Posts made by Ganymede

@Auspice said in Arty stuff and Writey stuff:

The Veldt was also a TV episode on a Twilight Zone-esque show in the 70s. And it was terrible.

When I think of the Veldt, all I can think of is FF6.

@Kestrel said in MU Things I Love:

Like at this point I realise I'm not even here for the game in question so much as here for the person. Which may sound obsessive and weird but I told them and they were just like, 'same tbh'.

I think this is perfectly normal.

I haven't played with Scissors in a few years, but I'm pretty sure we'll have instant chemistry when we do.

@Scissors said in The Savage Skies:

Not just IN, I'm bringing people! Definitely come play. It's a nice sandbox.

I'll be there shortly. I'm not 100% and have worked piled up. Plus, I unfortunately got back into Total War: Empire.

Don't ask me why, but the Prussian Empire is now in possession of Rupert's Land.

@Auspice

You can crack a rib by coughing too hard. Or hurt some of the tender tissue holding your ribs in place. Not much you can do for either situation except bear it, but you could get some steroids to relieve the coughing and swelling in your airways.

@Groth

It’s fun to watch, sure, but he’s more like Billy Mays explaining how Oxyclean works than Bill Nye.

@Auspice

Where's the pain?

Might be a cracked rib.

Random thoughts from this discussion.

• It's amusing that Derp, Ominous, and I probably practice very close to one another. We could probably have a tri-state area meet up or something. Hofbrauhaus I hear is pretty in autumn.

• The criminal attorneys have a different perspective on judges and juries than I.

• We all could come together and make a pretty nasty law firm.

@nyctophiliac said in The Art of Lawyering:

Jury System. Just why would anyone ever want to be tried by a court of their peers when the majority of our peers aren't all that smart - why not rely on a professional with experience? (Like a Judge!) Does this happen anywhere other than America? What do yall lawyers think about this?

This is an archaic remnant of British law, frankly, coming right out of that wholly-useless document known as Magna Carta. At the time, the "jury of peers" was to protect landholders against actions by the crown, which generally occurred before crown-appointees. By "peers," the landholders meant "other landholders." While that usually meant that the landowners got away with a lot of shit, landholders could also get really sick and tired of Lord Angus McSheepFucker and his night-time antics one day and let him get strung up for his 134th charge of "anger-banging Lady Smith's blessed flock of sheep."

As a matter of practice, I do not ask for a jury demand. Juries are stupid. A lawyer asking for a jury, in my opinion, is one who needs to take advantage of stupid people in order to win their cases.

The Gavel. Talk to me about this. ORDER ORDER! BLAM BLAM! Is it just to punctuate that you mean business? What do yall lawyers think about this?

The gavel is used to create a loud noise calculated to cut through arguing between parties and/or counsel. It is similar to flicking the light switch on or off. These days, counsel usually don't get into open verbal wars because they usually get warned prior and judges are usually not shy to spending people into a holding cell for contempt of court. At least, 'round here.

Why did you choose the section of law (family, criminal, etc) that you chose? Or did it choose you?

You don't often get to choose; fate often chooses you. If you start at a firm or public institution, you do as you're told. If you start on your own, you just take what you can get and figure out what you like; then you play the trading game with other lawyers until you can build up a practice in the area you like.

Bond and bail, what's the difference?

Context varies, but bail is usually applied to the amount paid to get out of jail whereas bonds are used in the civil context for a variety of different purposes..

Why on earth did you choose to practice law to begin with? Was it the money or..?

I began it as an adventure and ended with a challenging professional career. I like both.

What is the most hilarious case you've worked on?

It's not really funny, but I have some funny client names. For example, I once represented a fellow with the last name "Batman," which made motion/brief writing more amusing. I also worked on a case for a client with the last name "Short" who had sued someone with the last name "Long."

What is the saddest case you've worked on?

I do not get emotionally invested in my cases. That's a quick way to burn out.

Would you ever represent someone that is guilty but they wanted you to get them off the hook? Would you lie for them? What's the furthest you'd go?

Yes. Even if guilty an accused should be defended where the government has committed a violation of their civil rights. All lawyers swear an oath to defend the Constitution in the United States. I take my oaths very seriously.

To that end, no. I would never lie to or for a client. Lying is an art form that requires a great deal of care and delicacy. I have neither the time nor the inclination to prance about the truth. You win on the truth or you don't win at all. I have fired more than one client for asking if I would lie or alter evidence.

Do you like arguing? How can you manage to keep your shit together when impassioned?

I don't mind arguing, but it depends when and where. Generally, I do not argue unless I am being paid or I am to get something out of it personally.

In a case, I refrain from arguing with another lawyer or my client. In the first case, it is purposeless: I don't need to convince another lawyer that I am right; I need to convince a judge or jury. In the second case, I don't have the time: if a client does not think I am telling them how the law works or forecasting the outcome well, then they can find another lawyer that feels inclined to get a pack of smokes, a short length of hose, and blow smoke up their ass.

A wise lawyer does not argue against someone. A wise lawyer demonstrates why her interpretation of the law or set of facts should prevail. As an art it is closer to teaching than it is to debating; debates are for arguments that have no right answer, whereas teaching is showing someone else what the right answer is.

@Wretched said in The ADD/ADHD Thread (cont'd from Peeves):

How do people do this regularly?! For the yawning infinite abyss that is the 'foreseeable future'

I look at it this way:

Race-based humor aside, it's convenient when you have to drop your pets off at obedience school bright and early and get to spend your day arguing with people on the Internet (via e-mail).

My years of experience here (and elsewhere on WORA, IGU, Snark, etc.) paid off!

@surreality

@surreality

I’m in.

I want to be the predatory female.

@Tinuviel

To be clear, authority is the limit given by a client to settle a matter, money-wise. A bit different from what you meant, in context of settlement.

You two are in? Well, fuck.

@Derp

I’ve been drinking, but —

— fuck that shit. Serious. Being a lawyer doesn’t mean you are the end all be all of legal knowledge.

Fuck that shit.

A firm is a football team. Everyone has a part to play. Letting people play their roles is what makes the team work. You know your shit? Speak the fuck up.

Maybe that is why my support staff loves the shit out of me. We missed a court order’s requirement, and my assistant was beside herself at her desk crying because she felt responsible. I had to tell her, no, I’m the attorney, I’m the partner, I am responsible and it is not her fault.

We still won on those late motions, and then settled within authority.

Honest, the best part of the Factory is the Caesar salad. It has so much garlic it hurts so good.

@Auspice said in Firefly - Still Flyin':

They can be logged and reported (just like people can in other programs like, say, reporting someone on Twitter for harassing DMs), but I should be able to login and feel comfortable that no one's gonna creep on what I'm doing 'just because.'

And what makes you think this is not already happening on the games you play on?

I have said it before: everything rests on a staff member’s reputation. No policy is sacrosanct; no expectation will never be broken. All you can do is trust your staff or not trust them.

That’s really all it comes down to.

And if that is so? There’s no need for a policy.

And before anyone thinks I will spy on them whimsically, I ain’t got time for that shit.

@Coin said in Good TV:

That movie was the beginning of a glorious era of self-aware action comedies starring Dwayne Johnson and we should all be profusely thankful.

I concur.

@Derp said in Firefly - Still Flyin':

I mean, realistically this has been an unspoken policy on every game, thus far. We all know that staff can do this, and we know that staff have done this. Yet we still keep playing.

This wouldn't give me pause. I say kudos to them for being willing to put it on the table in the first place and talk about what steps they are willing to take in a transparent way.

I concur.

@Rinel said in Good or New Movies Review:

Crucial to understanding our differences of opinion on the work is the fact that its music was never mentioned in your post.

Of course not. Music is something I don't fight about with people. Some people like Cardi B, for instance, and I find her rapping to be hot garbage.

I have found that many people get hung up on any of the songs with the word "jellicle" in it. That's fine, but nonsense words are: (1) sort of what the modernist poets, like T.S. Eliot, were all about; and (2) perfectly crumulent in a musical number. That aside, if you like the music in the musical, you will probably really like Hudson's Memory and, of course, Grizabella the Glamour Cat,* while hating Swift's version of Macavity or the fact that they turned Skimbleshanks into a tap number (but it sort of makes sense, I suppose, for the railway cat).

I really liked what they did for Magical Mr. Mistoffles. Sir McKellen kills it as Gus the Theatre Cat,** but I am just flabbergasted and appalled that they elected to remove/alter Growltiger's Last Stand (because of racist performances back in the 80s). Hated Wilson; tolerated Corden; and am in love with Hayward.

If I read another person's comment about Dench's "unnecessary" fourth wall break, I swear I'm going to scream.

*- This was based on the poem given to ALW by Eliot's literary executor, and was excluded from the Old Possum book because it was too sad for children. The song opens with an except from Eliot's Rhapsody on a Windy Night, and is a wicked bitch to sing.

**- When you listen to it, close your eyes and imagine Sir McKellen quietly singing as a doddering old actor seeking to be reborn to tell more stories to a new generation.

@Derp said in Good or New Movies Review:

Information following an evolutionary pattern does not in any way preclude a careful study of it for viability and longevity.

At the same time, a person's evolutionary pattern for PME sort of precludes the need for a careful study for longevity.