Skull & Bones #322

Blawg Review #322, inspired by Skull & Bones, is hosted by the imaginative Kevin A. Thompson at Cyberlaw Central. Everyone knows about Kevin's blog; fewer know much at all about the secret society known as Skull & Bones. So, first, a little backgrounder.

Kevin Thompson is well-established in the blawgsphere, having hosted Blawg Review six times previously. His first go at it was an inspriational #42, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Blawgosphere. His next, #93, was illuminating, indeed. Kevin's third, #144, continued a numerical theme based on the number of guests at Bilbo Baggins's birthday party. Kevin was recognized with the award for Blawg Review of the Year 2009 for his tribute to Douglas Adams on Towel Day. Blawg Review #256 was an epic presentation based on Frank Herbert's Dune. And last year, with #295, Kevin got his geek on to mark the 27th anniversary of the first sale of an Apple Macintosh.

It's no secret that Kevin is one of the best ever to host Blawg Review, and we're honored that he's back again this year with his seventh presentation, Blawg Review #322, the Skull & Bones edition!

Blawg Review on Facebook!

If you know all about Dave! (that's Dave with an exclamation point) you know that he's been Simpsonized. He's a bona fide comic character!

Dave! had aleady hosted four unique presentations of Blawg Review, a clever chart format showing his programming skills, a back-to-school special while he was a law student, a bar exam nail-biter when he knew the feeling, and a flashback to the early days of the worldwide web. Crazzzzy! Whenever we see an opportunity for a Blawg Review that would be enhanced by his mad geek skillz, we turn to Dave!

Today, being the 28th birthday of Facebook co-founder and major shareholder Mark Zuckerberg, we asked Gulbransen if he could do a creative presentation for Blawg Review #321. I wasn't worried that he'd come up with something special, even when I hadn't heard from him throughout the week. I knew Dave! likes to be left alone while he's working on Blawg Review. I figured Dave! was hard at it on Saturday night...but then I spotted him cruising up Yonge Street with the family. Bwaahaha!

More Than A Woman

Girlfriends of the Court, Melissa and Kate, on Amicae Curiae present this week's Blawg Review #320 to mark the 600th birthday of Joan of Arc and the anniversary of the Seige of Orleans. Opening for the ladies in Australia are the incomparable Bee Gees!

Canajun, eh?

On this day, the bicentennial of statehood for Louisiana, one might wonder why not enlist a Cajun blogger to host Blawg Review #319. Instead, we've got this Canajun trial warrior to remind us that this day historically marks the Louisiana Purchase. How so? As most Americans know, the Louisiana Purchase encompassed all or parts of fifteen current states and small parts of what is now two provinces--few Canadians are aware of that!

But what about the French and the British? Napoleon Bonaparte, upon completion of the agreement stated, "This accession of territory affirms forever the power of the United States, and I have given England a maritime rival who sooner or later will humble her pride."

Blawg Review #319 at The Trial Warrior Blog, by Antonin Pribetic this week, includes copious factoids and anecdotes of this day in history--including one to his Croatian roots--who knew? All of which provides an entertaining and informative backdrop for some of the best legal blog posts of recent days, curated by one of the best of the blawgosphere. It's a longish Blawg Review, so take your time to enjoy the narrative and the links.

In the end, this Blawg Review, the second by our friend Nino, brings to mind the famous words of French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal who wrote, "Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte," which is Cajun for, "I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter."

Make It Count

Dan Hull @Whataboutparis, inspired by Shakespeare, inadvertently channels Hunter S. Thompson in this week's Blawg Review #318.

My name is Dan Hull. I practice law to (1) make money, (2) ensure that every day will be different than the one before, (3) to use everything I have practicing law so I can feel alive, (4) to serve sophisticated purchasers of legal services who "get it"--corporate clients with in-house counsel normally represented by much larger firms--and to put them first, and (5) treat my law practice and firm and as not just a shop but also as a laboratory for new ideas. "Immersion" is what I seek in life and work. So that my life is full, and full of surprise. For me, this is exactly what William Shakespeare (or whoever authored the works bearing his name) and Hunter Thompson had in common. It is the gift, and courage, to get us to fully participate in the story along with its creator.

Buy the ticket. Take the ride. ~Hunter S. Thompson

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Mark Bennett hosts Blawg Review #317 on his blog, Defending People, to commemorate this date in 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail. That letter is reproduced in full in this week's Blawg Review, as Bennett says, it's worth it. In our view so are the many links to current law blog posts selected for this thoughtful presentation. The times have changed but the issues remain the same. What's going on?

Arranging Deck Chairs

As I toured the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this weekend on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, along with many others I wondered what it must have been like for those passengers and what I'd have done that night.

I love to travel, you know, so it's not inconceivable to me to have been on the Titanic. I do enjoy cruises. I'm not wealthy by any means, so I'd not have been on the upper deck with the rich and famous. I might have found myself among the middle class travelers, having somehow cleverly negotiated an upgrade from my steerage class ticket. I most certainly would not have had one of those exclusive deck chairs with my name on it!

As it's my nature to help others before myself, I probably would have assisted some to board the few available lifeboats--women and children first, old man. Then I would have seized the opportunity to enjoy what little time left on this fabulous adventure that is life and grabbed myself one of those comfortable deck chairs reserved for the most well-to-do of the first class passengers who had paid extra to go in style.

Reports of my demise might appear on the blogs a hundred years later, where it would be noted that I had last been seen arranging deck chairs on the Titanic, as the band played on.

Blawg Review of the Year

• Blawg Review of the Year 2011


• Blawg Review of the Year 2010


• Blawg Review of the Year 2009


• Blawg Review of the Year 2008


• Blawg Review of the Year 2007


• Blawg Review of the Year 2006


• Blawg Review of the Year 2005

You Can't Fool an Old Fool

Eric Turkewitz, New York Personal Injury Lawyer and perennial prankster, went to great lengths this year with another of his well-conceived hoaxes, a bit late for the annual April Fools Day Blawg Review by George Wallace. Well, actually, Eric's intricately planned hoax was timed to trail the news of April Fools Day shenanigans, being released to the interwebs by Turk and a cadre of collaborators late on Sunday evening.

It would have been real easy for this week's host of Blawg Review to get sucked in by this story echoing throughout the blawgosphere, and link any one of the clever posts by these hoaxters in today's Blawg Review #315.

But this is Declarations and Exclusions, the serious law blog of George Wallace, an insurance lawyer who knows a scam when he sees one. George Wallace is nobody's fool.

From this week's Blawg Review #315:

[This space was almost occupied by links to a story that I have convinced myself was/is an April Fools' prank not of my making. If it proves to be real—which I suppose is possible in this ever-changing world in which we're living—you'll all know about it next week, and I will confess my doubts were misplaced.]

[Update 0725 PDT: My instincts have proven to be correct on this one. Hoaxing mastermind Eric Turkewitz explains all here.]

You can't fool an old fool.

The History of April Fools Day

April Fools Day has a storied history on Blawg Review, too, always told on the personal and cultural web journal of lawyer George M. Wallace, a fool in the forest.

Every year since the inception of Blawg Review, George has treated everyone interested in law to a carnival of law blogs in a serious manner on his insurance law blog, Declarations and Exclusions, together with a bonus edition on April Fools Day, on a fool in the forest. No so much a prank, but a surprise, as it were. Alas, it was getting predictable. Year after year, without fail, George would "surprise" us with an April Fools Day edition. They were awsum, always, but to regular followers of Blawg Review seldom a surprise.

Last year, on April Fools Day, his special presentation alluded to the imminent demise of Blawg Review.

This April Fools' edition marks the tenth occasion on which it has been my pleasure to host an installment of Blawg Review. Thanks once again to the Anonymous Editor, and other supporters of this and previous editions.

As Futures will do, the Future of Blawg Review has shrouded itself in mystery. Should it turn out that the post you are reading is the Last Blawg Review Ever, it is my hope that you will agree with me that, unlike the denizens of our Little List, the institution of Blawg Review assuredly will be missed.

Was he kidding?! Could it be true? Some believed it was really over for Blawg Review. So influential a blawger is George Wallace, just sayin' could make things true.

This year, George is back to his old tricks again on April Fools Day, with a prequel to "Blawg Review #315". Is he pranking us? Can it be true? Do you believe? Read his April Fools Day Prequel, today, and come back tomorrow to see if there's another Blawg Review #315.