AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

First, I think yoiu are confusing Ruben fwith Clay. Clay vibrates like a Magic Wand on high and Ruben is as smooth as a Rabbit with low batteries. Who did you vote for? WHo did NFH vote for that em couldnt get through?

Question: have the bookmakers posted odds for this contest? If so, what are they? If Ruben wins, I will be shocked and awed.

AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

Here I am, continuing to answer questions you pose for other people. Last night, I saw an infotainment show that showed the line as:

Ruben: 4/5
Clay: Even

Outdated Humor
 

1) They win the cases they should lose, and lose the cases they should win. But this is television. Do you want a plea bargain in 98% of the cases, 90% of which are drug-related?

2) Everyone's criminal client is innocent. Good god. How often does a defendant fess up, even to his lawyer?

3) Sure it sucks, but more than biglaw? Screaming isn't unique to O'Donnell & Young. Besides, Jimmy the Grunt isn't an equity partners. They cut him out (well, didn't cut him in) in some episode, no? And, the mouthy secretary is all too true to life. Hey, not every firm can be like girls club, with hot, perky lawbabes running around everywhere. Firms like that are cancelled, er, go out of business, pretty quickly.

The real question is how they make money. 80% of their cases are appointed somehow, which doesn't pay big bucks. They never seem to have a big payout, and they hardly have steady clients (other than the repeat murderers, including Bobby's wife).

Outdated Humor
 

No one could really work there. 2 or 3 times they got guys off who then admitted they were guilty and were planning on killing more. a few times they got guys off who then came to kill one of them. Eugene lost visitation with his son because of working there. and you're right they can't make any $$ for it. if one of my clients showed up with a shotgun to kill me after a SUCESSFUL outcome, I'm looking for a career change.

Coen Brothers
 

FWIW, I'm a Coen fan, and liked O Brother a great deal. For me, part of it had to do with the music, but as e/o said, I think it was a pretty good intellectual exercise as well.

Actor Scott Bairstow charged with child rape
 

EVERETT — Scott Hamilton Bairstow, a television and movie actor who formerly lived in Mukilteo, has been charged with having sex in 1998 with a then-12-year-old relative of his wife. Bairstow, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has appeared in nine feature films, including “Tuck Everlasting” and “New Best Friend.” His television roles included appearances in “Touched by an Angel,” “Party of Five,” “Wolf Lake” and “Lonesome Dove: The Series.”

Child rape

Bairstow-mers; gangbusters, whatever
 

ewww. That almost as disgusting as Penske's slow-loading, self-outing web page or Slave's dating tips

Top Cult Movies
 

Oh, I have so corrupted you.

Hidden joke? You mean that you could consider 2/3 of those autobiographical?
Again, I have so corrupted you. Argento may be too "Euro-arthouse" to count as cult, though. Can you have a movie mainly about people's eyeballs popping out and still be considered "arthouse"?

I loved those! I would also like to add "Killer Klownz from Outer Space." That was a super movie. And "Anguish" - very fun. (Wait, that may just be continuing the eyeball thought from above.)

Outdated Humor
 

Screaming may go on once in a while b/w partner/associate, but it doesn't go on b/w partners and it doesn't happen every week like it does on that show. I don't watch it that much, but I can't think of one episode that didn't involve a screaming match. Eugene is the worst culprit, but Manheim is a big bitch too. O'Donnell is running a distant third, but he is the biggest asshole b/c he is the main partner and lets it go on.

If I remember, they said they would consider him for partner after a year (even though he just got there and had no experience) and Bobby offered the secretary an equity share too even though he admitted it was an ethical violation to share fees with a non-attorney*

Yeah. The partnership issue came up when they were, supposedly, making money hand-over-fist. Where did these paying clients go? And if they are so good that everyone knows who they are, why can't they get more paying clients?


*This is before she announced, in soap opera fashion, that she secretly WAS an attorney and had kept her law schooling and bar exam completely hidden from them. No effort was ever made to explain how she took the bar without doing a background check that would involve contacting her present employer. I keep waiting for the episode where she announces that she is Bobby and Lindsay's daughter and see how they would explain that she was born before they met.

AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

Um, no. I have noticed from the start that Ruben has pitch problems, and that when he's off it's always sharp. It wasn't until last night that I realized that it's only on his vibrato that he is sharp. Now that I have identified his problem, I can't listen to him anymore. Clay overuses his vibrato, but his pitch is flawless, whether it's on or off.

I guess I would like Ruben better if I were a little more tone-deaf. Unfortunately for me, I have perfect pitch (well, almost--I have to think for a few seconds before singing a given note; my violin teacher automatically knew what notes her cats were meowing). I don't even like it when the performers sing in a different key from the popular version, let alone off key. YMMV.

Layering ...
 

You would be correct, if someone were discussing something improper rather than just dumb looking. There is a big difference between impropriety and bad fashion sense. Bad style happens. There isn't an excuse of taste or lack thereof for flat impropriety.
I don't think I was quite advocating it, just noting that, having managed it without getting blisters, I have little sympathy for the argument that a stroll to the subway in the morning is such a trial. In issues of propriety, necessity trumps conflicting propriety concerns. It has to be a real conflict, though. It is entirely acceptable to flee for one's life without hat and gloves, or to eat with one's hands when foraging on a deserted island after a shipwreck. (I'd personally consider flight from a terrorist attack to be an honorary all-city "athletic event.") When selecting one's regular walking shoes, however, there are plenty of proper, comfortable or orthapedic daytime dress and street shoes one can find without reaching for the sneakers as the only thing on hand in a last-ditch desperate bid for survival. The fact that they may be ugly makes it a "style" issue, and style doesn't trump propriety (or, if it does, one can just acknowledge that being stylish is more important to one than being proper and abandon claims of propriety).

Some "proprieties" cannot be dispensed with at all, because a real necessity argument cannot be made: even when running before the invading Martian armies, it is still necessary to say "excuse me" to whomever you bump into, to say please and thank you when appropriate, and to otherwise respectfully address your fellow fleeing masses when not actually shouting "look out!"
"Supposed to" doesn't enter into that one. There's nothing wrong with doing it, it just looks too dippy for anyone sensible to do it as an intentional "fashion statement."

Actually, I take that back - sweater over the shoulders is improper, in addition to being silly-looking, while wearing black or white tie, because gentlemen have no business wearing a sweater with formal evening dress.

AI finale
 

Is that what his problem is? Because he always sounds off to me. And the only pitch I can identify is the slow curve from the breaking ball.

not7yS

FB Book/CD/DVD Club
 

I'm not sure what the key criteria are, but I just read William Gibson's Pattern Recognition and would recommend it to anyone who spends much time here. An internet bulletin board is central to the plot. I hadn't read anything by him before, and liked it quite a bit, enough that I'm having trouble deciding what to read next.

AI Odds
 

Current:

You pay 61 to get 100 (i.e. win 39 on 61 bet) returned on Clay, odds of roughly 2 to 3.

You pay 44 to get 100 returned on Ruben (i.e. win 56 on 44 bet), or odds of roughly 5 to 4.

AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

Are you calling me tone-deaf?

I guess I would like Clay a little bit better if I was 12 or into bad tones and vibratos.

Outdated Humor
 

While reviewing the Name Book for ideas recently, Mr. Lex preemptively nixed "Eleanor" bacause the kid would inevitably turn out to be a "bitchy pig."

-TL

AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

No, I'm calling you "a" tone-deaf.

Outdated Humor
 

Well, is "Frutt" still in play for a middle name?

Outdated Humor
 

Sucky Names on Practice Awesome Names

Bobby Donnell Lindsay Dole
Ellenor Frutt Rebecca Washington
Eugene Young Connect T. Dots
Helen Gamble
Jimmy Berluti
Lucy Hatcher


I wonder how they will write most of the cast out of the show. Freak bowling accident? I don't think think I could watch "jimmy the grunt" for an hour. He is annoying as a peon, I think he would make me kick my TV if he was a partner. I think they should get rid of Ellenor, Eugene, Helen and Jimmy. Maybe Lindsay can kill them too, and anyone else who wants their equity share.

FB Book/CD/DVD Club
 

Thanks for the comment re: Pattern Recognition. I was wondering how that would be.

Gibson is, of course, one of the celebrated sf writers, thought of as a visionary, etc etc. I read Neuromancer and liked it a great deal, though on the other hand I recently read All Tomorrow's Parties and had a hard time finishing the damn thing, for some reason. Just couldn't get engaged with the material.

AI thoughts
 

Ruben's pitch problems (and I still think they're pretty minor) are a pretty recent development. His first several finals performances were spot on--remember that song from Aladdin? Or that Carpenters song from the semis? Every last note was exactly where it was supposed to be. I remember the first time I ever heard him hit an off note, and it was well into the finals, when the fatigue was probably catching up to him.

You're right that Clay's pitch is always impeccable, and he does have a lovely instrument, with great range, power and control. He just has the most annoying vocal mannerisms ever. I kind of see him being a Tom Jones-ish cover artist. Not that their styles are at all similar, but they're both a) talented, b) consistent, c) well-loved by a rabid contingent of fans, and d) outside the mainstream. Clay would have to thank his lucky stars if he could have a career like Tom's.

Last night's performances were about what I expected. The Lennon/McCartney numbers both sounded underrehearsed (but what great songs!), and I thought Clay's strongest number was the first song--his vocal mannerisms were quite subdued. Ruben's experience performing on stage with live musicians showed--it's very obvious he feels comfortable with the live group performance dynamic. And my favorite line of the night was Simon's about how AI has made Clay so handsome.

tm

The Bachelor recap
 

Anyone watching the interview tonight? I'm sure I won't be if it conflicts with the Mavs game (though I might wish I was watching that instead if they get smoked).

n(friends call me heat miser)cs

Top Cult Movies
 

I think it qualifies as cult. A lot of true Clockwork fans have also read the book and gotten into the language of Clockwork, much like many Star Trek geeks get into speaking Klingon.

AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

Does everyone remember when the pitcher "grooved" a pitch to Cal Ripken so he could hit it out in the All-Star game?

Top Cult Movies
 

Ah, yes, a reminder of my high school bf and his friends calling themselves the "Droogs". Thanks for that.

N(they weren't so tough though, I think they might have been classified as Clockwork Orange geeks)cs

Top Cult Movies
 

I must note for the record (and to keep my geek status intact) that Klingon actually is a separate language with an independent functioning vocabulary and grammar, rather than just being a collection of bits of pidgin Russian one may toss into English.

The Animatrix
 

Has anyone seen any of these shorts? Are they any good? Can you even see them yet? I know that there is a dvd coming out in June that I believe contains all of the shorts, but is there a way to see them now?

If you can see them, do they help explain some things between Matrix i and ii?

aV

Top Cult Movies
 

DS = WACKO

not7y(still love you to pieces, but sheesh)S

Top Cult Movies
 

Hey, what can I say, I find constructed languages really interesting. Some people follow sports, I find sound-changes in Elvish fascinating.

So when you want to come over and watch Shatner in Incubus, you just let me know and bring beer.

BR(talk about cultish movies)C

Top Cult Movies
 

Let me guess, you were the weird girl with thick glasses in HS who founded the Esperanto club with the fat kid with asthma and the exchange student who could communicate only by pointing and drawing pictures.

More Sorenstam
 

The only change should be the removal of sponsor's exemptions.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...1/SP279467.DTL

[spree: Sorenstam may force rewrite of PGA policy]

TM

Dead Language Society
 

Me antipatio biero tamen me drinki alkoholajo*

not7yS



* "I don't like beer, however, I'll drink the booze" in Esperanto

AI finale and Question probably only Less can answer
 

Vibratos?

Wheelhouse.


Too easy?

Top Cult Movies
 

Grassy-Ass.

I liked the book as well but don't often find myself speaking in "Clockwork Tongue." Of course, Mr. ThrashersFan may like it if I offered him "a bit of the in-out, in-out."

More Sorenstam
 

What else would they do, limit sponsors' exemptions to men?

Yeah, that would fly.

Top Cult Movies
 

Speaking of cults, any idea which Star Trek episode this comes from? click here (sound file where Spock gets all preachy about drug use)

Also Grabbed from Clay's Sound Emporium: Shatner torturing old songs. This is the page with links: http://www.kcbx.net/~rloomis/odd.html

For Leagle
 

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....tv/index.html

[spree: 'Meow TV' to premiere this month]

Annabelle Gurwitch, former host of the TBS program "Dinner & A Movie," hosts the program with her cat, Stinky. Broadcasting from their fictional living room, they narrate segments like "Squirrel Alert," where squirrels run up and down trees to fast-paced music.

TM

More Sorenstam
 

I don't think it would fly either, but I imagine they would adopt bylaws similar to those of the LPGA, disallowing women any and all access.

TM

For Leagle
 

Um..thanks?
Oh, I see, it is supposed to be cute! You were making a funny!

Oooh, ok. I'll go out and get a tivo right away, so I can watch it even when I am out.

Maybe Bilmore could watch with me? We can get a mini tv for our Kayaks.

AI Finale
 

Ah yes, the All Star Game...that was July 2001 in Safeco field, pitcher was Chan Ho Park - I remember it like it was yesterday.....