First Post of 2007..It's a long one....

So it has been over a month, but I have some really good excuses. First of all, I had exams for most of the month of December. I have always hated exam time. I tend to lose track of the days, and my normal routine suffers greatly. I have no time for relaxation, and I cannot enjoy my NFL games as I normally do. Furthermore, my exams were spread out over a 2 week period. While this might be conducive to studying, it is in no way conducive to having an actual life for a 2 week period during the holiday season. It is SUCH a joykill for Christmas! Anyway, I made it through exams relatively unscathed. My final exam was for Evidence, and it was a toughie. The next day, my friend Tom and I went to the early show for “Rocky Balboa.” I know what you all are thinking:Artful, I thought you liked GOOD movies, not dreck like the “Rocky” series. All I have to say in response to that is that, once again, as was the case with the James Bond series, “Rocky” was an integral part of my formative years. The first Rocky film that I saw was “Rocky III,” the motion picture introductions (for better or for worse) of both Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Both of those larger than life figures made quite an impression on me and went on to be icons of the ‘80s. In retrospect, I realize that watching “Rocky III” before the previous ones in the series handicapped my ability to understand the impact of Mickey’s death on Rocky, one of the seminal dramatic moments of the series. At the same time, I was able to appreciate the friendship between Rocky and Apollo and how Apollo drove Rocky to find the competitive spirit within him. My father always loved Adrian’s confrontation with Rocky on the beach in California during his training session where, in one conversation, she reignites within Rocky his own sense of self worth. A few years later, I watched “Rocky IV.” In spite of its flag-waving, Reagan-era, cold war propaganda messages, it succeeds as pure pop entertainment. Having grown to appreciate the character of Apollo Creed and his friendship with Rocky, my young mind was shocked when Apollo died in the ring at the hands of Dolph Lundgren’s Ivan Drago. Few people appreciate Sylvester Stallone’s ability to find talent. Dolph Lundgren was actually a Fulbright Scholar who was set to attend MIT on account of his genius (seriously!), but the acting bug bit Lundgren in a hard way and he threw it all away for the chance to be a star opposite Stallone. In the long run, it was not a bad trade, as the film proved to be a launching pad for Lundgren’s turn as a “B” list action star for the rest of the 80s and the early 90s.

But I digress. I enjoyed “Rocky IV” as did most of the movie going audience. The soundtrack remains one of the best collections of workout music available, and Rocky’s cold, single-minded determination to avenge the death of his friend was something that was, up to that time, an unexplored facet of Rocky’s psyche.

Finally, a few years after watching "Rocky IV," I sat down and watched the original "Rocky" and its sequel, "Rocky II." Many people forget that the original "Rocky" won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Editing in 1976. Furthermore, Burt Young, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, and Sylvester Stallone were all nominated for the various acting awards. I think the most surprising thing was that Bill Conti's memorable theme was nominated for Best Original Score, but it did not win the award! The original "Rocky" was a wonderful film that transcended the normal "sports underdog" formula and reformulated it for the next 40 years. People tend to forget that the underdog lost at the end of the film. People also tend to forget that the boxing was never front and center in the film. The film was about Rocky and Adrian. Having revisited the original "Rocky" prior to my viewing of "Rocky Balboa", all I can say is that it really stands the test of time (moreso than "Rocky III" or "Rocky IV").

“Rocky V.” The less said about that debacle the better.

15 years later, we have “Rocky Balboa.” The newest film is a wonderful bookend to the saga of “Rocky.” When the trailers first started playing, I was skeptical. Who wanted to see an aged (60 y o) Stallone in the ring? It looked like a desperate attempt by an over-the-hill 80s action star to recapture some of his former glory and squeeze blood from a stone. There is no way that it could be a worthy sequel to the original “Rocky,” as Stallone claimed throughout the filming. Advanced word also revealed that Adrian was dead. Adrian dead? She was the heart and soul of the franchise. A Rocky film without the immortal phrase “Yo Adrian”? Unthinkable!

And then, just before the opening of the film, Stallone conducted a 200 question Q & A session with the website aintitcoolnews.com. He answered anything and everything. His answers were thoughtful, insightful, and self-deprecating (particularly on his distaste for such misfires as “Get Carter,” “Driven,” and most of all, “Stop, or My Mom will Shoot!” I thoroughly enjoyed the Q & A, and I must admit that my curiosity was piqued by his answers. I made plans with one of my movie going buddies from law school to see the film the day after my last final.

I ended up really loving the film. My fears about the absence of Adrian were unfounded. The film was a poignant reminder of the great love affair of Rocky and Adrian. Her spirit pervaded the entire film, and I found myself getting a bit choked up early on when Rocky, on the anniversary of Adrian’s death, revisited all of the places he and Adrian went on their first date. The film was bolstered by ghostly images from the first “Rocky” film, as the audience was treated to a view of events as Rocky remembered them. His ghosts became ours, and the audience felt his sadness and desolation. Paulie was also part of this journey, and his reasons for not wanting to revisit this time in his life allowed actor Burt Young to truly shine. I was taken aback. Was this a Rocky movie? Wow. The entire set up of Rocky’s newfound desire to fight was believable. He had reached the point where he did not really want to go on. He was living in the past, where his happiest memories were. The thought of digging down deep and finding the fighting spirit is something that everyone can relate to...the strength to go on. It is also the central message of all of the Rocky films: overcoming the odds to keep going. Sure, there are a lot of flaws with the film: for all of his skill with defining the characters of Rocky and Paulie, the rest of the characters suffered short shrift. The final scene, however, is where Stallone revealed his hand and was the perfect coda for a classic movie series (except for “Rocky V”). I recommend this film, but I also recommend watching the first “Rocky” before going to this one.

Following the film, I went home and went back to sleep. This was a good day. On the Saturday before Christmas, I drove to Cleveland to visit my friends Aaron and Julie and their family. I completely surprised Aaron, and we all went to the house from “A Christmas Story,” a house that had been restored as shown in the classic Christmas film. Following that, we went to the Chinese restaurant from the movie (yes, there was Peking Duck and “fa ra ra ra ra”, but thankfully, not at our table). We were treated to some of the best Chinese food that I have ever had. I highly recommend a visit to the restaurant if you are in Cleveland. Christmas itself was fun because of Aaron’s kids. Viewing the wonder and excitement of Christmas through the eyes of children, I think, keeps us all young. I had a wonderful time at their place, but I could not do it justice within this short blog entry.

The weekend of New Year’s, I flew to Omaha to attend the wedding of a classmate . Several of my classmates also made the journey, and we ended up having a wonderful time. We were, by far, the most fun table at the wedding, and people there knew it. I had a great time hanging out with my friends in a relaxed social setting. I flew back to Chicago on New Years Eve and I had a wonderful New Years as well. Quiet. I went to bed early and relaxed for a couple of days. I flew out to Virginia on January 4, and my parents were there to pick me up from the airport. We were going to drive down to Orlando and meet my brother in Disneyworld for a few days. The drive down was uneventful, but it was fun. I cannot remember when my parents and I last spent 12 uninterrupted hours together. Dad and I both split the driving responsibilities, and we made it to Orlando in excellent time. My brother flew in that evening and joined us at a hotel near the airport. Bright and early the next day, we checked into our hotel on the Disney property. It was a value resort, but that was fine because we were not going to stay in the hotel for most of the time. The first day was spent at Disney-MGM. The family took in most of the rides and attractions here on day one. Mom, in her infinite wisdom in planning all aspects of the trip, had paid for park hopper passes. This meant that we could visit any and all of the parks on any given day. This proved to be ideal, as our family took full advantage of it to go to multiple parks on the same day. Day 2 started bright and early at EPCOT. Our efforts to see everything were a bit hampered by the running of the Disneyworld marathon, but we still managed to go to Soar, Test track, Mission: Space, The Universe of Energy, Honey, I Shrunk the audience, and Finding Nemo. That pretty much exhausted most of EPCOT, as the world showcase was something that my parents have experienced for real. In the evening, we went to the Magic Kingdom and rode the new Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the one featuring Jack Sparrow. We also revisted the Haunted Mansion, the Carousel of Progress, and the On Monday, our last day at the Disney resort, we started the day in the Animal Kingdom.

Now, the Animal Kingdom was the only Disney Park that neither my brother nor I had ever visited. We (the whole family) immediately went to the Tree of Life to watch the “A Bug’s Life” 4-D show (highly enjoyable). After that, we went on the jungle safari and then spent some time walking around the park. The park is well designed, clean, and welcoming. My brother, a fan of roller coasters, wanted to ride the new “Expedition: Everest” ride, so we made our way to the Asia part of the park. While my brother went on the ride, my folks and I relaxed with a little soft serve. The vending cart was a little interesting. In keeping with the Indian theme of that section of the park, the side of the cart was painted with an image of the Hindu God Ganesha….with his multiple arms holding a multitude of frozen treats. Now, I am not a strict Hindu by any stretch of the imagination, but I must admit that my cultural pride was offended by this blatant disregard for my heritage. I mean, Disney should be even MORE conscious of such things than other corporations. Heck, they even stopped the sequences on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride where the pirates were chasing comely wenches for fear of offending feminists. One might think that a company that is so socially aware might have done its research when designing a theme park around a culture that contains over a billion people. Ugh.

Anyway, after that, we attended the live Lion King show. It proved to be a good coda to the Broadway show (a show that I had attended when I was still living on the East Coast. We then made our way back to the hotel, and my brother caught a flight back to Chicago while my parents and I went back to MGM for the evening. I then passed the evening watching the NCAA Football “National Championship” game, where the Gators walloped the Buckeyes. It was fun being in Florida when this happened.

Early the next morning, my parents and I checked out of the Disney resort and went to our hotel outside of Universal Studios. We had our tickets to go to the Universal parks and spent the entire day at the Islands of Adventure. I highly recommend the Spider-Man ride, the Jurassic Park River Ride (my parents were such good sports in going on the water ride, and my mom, who hates rides with huge vertical drops, handled the one on that ride like a pro), the “Terminator 3D” film, the Jaws ride, “Back to the Future”, and the “Shrek” 4-D movie. I actually though the “Shrek” film was a better sequel than “Shrek 2.” At the conclusion of our very busy day, my folks and I checked into our hotel. Early the next morning, we hit the road and were in Virginia in 11 short hours. I had a (too short) day with my parents back in Virginia, and I then flew back to Chicago for the beginning of my new semester of law school.

Upon arriving in Chicago, I rode the El downtown and picked up my books for my classes. $590 poorer, I took my books home. Following a short nap, I hit the books. I wish that my vacation had been a bit longer.

The first day of classes arrived all too soon. At 9:30 on Monday morning, I was in my seat in Patent Law class. There were not too many of us, and our instructor is an accomplished practitioner of patent law here in Chicago. The rest of the day was given to reading for my Tuesday classes. I ended up changing around my schedule a bit, and my Tuesday/Thursday classes are now Corporate Finance and International Intellectual Property. In addition to those 2 classes and Patent Law, I am also taking a course on Federal Courts and a course in Commercial Arbitration. I am back to feeling very busy, but at least I do not have classes on Friday nor do I have any evening classes.

Whew… this has been a long entry. Now I am pretty caught up with everything that has gone on in the last month. Look for new entries detailing my 4th semester of law school!