizes sex and skin in order to push products or sell magazines.

Jet will be great at this. She is extremely fashionable. She has degrees in Public Relations and Digital Media. She knows pretty much everyone. And she will be able to provide all sorts of quirky advice and insights. I hear that her roommates are pretty cool too. Speaking of which, how come I had to read about this on your blog Jet? Is this why you couldn't join us for dinner and banana cream pie last night? Straight from Jet's blog:

Many of you have seen me discuss Eliza Magazine on this blog (which by the way, you can now view old issues online). I love it for its modesty and its gorgeous pictures. Now I have another reason to love it - I'm blogging for them!

So if I start slacking here, you now know why.

ELIZA Magazine's Blog. So congratulations and good luck Jet. Let me know when you need some legal advice ;-).

Happy Pi Day!

It is an extra special Pi Day this year. We get more than the standard 3.14 (3/14 or March 14th). This year, we get many more of the irrational numbers digits: 3.1409159 (3/14/09 @ 1:59 p.m.) Long live irrational numbers! And thanks to all the math nerds (myself included) for making Pi Day extra special!

Pi, Greek letter (), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535... Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th.

http://www.piday.org/

First we have Pi Day and then we get Selection Sunday? Plus the sun is out and it is nice and warm in Utah! What a great weekend!

--Tyson

Dear Big Love...

Your last-ditch attempt at achieving some sense of relevance or ratings is as hollow as your feigned apology for what you are still "choosing" to do. I'm not asking you to stop; I'm not even asking for a boycott. You have your agency just as I have mine. You'll suffer the consequences of how you use that agency just like the rest of us will. However, given your superficial statement about presenting "facts" that are "completely accurate and to show the . . . proper context and . . . respect," I would like to briefly comment on your disclaimers and attempts at depicting the beliefs of others with "reverence" and "dignity." We all, Mormons and non-Mormons, see right through your "justification" and recognize your desire to prevent the demise of your show. To the extent that your ploy gets attention (which, I admit, I am currently contributing to), it is undeserved. Let me know if the ratings and backlash were worth it.

In the words of Joseph Smith: "The Standard of Truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame. But the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah will say, 'The work is done.'"

The Church's official response is more than sufficient in describing my feelings about this nonsense. See The Publicity Dilemma @ LDS Newsroom.

I'll conclude with the words of Amulek (you should do a show about him; he is much more inspiring than actors pretending to be polygamists).

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

Alma 34:32-34.

Best regards,

-Tyson

The Curious Life of Law School Students

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be in law school? Have you heard horror stories about the Socratic Method and incessant sick-to-your-stomach feeling that surfaces every time you get called on in class? Thanks to the folks over that the NYU Law Revue (not Law Review -- people on Law Review would never stoop so low as to acknowledge that they weren't always paying attention in class), here is a little insight on law school in the days of WiFi and laptops. Enjoy. They pretty much nailed it:


Please Repeat the Question from Amanda Bakale on Vimeo.

So, go sign up for the LSAT and get those applications ready. Yeah, big firms are laying off associates left and right these days. But so what. You still have three years to spend surfing the web before you have to worry about any of that. Perfect!

Callaway v. Titleist and Titleist v. Callaway

Sara will probably appreciate this more than I (being the patent person in the house), but who doesn't love a good old fight about whether Titleist (Achusnet) or Callaway (formerly Top-Flite) makes a better golf ball? As reported and posted by the Am Law Daily:

Teed Off Golf Ball Companies Swing at Each Other (Again)
Isn't golf supposed to be a gentlemanly game in which disputes are settled over a drink back at the clubhouse? Not, apparently, when it comes to golf ball design. The bitter IP rivalry between the two leading golf ball manufacturers intensified Tuesday, when both companies filed suit in Delaware federal district court, each accusing the other of infringing patents on the top-of-the-line golf balls used by tour professionals.

Good stuff. Much thanks to the folks at Am Law for the heads up.
[FULL ARTICLE]
If you are interested, here are the Complaints:

http://tr.im/h3dW
http://tr.im/h3dZ

Vanilla Ice / Hammer

If you haven't heard about it yet, you should have. M.C. Hammer and Vanilla Ice had a reunion concert in, of all places, Orem, Utah, over the weekend (any irony in the fact that they were playing at the McKay Events Center). I know a lot of people that were there but work kept me away. So, for your entertainment, here is my little sister's summary.

http://adayinthelifeofjet.blogspot.com/2009/03/its-robert-van-winkle-time.html

Thanks Jet!

I hope everyone gets off to a good March and that yours is not as busy as mine.