arcade lit my fire

alright, that is a lame title i know, but seriously, they were amazing. tonight i went with lindsey, lance and my cousin dave to see the band 'arcade fire.' i had pretty high expectations as i had seen them in concert before and they were very enjoyable. my friend connie saw them in san diego a few weeks ago and she said that at the end of the concert she was crying because she was so happy and because it was so good. well, i wasnt crying at the end of the show, but i could see how someone could be. they were just incredible. they have to be one of the best bands that most people just dont know about. they are 9 members strong. so they have a very full sound. and they are great musicians. they sound fantastic live and perform just as well as when they are in a recording studio. and they use a wide variety of instruments. some songs have two violins or two drum sets, french horns, accordians, mandolins, organs, tambourines, symbols, some songs will require three guitars. just incredible. on the drive home i was thinking about how to describe their music and the best i could think of was 'legendary.' with so many instruments, each song almost sounds like a ballad. but not just an 80's butt rock ballad, but maybe a ballad for a video montage, or just a ballad that you would want playing in the background of your life. happy, joyful music that really energizes the soul. it just makes you feel happy. so while no tears were shed, we all agreed that our hearts were full. cousin dave even said he felt the spirit....and thus killed the moment.

quote of the day that i just dont know how to respond to

'dude, they should have a freakin holocaust for all crack and like, other drug dealers.'

-kui

its an interesting statement kui. i dont really feel that i could support any sort of holocaust, but if there was ever going to be a holocaust, this is probably the group of people that i would want it to involve.

party conversations

her: 'kent, have you seen melissa?'

me: melissa. melissa. crap. i should know this one.

'uh...no. i havnt. sorry.'

her: 'kent. do you even know my name? please tell me you do.'

me: oh, wow. that one came out of no where. who does this girl think she is, asking me a question like that? i mean, we just met three weeks ago and have hung out 3 or 4 times since. alright, quick. come up with something.

'uh.....'

think dang it. it cant be that hard. you know this one. betsy? suzy? destiny? angelique? angelique? shes not black. come on. think of a white name. just guess one.

'melissa?'

her: 'melissa? what? no. that's who we are looking for.'

me: dang. terrible guess. alright. just dont respond. pretend you didnt say that. just stare through her with an awkward closed mouth half-smile.

her: 'it starts with an 'a' and ends with a 'shley.' remember it!'

me: keep staring.

quote of the day

'when i was in third grade i wrote ralph macchio a letter.'

-ean estep

(i think this line is even funnier for anyone that knows ean and can envision a minature version of him sitting at a little desk in his third grade classroom wearing a karate headband and very dutifully penning out a letter to his hero ralph)

moving on

so i officially ended working for the judge on friday. im not really that sad about leaving. i enjoyed the people i was working with, but the work wasnt that exciting. anyways, i really cant say enough about judge hatter. he really is an outstanding individual. in an earlier post i talked about the externship and talked more about the judge, so i really dont want be repeating myself, since i have SO many readers and if i was redundant i might lose some.

but i did just want to mention that one of the things i especially enjoyed was being able to watch the judge when he was behind the bench. he really is a man of high moral values and always expressed those values. he never refrained from giving his own personal opinion. one time, when addressing people that had come to potentially be selected to be on a jury, he mentioned that being selected for the jury is like winning the lottery, and then proceeded to monologue for 5 minutes about the lottery and how the money was supposed to go to the school system and that is why there were cutbacks in funding for public schools, but the money never went to the schools and there is now less funding. he also had a great monlogue about how the budget for all of the federal courts in the whole nation is less than what it costs to build a jet for the military, yet people make a fuss about giving the courts more money (federal judges havnt had a raise in 18 years- they make less than you think. california state judges actually make more than federal judges) but they dont think twice when more money is given to build a new fighter plane. anyways, he had many great monologues. especially about the lakers. he's a DIE-HARD fan.

another thing i enjoyed was how in criminal proceedings after the lawyer addressed the court, the judge always asked to speak with each and every criminal defendant. he didnt need to and most judges dont speak directly with the defendants, but he always wanted to talk to them and hear what they had to say. i think that many times he did it so that he could better understand each defendant and how they felt about being there in court. for instance, the judge would really get upset if when he asked someone if they had anything to say about violating their parole, if they responded, 'no. not really.' the judge would especially get upset if people were violating their parole and they had a family with young children, or even worse, a pregnant girlfriend. sometimes people will bring in family members to show that they have family support, but if that support is a pregnant girlfriend, leave her at home. the judge will get extremely upset that the person bothers to think that they can bring a child into this world when they cant even manage their own life. anyways, here are some things the judge said at one point or another to people that had violated parole:

'i would wish you good luck, but its going to take a lot more than luck. its going to take hard work.'

'why are you bringing a child into this life? do you think you are one of these celebrities or athletes and living this hollywood lifestyle? acting like one of them and bringing a child into this world out of wedlock.'

'people take drugs, so i hear, to escape reality. well, you cant escape reality. you have to face it.'


he really is a champion. just a great man that believes in the good of humanity and fights for it. he really believes mankind is inherently good and has faith that every person has potential to improve their life. and he has incredible reading goggles.

two final things:

there is a picture of the two law clerks. also great guys. interesting people. most clerks are out of law school and they only clerk for a year before going on to private practice. these two guys made a career out of it, so needless to say, they are an interesting breed, which im sure is inferred from the photo. they made me donate a quarter everytime i used the word 'like' incorrectly. i donated roughly $20 in quarters in the 4 months i was there.

and finally, there was a sentencing hearing the final week i was there. 4 men that conspired to kill (but didnt actually pull the trigger) a teenager of a rival gang were sentenced to 10 years in jail. the judge said he would have liked to give them more like 20 years, but they took a plea that had a 10 year max sentence. and i was thinking about it, 10 years is a long time. i read about some business man that committed all sorts of white collar crimes and he had to pay over $500 million instead of serving time. and i was thinking about how much more of a penalty it is to serve 10 years in prison. losing 10 years of your life is a big deal. this guy will just file for bankruptcy and move on with his life. but lose 10 years of your life! you cant get that time back. oh, and dont rob a bank. armed robbery of a bank is a federal offense with minimum jail time of 10 years. that, and the average jail robber takes only a few thousand dollars. thats it. if youre going to do it, go big like oceans 11 or go home. 10 years! lost! you cant get that back.

the garbage grove

'so goodbye to garbage grove
where the scum of the o.c. roam
you cant blame zach 'n i for leaving
we just never felt at home'

-sir elton


so it was sort of hard to leave the garbage grove. i spent the last week studying for a final. one night, after studying for many hours, adam and i decided that we should help out zach by gathering all of his belongings and placing them in one designated area so that when it came time to move, all of his things would be neatly in one place. so we went into his room and put everything in his closet. we couldnt fit his bed in there since it was too big, but everything else fit. we then padlocked the closet and safely hid the key so that no one would be able to access any of zach's belongings. the garbage grove is a scary place. you cant be too cautious. two thoughts:
1. adam and i really arent as juvenile as it may seem. its really not our fault. we had been sitting in the apartment or the library for 5 days straight studying for our stupid consitutional law final and we couldnt help it. ask anyone that has done law school finals before. they are ridiculous and require so much time and studying. we were going partially insane from all the studying and we just needed a break or an outlet. we figured there was no better outlet than to take a few moments to help out our third roommate while he was away working his 24 hour e.m.t shift. really, not juvenile. just more of a combination of being cooped up in the same place for too long, needing an outlet, and being inherently thoughtful guys.

2. i must commend zach on this one because in the end he probably had the last laugh. he never responded to what happened. adam and i were at the library when he got home and we expected a phone call or something, but hours passed and he never called. when we got home zach still didnt say anything which left adam i feeling awkward and wondering if zach was upset. we eventually asked zach about it and he told us that he never responded because he didnt want us to have the satisfaction of hearing him react to it. he wasnt upset, but he was right, without hearing his reaction, there was very little satisfaction to what we did. almost as though it wasnt a true act of service.


the other eventful part of leaving the garbage grove was finally meeting our furry friend. he had made himself manifest to us a few weeks ago by pooping in our mixing bowl. before we knew it he was pooping all over the countertops. one time he finallly pooped in the bathroom but he missed the toilet. i think that it was the pooping that really bothered us. i mean, none of us poop on the counter, and if he wasnt going to abide by apartment rules, then he just couldnt stay. since we were all moving out in a week, we didnt really care if the problem was solved. but we were willing to go out and buy some of those old fashioned snapping mouse traps because they are fun to set and bait. we never really thought we would succeed, but sure enough, when we got home from spiderman, our furry friend got his hand caught in the cookie jar (actually, it was more like his neck caught underneath a snapping metal rod).

Mouse trap
Video sent by kentisrad13

so it was difficult to leave. we had to leave adam and he was replaced by 5 other guys. im sure
there are negative parts about the new place, like having to share a room again, i just cant remember them all at the moment because when i was upset about it i stepped outside and walked 10 yards to the boardwalk and went for a jog. that helped clear my mind. here is a picture from our roof. not the best photo of where we live, but you get the idea.

things that make me feel good about my life

so i got sucked into watching 'the rainmaker' on tv today. matt damon is a lawyer just out of law school that not only helps and represents the woman that gets constantly beat by her boyfriend, but he also represents the lukemia patient that died because even though he had an insurance policy it wasnt enough to cover the costs of giving him treatment. he also rescues puppies in his spare time. clearly he's the good guy lawyer, and everyone's american hero. he works to help people and represents the everyday american that is just trying to make it in this world without being overly screwed by large corporate america - insurance companies included.

so why do i feel good? because im going to graduate from law school and head out on my own like matt damon and help people in need in their struggles and only receive money if they are successful in court? nope. because im going to be like jon voight and turn over my life to a law firm that represents and defends these glorious insurance companies. i mean, insurance companies are people too. these poor people have thousands of people constantly suing them. as though they ever did anything to deserve it. somebody must help them. it might as well be me. and i think im just about ready to sell my soul in order to do it.

movies

so summer movie season has officially started. we went to a midnight showing of spiderman 3 this evening. it was outstanding in my opinion. i think they have done so well with these movies. they create legitimate story lines. there are real characters that they have developed. the people have a very 'human' sense to them. i find myself actually believing that spiderman could really exist, and i think its because peter parker comes across as so human. and kirsten dunst, while not my favorite actress, she is flawed, and i like that. she has crooked teeth. and its almost refreshing. i have yet to find a flaw in jessica alba (especially since we are alums of the same jr. high), and so it makes her superhero movie seem that much more fake. she cant possibly be real, so of course the story isnt. but tobey maguire seems like a real dude, so spiderman could be also. anyways, i enjoy these movies. i think they put a lot of thought and effort into them. there is good story, good plot and highly entertaining. what else could one want from a summer blockbuster? speaking of which, the list of movies coming out this summer is astounding. this has to be the summer of thirds with spiderman, shrek, pirates, oceans, bourne and rush hour all completing the trilogy this summer. since there are so many coming out ill just highlight 20.

terrible movies that will sadly probably make a profit:

20. delta farce - thank you middle america. from keeping shows like 'everybody loves raymond' on air to providing the financial support for movies like this one, you really have improved my life.

19. i now pronounce thee - i think i would send adam sandler $100 directly if it prevented him from making his next 10 movies.

18. the wedding daze - i think this yet another one of those movies in that 'american pie' series. this must be the twelfth or something. yea for cheap, crude college humor.

mind blowingly awesome:

17. skinwalkers - i just found this movie. here is the brief synopsis: 'a 12-year-old boy suddenly finds himself at the center of a battle between two warring groups of werewolves.' im speechless. there is no follow up remark to that synopsis. just gasping for air.

not sure what to think yet:

16. gracie - i havnt heard anything about this movie. all i know is that it has elizabeth shue in it, and ever since 'adventures in babysitting' ive had a crush on her. its still going strong.

15. the invasion - also havnt heard anything about it, but it has nicole kidman and daniel craig (the most recent bond). i like both those people so i think this might have potential.

14. superbad - saw a preview for this the other day. it looks like it could be pretty terrible or pretty funny, but probably the former. either way, it has michael cera in it. michael cera is better known for his role as george michael bluth in arrested development. i feel i must support all former actors of arrested development in all their future endeavors.

blockbusters that i probably wont see:

13. harry potter - i hear they are really good. ive seen a few on video. just not enough of a fan to pay money to see it.

12. pirates 3 - did you know that pirates 2 is the third highest grossing movie of all time? it made over a billion dollars! its right behind 'titanic' and 'return of the king.' the first one was great. i fell asleep in the second one. it was so long and boring. unless people rave about this one, ill wait till video.

11. fantastic 4 - while the whole silver surfer bit does look pretty good, i watched the first ten minutes of the first one and couldnt really stand the ridiculousness of it. this one might be better, but this is the exact reason why i enjoy spiderman so much. movie companies know they can get a big names and sexy stars, throw in a lot of special effects and make a superhero movie, without any thought thrown in and still make a killing in profit (see hulk, daredevil, ghost rider et al). granted its nice to stare at a pretty face and shut off your brain every once in awhile, but ill go to the beach instead. the girls are more real and i dont have to pay.

10. the simpsons movie - here's the thing: im sure this movie will be really good. there is no way that after 17 years, matt goering would finally make this movie and let it be lame. im sure it will be enteratining and brilliant. im sure i will watch it at some point in my life. the simpsons are great, but they just dont do it for me like they used to, which is why i know ill wait to see this on dvd.

still cant decide:

9. die hard 4: live free or die hard - sometimes when i think about the die hard movies i get the idiot tingles. just think about the titles of the four: die hard. die harder. die hard - with a vengence. and now live free or die hard. utterly absurd. yet, at the same time, these movies are pretty dang cool.

alright, so i wrote most of this last night, but this morning i was adding a few links and i just watched the die hard trailer. im now pretty much sold on this movie. i dont know if it was the taking out a helicopter by launching a car off a ramp, or if it was the playing of beethoveen's 5th on electric guitar while showing clips of the movie. either way, i think im now sold.

probably:

8. shrek the third - i like the shreks.

7. ratatouille - ever since toy story, pixar has a special place in my heart. while 'cars' wasnt as amazing as the others, it wasnt so bad to turn me off from any future movies. the pixar movies are always well thought out and always a good time.

6. rush hour 3 - we saw a preview for this tonight. zach said he wasnt sure if he needed another rush hour movie. normally zach and i dont agree on movies (he owns alien vs. predator, or 'a v. p' if you will, and is more excited to see pirates than he was spiderman) but i thought we would for sure agree about this. the second rush hour was pretty lame, but i really like jackie chan movies. plus, the guy does all his own stunts. just watch this clip from closing credits of 'rumble in the bronx.' either jackie or someone else is always getting hurt. he's great.

the guaranteed $50 ill be spending at the theatres this summer:

5. evan almighty - i just decided i will go see it. i surprisingly really liked the first one, 'bruce almighty.' i thought it was going to be completely blasphemous, but it wasnt really at all. i really like steve carell. i enjoy him in every role he does, so im going to go.


4. ocean's 13 - alright, so oceans 12 totally bit. but oceans 11 was still by far the coolest movie in the past 10 years, or maybe 11.... anyways, after the first one being so good, ill definitely give them another chance. plus, those guys are so stinkin cool. just look at them. jusf flat out cool guys. seriously though. im happy to pay $10 just to watch all those guys on the same screen for a couple of hours and pretend that im cool too and that im hanging out doing backflips off yachts in lake como.




3. spiderman 3 - $10 already gone.

2. the bourne ultimatum - the other day, during a routine 'if you could be any superhero who would it be' conversation, i mentioned that i think i would like to be jason bourne. i later said spiderman as my final answer, but jason bourne is rad. (by the way, superman pretty much holds the trump card in this conversation. he is just as strong as everyone else and he can fly. i mean, you can make a good argument for spiderman, but thats it. who else is there? green lantern? captain america?) some people didnt really like bourne supremacy, i loved it, as i did the first. these are movies along the same vein as the first mission impossible. they are exciting movies with a good plot that makes you think and are fast paced. add a little euro disco trash techno like the first two and im a very satisfied customer wanting to come back for more.

1. transformers - is everyone giddy about this movie? im not sure. i think that everyone with a pulse that doesnt live in a country ending with 'stan' should be excited about this movie. maybe im just pumped because i loved transformers when i was younger. i owned many. but seeing the preview gave me goosebumps. check it out here. there is a longer trailer out now. im so happy this movie has been made. and it looks like they did a good job. but even if they didnt, and even if it gets terrible reviews, ill still be there opening weekend. basically putting myself in that group that im ripping on with movies like hulk and ghost rider. a movie company knew they could make a movie called transformers and by the title alone at least 30 million people would go. well, im one of those suckers.