Blawg Review

It's not just a blog carnival; it's the law! ~ a fool in the forest

Sabbatical

After 291 weeks without a break, Blawg Review is on sabbatical until the new year. Get the picture?


This post may be updated from time to time during my sojourn, if as and when there's a connection to the world wide web. Hope you're all here when I get back. All the best, Ed.

Some might be wondering what's with the backpack. Typically, I travel with a Brookstone Dash Rolling Office, which I've converted into an ultralight hardcase carry-on by removing the dome-fastened file dividers. But for this trip, I'm traveling with some interesting gear in an unusual backpack.

The Osprey Kode 30 is a winter sports backpack, specifically designed to accommodate skis and snowboards. What makes it the all-seasons backpack of choice for me? There are many things I really like about the Kode 30, but the key feature is that it opens wide like a suitcase, providing easy access to all the gear in the main compartment. Clothes are compressed in a Sea-to-Summit compression sack, as is the bedroll that includes an Outdoor Research bivy, an ultralight MEC Equatorial sleeping bag, Lifeventure silk mummy liner and matching silk pillowcase. I've got an ultralight ThermaRest Neo air mattress.

Clothes are light, wicking, high-tech fabrics, designed for adventure travel. I packed three pairs of black ExOfficio underwear, two white ExOfficio Reef-runner shirts, one pair of REI Adventure pants, and a Patagonia bathing suit that can be worn as shorts, as well. I didn't forget my Tilley Airflo hat. I have a Marmot Precip Jacket and pants, and a microlight REI breeze jacket. I packed three pairs of wool hiking socks of various styles by Fox River. Hiking and water shoes are Salomon Techampibian and Columbia Blackfin. Off the beaten path, I didn't pack my Fudellos.

For this trip, I packed a Steri-pen Journey for water purification, and well-designed Kor One hydration vessels manufactured in Mexico, but sold only in the USA, Canada, and Australia. I also brought ultralight dry sacks by Outdoor Research and Eureka! I packed a Pocket Towel by Sea-to-Summit, and a bug-net jacket!

Technology-wise, I travel with an Acer Aspire 1410 ultraportable notebook computer, an unlocked iPhone 4 that I bought from Apple Canada and a BlackBerry Bold 9780. Backup power supply for both smartphones is Mophie's Juice Pack Powerstation. Headphones, chargers, adapters and all sensitive electronics are protected from moisture by a LOKSAK.

I stay connected with Motorola Talkabout but the most interesting technology on this adventure is the Spot GPS. If you'd like to track the editor of Blawg Review, click on this link to spot Ed.

Pardon the Interruption



In serious news, via the Pardon Power blog:
Dan Froomkin, senior Washington editor for the Huffington Post has written a fantastic piece on President Obama's complete failure to pardon. It is entitled, "Turkey Spared - But Obama's Compassion for Humans comes up short." Froomkin makes several outstanding points and provides snippets of commentary from the Editor of the Pardon Power blog, George Lardner, former Office of the Pardon Attorney staff member Sam Morison and conservative columnist Debra Saunders.
In Blawg Review #291, a Thanksgiving edition of Blawg Review, Dave Gulbransen notes the law bloggers he is especially thankful for this year, encouraging readers to add links in the comments to others they're thankful for, as well, making this a truly collaborative Blawg Review.

Looking ahead, we may have been given a break here at Blawg Review, inadvertently.

Speaking not only for myself but for all who follow Blawg Review, we'd like to thank everyone who hosted the previous 291 presentations; hardly a turkey among them, if you'll pardon the pun.

How to Make Money


Some lunatic sent the editor of Blawg Review this smarmy email today:
Hi, I'm contacting you because we offer a blog carnival submission service and have an affiliate program specifically designed for those who host carnivals. After referring a new subscriber to our service you get 30% of every payment they make for life. After joining our affiliate program you can promote our service by simply including your affiliate link in your published carnival editions. Or if you have an email list of those who submitted posts to your carnivals in the past you can simply email them and let them know about our service. There are already several carnival hosts making money with our affiliate program. You can learn more about our service here: http://bit.ly/dslr3u and you can join our affiliate program here: http://bit.ly/9plSRo
Sorry buddy, there are some things lawyers won't do for money.

Eclectic Pink Tape

Blawg Review #290 hails from Bristol (UK not PA) where the family law barrister known affectionately as "Familoo" in the blawgosphere maintains an eclectic blog she calls Pink Tape.

Pink Tape is not just about family law: I post about what interests me and whilst that is largely family law, it also includes non-family legal stuff, non-legal family stuff and stuff totally unrelated to either law or family.
This is the second time Pink Tape has played host to our carnival of law blogs, having hosted an excellent Blawg Review #226 a bit over a year ago, and we couldn't be more pleased that Lucy offered to host again this year.

Not Just a Pretty Face

Blawg Review #289 by Patent Attorney Stephen Albainy-Jenei on Patent Baristas honors Hollywood Actress Hedy Lamarr for her inventiveness, and to mark Inventors' Day in German-speaking nations.


Previous presentations of Blawg Review, on the Invent Blog and on Securing Innovation, have marked Inventors' Day in the USA and Argentina respectively honoring their national inventors of note, and a couple of years ago Think IP Stategy tipped their Aussie hats to Hedy Lamarr, as well. Seems that Patent Attorneys love geek gurls.

Trick or Treat?

"This Halloween Season McDowell Laybourne & Rodemer reminds you to be safe and designate a drunk driver." (hic)


The badly-drafted blog post speaks volumes, and the picture's worth a thousand words.

In the spirit of the season, we have a special treat this week, the 31 October 2010 edition of ukblawgroundup, the fourth in the series of round-ups initiated by Michael Scutt to promote blogging lawyers in the UK, hosted by In-House Lawyer Melanie Hatton.
The theme of this edition is, spookily enough, what with the date and everything, Halloween; the origins of which date back to the Celtic festival of Samhain which celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", where the border between this world and the other becomes thin enough to let the spirits pass through, and when we wear costumes and masks to ward off evil.
What a hoot!

Blawg Review #288 this week is hosted by Houston's Paul B. Kennedy at The Defense Rests, where he presents "assorted ghosts, ghouls, demons, witches and clowns from the blawgosphere."

So there you have it, a double dose of Halloween treats from blawgers around the world!