Pumpkin Weather

Fenway Park is probably my new favorite place on earth. It is absolutely beautiful and having been to a number of stadiums in a number of cities, I have to say that there is NOTHING like Red Sox fans. The season may have faded to a murmur in terms of World Series hopes, the fans kept the games exciting and electric. I tip my hat to those fans. I will say for the first time as a new fan, "There is always next season."

The pumpkin latte is out at Starbucks (my weakness revealed); the leaves are changing in my street; it's Canadian Thanksgiving next weekend. Autumn has arrived. I missed autumn when I was in DC. It just wasn't the same when people were in shorts in November. The art of the hooded sweatshirt and wool scarf just didn't look right set against the capital building. Ahhh...you can take the girl out of the Northeast but you can't take the Northeast out of girl.

In other news, today is your last chance to get into the book of life this year. Good luck.

Go Deval

It's your birthday.

The Verdict

So this sets the stage for an awesome show with smart writing. Unfortunately, the premier did not quite meet the standards of the West Wing but that had the whole executive branch heart wrenching patriotism angle which TV writers don't naturally inspire. Regardless, I have high hopes. Stay tuned for next week.

The Phoenix rises again

Ok...I'm pretty sure that People For the American Way just got a shout out in the first five minutes of my new favorite show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Despite the long title, the show promises all the subtle intrigue and fast-talking of the first four season of West Wing. I for one have been awaiting the resurrection with the eagerest of hearts. Long live the king!

Primary School

Good news in the Boston Globe today: Deval Patrick is pulling ahead in the democratic primary for Governor of Massachusetts. I recently had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Patrick speak and was pleasantly surprised at his humble demeanor and willingness to express open support for Gay Marriage and Adoption. Mr. Patrick's victory would not only firm up Massachusetts standing as the most liberal friendly state, it would also mark only the second time in American History that the citizens of a commonwealth or state voted in an African America to be their governor.

In light of Ann Richards’s death, I think this mark in American history would be well timed and poetic. I am sure her ghost would look down on this gubernatorial event with glee.

Of course, there are some other black candidates for governor this elections season.

Ken Blackwell in Ohio is a Republican who was responsible for much of the voting atrocities in the last presidential election and pushed for huge overhauls limiting the ability of non-profits to register voters as the secretary of state.

And of course there is Lynn Swann, not much to criticize there since he doesn't appear to have much to say beyond his loyal affiliation to conservative causes.

More on this later in the season but for now, the primary is Tuesday so Mass residents- GOTV!

Good news

In the absent of Mr. Firecracker I have discovered a method for programming my coffee maker. Unfortunately my plan was slightly foiled this morning as I awoke to gurgling...glitches aside this may get me through law school.

Classes are well underway so I thought I might spend a moment on the joys of law school.

Reading cases is actually a ton of fun. It’s all very basic writing with odd logic. It’s like sudoku in social sciences. Needless to say, I LOVE it. After much trepidation, I am convinced that I made the right choice with law school.

Okay...so onto some law. It turns out that battery only has to be a non-consensual touch which you can be substantially certain will cause bodily harm. The problem is bodily harm is a slight bruise or worse. After that you are liable for any and al resulting damages- even when there are pre-existing conditions. My caution is this...rough howsers beware torts are everywhere.

I think this is especially enlightening when one considers the trouble people have had getting cases to trial against cigarette and gun companies. LOGIC, in the purely objective no standard of reason sense, is the only g-d we pray to here at a law school in New England.

Border Crossings....

I wrote the date 17 times today. I had to fill out a ton of paper work and it kept coming up. Five years...well that had to be said.

When I cam back to the US, the customs agent asked us why we would go to Vietnam. We mumbled a few things about the beauty and culture to which he replied "well it was a crazy place for me." Of course our agent just happens to be a vet.

When I was going across the US border to Canada in an effort to secure my latest in the round of Visas I had some paperwork glitches which needed to be sorted out. In the meantime, we waited in a waiting room with a large looming portrait of Dick Cheney winking. I kid you not. I am fairly convinced that all along the border immigration officials are replacing stern portraits of the vice-president with smiley happy-go-lucky portraits in order to bolster public opinion. I took a picture but the guard forced me to erase it...

Country Roads, Take Me Home

A couple of days ago, we broke down and indulged in the national pastime here in Vietnam - Karaoke. After working on The Karaoke Show and surviving many other tries to seduce me to the floor, I finally broke down. It was a blast. After Summer Nights, Favorite Things, and Save the Best for Last, I am convinced that I missed my calling. Sign me up for the singing lessons- law school can wait.

After making complete fools of ourselves, we were promptly robbed the next day. Money was slyly slipped out of our bag while it rested for 10 minutes in our hotel room. Yuck! My consolation is that I am, in this instance, convinced that the recipient will put the money to better use than I.

Off we went to Halong Bay. Easily one of the most beautiful places in the world. Pictures to follow. Words will not do it justice and neither, I am sure, will my camera.

My tour guide told me yesterday that in Vietnam they have a saying: "The old enemies came with guns, the new ones come with dollars and cameras." And with that I snapped back into reality. There is no freedom of press here. I can be cute and say that is it all relative etc...but the truth is that every four years people here do not get to visit a ballot box. Instead, they learn to toe the party line.

Ho Chi Minh's body is preserved in a mausoleum in downtown Hanoi. It is a Russian looking building with hard edges and a stringent army guard carrying, of all things, bayonets. They are not playing around. It is not what one might expect. I for instance imagined something like the mummies in childhood trips to the ROM (Royal Ontario Museum). Instead, he resembled a body at a funeral viewing and visitors can come within three feet of the body separated only by thin glass. A constant stream of visitors fill the room roughly 7 hours a day, 7 days a week save his three month hiatus every month to be re-embalmed. This is a moist and hot country, preservation is no easy feat.

Tonight we depart for our 41 hour journey home. We have a nice stopover in LA so I am gunning for a view of the Hollywood sign and an In and Out burger- we'll see. Any suggestions are welcome.