f/k/a . . .

What’s worse than thinking about hordes of college students engaging

in drinking contests like Beer Pong and Bud Pong? (See NYT, “As

Young Adults Drink to Win, Marketers Join In,” Oct. 16, 2005)  For me,

it’s the thought of law students continuing to engage in this asinine

activity — leading, of course, to young associates doing it, too. 

And, what’s even more painful than criminal defense

lawyers making lame public statements about their

angelic clients?  It’s beer company spokespersons,

like Anheuser-Busch’s Francine Katz (properly berated 

by webloggers here and here), who wants us to believe

that Bud Pong contests at bars like Esso Club in Clemson,

SC, are merely meant as “icebreakers” to meet people,

while losing contestants chug water, not beer.

                                                                                        

 

Our post back in June 2003, Law School Substance Abuse Still High,

doesn’t give me much hope that law students leave this foolishness

behind.  Nor does this Editorial from the student newspaper at the

Univerty of Toronto’s Law School (Ultra Vires, “Law Games victory

comes at greater cost?, Jan. 2004), which boasts of activities at

a Law Games gettogether in Halifax, Canada:

“In terms of drinking, most of us managed to get absolutely

wasted on most nights; one delegate even lost half a tooth

and another had to attend the hospital after valiantly subjecting

himself to alcohol poisoning. We also performed admirably

in the drinking games—a refreshing return to a mode of

competition many among us had not witnessed since

undergrad—taking down the most alcohol the fastest.

There was even some talk of strategically inducing vomiting

among our team members so that they could compete more

effectively in subsequent rounds.”

 

 

under the cherry blossoms

just a dab

of vomit 

 

 

 

 

this body of mine

part temple

part tavern

 

David G. Lanoue 

   from Dewdrop World (2005)

 

I’d love to hear from current or recent law students, especially to be

reassured that maturity and responsibility are the normal approach

to alcohol consumption by law students on their campuses.  For

now, I think I’ll add Drinking Competition activities to the list of personal

characteristics I would like to know about when my legal needs are

being provided by young associates. (see Law.com’s “Law Firms Agree

to Give Clients Diversity Data on Legal Teams,” May 13, 2005, and 

The Lawyer/UK article), plus our reaction: no yoda quota?)  

 

 

kissing moon

goodnight
a gentle drunk

 

getting drunk
on my arm
the tavern mosquitos

David G. Lanoue from Haiku Guy: a novel  

 

p.s. Having a substance abuse problem is no joke.

If you do have one, you can find some resources

with links at our prior post.                                                                                                          

 

 

6 innings

8 beers

  o  b  e  e  d

b   b  l  h  a

night

 

Ed Markowski 

from games (pawEprint 78, Nov. 2004) 

 

• 
  
  by dagosan                                               

her beer breath –

tonight,

we both have headaches 

 

 

 [Oct. 17, 2005]

 

                                                                                                                                     

 

      You may have heard that “brain freeze” finally made it into the Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate? Dictionary. (AP, “Dictionary debuts Wi-Fi, brain freeze,” Oct. 3, 2005).   Here’s how M-W defines the term:

 orig.  brain freeze (noun) 1991 : a sudden shooting pain in the head caused by ingesting very cold food (as ice cream) or drink.

lemon-ice stand –

the lawyer-dad looks for

a Brain Freeze Warning

………………………………… by dagosan    

  Warning:  It appears that brain freezes can happend any time of year, and to any age group (oh, yes), so I suggest you take your mother’s advice and eat or drink really cold items at a moderate speed. See Maya Kaczorowski, grade 8 student, and Janusz Kaczorowski, associate professor, Ice cream evoked headaches (ICE-H) study: randomised trial of accelerated versus cautious ice cream eating regimen”)  The daughter-father researchers were somehow able to convince all 145 middle school students at Dalewood Middle School, in Hamilton (Canada), to participate voluntarily in their study, with full participation in both rounds of the research.  Impressive.  

Go to Kidzworld.com’s “The Chilling Truth About Brain Freeze to learn, in Plain English, how brain freeze is caused and how to cure it (hint: warm the roof of your mouth; your tongue will usually suffice — although mine tends to have freezer burn shortly after starting a carton of ice cream).  Go here, for a more scholarly treatment that delves into the neurology of the problem.

waxing moon
we take turns cranking
the ice cream maker 

summer dusk
the ice cream man
reaches deep

………………………………. by W.F. Owen  
“summer dusk” - tug of the current : rma 2004 

“waxing moon” - Modern Haiku (Winter 2002)  

licking that last

smudge of ice cream

a snow plow scrapes the street

……………………………………………… by dagosan

p.s. As the headline suggests, the word “perennial” was on my mind today.  I saw it over at Prawfsblawg, where Paul Horwitz recently stated: “writing about the job process is indeed a Prawfsblawg perennial.”  It immediately occurred to me that a weblog in existence only a few months could scarcely do anything “perennially.”  Since wein the legal profession often need to describe events that take place repeatedly, I thought I’d seek out guidance on the proper words for various intervals.  Here’s what The American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Ed. has to say (examples omitted):

Synonyms: continual, continuous, constant, ceaseless,

incessant, perpetual, eternal, perennial, interminable

These adjectives mean occurring repeatedly over a long

period of time.

Continual is chiefly restricted to what is intermittent or

repeated at intervals.

Continuous implies lack of interruption.   

Constant stresses steadiness or persistence and unvarying

nature.

Ceaseless and incessant pertain to uninterrupted activity. 

Perpetual emphasizes both steadiness and duration:

Eternal refers to what is everlasting, especially to what

is seemingly without temporal beginning or end.

Perennial describes existence that goes on year after year,

often with the suggestion of self-renewal.

Interminable refers to what is or seems to be endless and

is often applied to something prolonged and wearisome.  

You are encouraged to get a dish of ice cream, and slowly ponder the correct adjective for describing the frequency with which professors discuss their obtaining or retaining their positions and/or tenure.