Es bueno, muchacho?

This post will be more random than most. Not that others have any sort of consistency, but I used up my unifying odyssey theme for the year.

I'm pressing ahead with this Law & Economics paper, on the topic of "illegal" file sharing and its underlying economic principles. I like to think I'm well versed in both subjects. I read over the leading Canadian case on the subject, which, last March, held that downloading is legal in the country, and suggested a successful case against sharing downloaded files would be nearly impossible. The ruling continues Canada's legal streak as pretty damn forward thinking and mindful of our founding constitutional values (Ahem U.S.A.) The case also marks the only time that someone named von Finckenstein (the judge in the case) would be considered cool by adolescents.

I'm also trying to finish off this massive tome that is Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. I happened upon this passage today, which I thought was quotable:

"To young men of a studious mind, who did not desire to go into the Church or the Law, magic was very appealing, particularly since Strange had triumphed on the battlefields of Europe. It is, after all, many centuries since clergymen distinguished themselves on the field of war, and lawyers never have."

I laughed. Anywho, you can get sense from this passage the style that Clarke was aiming for in her book, the late 19th century parlance where the word "queer" could be used without fear of subsequent giggling, Nouns were capitalized, and they spelled words like connexion and surprize with reckless abandon.

Pitchfork Magazine also posted a great article on the macrocosmic impact of R.E.M. over the last 15 years. As the band is one of my all-time favorites, a lot of it struck home. I'm sure most people like certain albums for no other reason than they represented a critical point in their life. Stipe & Co. have made a career out of doing that for people as this article evidences. Kudos to Pitchfork for identifying New Adventures in Hi-Fi as the band's best work. That album is criminally underrated. (I'm looking for the relevant section in the Criminal Code for that one... there it is again, murder in space!).

As wonderful as the warm, salty air is here in Vancouver, I would encourage anyone to check out this. Golden Palace should be contacting you any time now B.

This Friday sees me and three of my fellow law chums participate in the annual UBC Law Trike race. We need some sort of team name. It can either incorporate Bane, our small group name, or something about the law - or if we were really cool, it can incorporate neither. Submissions welcome. (Please note Team Awesome has been awarded hall of fame status and cannot be reused.)

Y finalmente, yo dije mi amigo Oscar que yo escibiria algo en Espanol para el, asi aqui esto es, muchacho.