Justice Marion Opala

As I mentioned before, I had the pleasure tonight of listening to Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Marion Opala. He spoke tonight, interestingly enough, on his views of judicial activism and constitutional interpretation. You might recall that Chris and I had dueling posts regarding this same subject, and it was interesting to get another view, from someone who actively decides Oklahoma law, and has been for many years.

The words used by an attorney I work with -- "a fucking genius" -- weren't off base at all. The man, at 85, is still as sharp as tack, with a passion for the law that I do not get to see very often from battle weary attorneys. He started with the common law of England from the 1100s, all the way to the current U.S. invented constitutional law. He traced it the way any constitutional law professor would do it, but he threw in a few anecdotes that changed the pace and kept my attention. He focused primarily on the judicial activism of the 1950s and the Warren Court. That particular court overturned precedents of, amongst other things, separate but equal. Why? Well, according to Justice Opala, he believes it was because no one else was doing anything so Warren stepped up and changed things, for the better. While he agrees that many of the changes were for the better, and it stopped the U.S. from becoming a colonial power based upon its laws, he believes the methods used by the Warren Court set a dangerous precedent on its own, allowing it to become shapers of the laws, instead of the interpreters. As as been discussed before, Chris and I agree, albeit differently, with Justice Opala.

Another interesting note, he only stands about 5 feet tall, if that. Such a short stature for a former Chief Justice of Oklahoma. I just found it...neat.

All in all, it was a fun experience, and for a guy who has done it all in his 50+ years in law, a very down to earth guy who stayed and talked with anyone and everyone who came up to him.

Movies to be a McKenzie

Alright, this is for Chris, Andrew and Donivan mostly, but input from all is welcome. Donivan and I came up with a list a while ago, that our significant others needed to see to "become a McKenzie." I put it in quotations because, of course, it's not a requirement, but there are certain movies that we grew up on (as I suppose all families have something like that), where references and jokes don't become so inside after you've seen the movies. So, I'll give it a go, and add what's lacking. Suggestions welcome as well as debate.

Blues Brothers
Clue
Tora! Tora! Tora! or Midway (one of those war movies Dad always watched on TBS on Sundays)
The Godfather
Goldfinger or Dr. No (only Bond movies I'll put on the list)
Star Wars (all of them)
Indiana Jones (any of them)
West Side Story
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Pulp Fiction (??)
Airplane!


I'm out of ideas for now. Chris, Mams, anyone, help me out.

AD

Arrested Development. Damn, that's a funny f''n show. It's too bad its not going to be around anymore. Another b-day idea for me -- the first two seasons DVDs. I picked up on this show in the 3rd and final season, and its just brilliant on so many levels.

Checkin' In (this is a long check-in, so strap in)

I see it has been a while since I've posted. Even had a "checking to see if youwere okay", which made me feel good that not just me, but my blog is read, let alone missed. :) That said, to answer you (Happy belated birthday! btw [sorry]), nothing has really been happening. The past couple weeks have been one of those nothing happens and life is cruising along stretches, which I guess is a good thing.

I did get my Aerosmith tickets for the 29th, as well as the Nine Inch Nails show for the day before. Also, for my birthday, Stephanie and Donivan bought me tickets to see Bill Burr on the 11th of March. He's a comedian that I found out about on the Opie and Anthony show, but his most notable work would be the red-headed white guy from The Chappelle Show. He's had an HBO half-hour special and is pretty funny on both, so I'm pretty excited to go see him. That weekend leads into my birthday week so it's going to be pretty fun hopefully.

I won $50 playing poker at the casino a week or so ago. Bunch of younger guys that had watched too much TV poker, and I took them pretty good in two hours. If Donivan hadn't busted out in that time, I wouldve won much more. Asshat.

I have finally ventured into the world of Mac by getting an Ipod Nano. It's almost too small; I'm afraid I'm going to break the damn thing. I've burnt the 10 CDs that aren't in my storage unit, as well as the songs that I've *cough* obtained *cough* thru other means, and I still have 408 songs to fill out of the 500 or so I can pack into the 2GBs of room (*See below*). I should have just waited until the new XM Inno comes out, which has both live radio and 1GB of room, but when a co-worker upgrades his Nano to a video Ipod, and then offers me a $60 price tab for his "old" (less than 1 month) Nano, I just couldn't pass it up.

I've been keeping up with the Olympics. (Is there anyone else?) Other than the fact that I despise Bob Costas and his cliche-filled monologues, it's been pretty fun to watch the U.S. do well. But, I am not liking the new-found popularity of curling. That's always been one of those events that most think is boring, but I can remember liking and trying to find it as far back as 1994 in Norway. American Idol is kicking its ass in the ratings, which is unfortunate, because the only time I care to watch all these events is every four years. Too bad it'll be a while before we get the Games again to get the popularity back up.

I got my tax return this week. With it being as large as it was, I'll be able to pay for some things AND get to go to Vegas in May. Can't wait.

I get to hear Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Marion Opala speak next week. The attorneys I work for tell me he's "a fucking genius" (or genesis eh Chris? Dad? Andrew? FU guys). I'm pretty excited at what I hope is my first of many chances to hear any well-respected and brillant jurist speak.

Finally, please keep Grandpa Holder in your thoughts this week. From what I have been told, he's having surgery on his Aortic valve Monday morning. Now, I'm no doctor, but my high school and college anatomy classes learned me that that is a pretty important and delicate valve, so lets hope all goes well.

*****

As I mentioned before, my birthday is less than a month away. One of the best presents I've ever gotten was the following list. A few years ago, I had quite a few of my CDs in one of those oversized Case Logic binders. Well, one day it disappeared; stolen, I believe, by a maintainence guy at my ex-wife's and my first apartment. That said, I wasn't the most avid CD listener, but I'd buy the cds for a song or two, and end up liking most of the CD. It took me a good week or two to even notice they were gone, thus, the guesswork in what really happened to them. So, for birthday ideas (Itunes dollars or the actual cds would do just fine if you go this route), I give you the list with no exemptions. There were plenty of "what was I thinking moments" while reading it just now, but it still remains one of the most thoughtful presents I've ever received. My old cases, one by one, were gone through those missing were listed. I've bought a couple since then, but not too many. The ones at the top of my list would be...well, there are bunches of them, now that I look at it. However, I spent the better part of three years gathering my Aerosmith collection and all of their albums. I haven't had them all since these were stolen. KEY - (actual helpful comments from present); [my editorial comments]

1. 3 doors down - The better life
2. AC/DC - Live [Moneytalks is number 7 I think]
3. Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation, Pump, Big Ones, Little South of Sanity, Just Push Play [I've already rebought Just Push Play]
4. Beatles - One [rebought]
5. Blink 182 - Enema of the State
6. Bush - Sixteen Stone
7. Creed - Weathered; Human Clay
8. Default - the fallout
9. Drowning Pool - The Sinner
10. Eagles - Hell Freezes Over
11. Eric Claption - Change the Eorld (single)
12. Eve 6 - (fly on cover)
13. Everclear - So Much For The Afterglow [*sigh, I really miss this one]
14. Fuel - Something Like Human
15. Guns & Roses - Use Your Illusion 1 & 2
16. Jars of Clay - (has Flood on it)
17. Jerry Seinfield - I'm telling you for the last time
18. Jewel - Pieces of you
19. Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause
20. Led Zepplin - ZoSo
21. Lifehouse - No Name Face
22. Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water
23. Mariah Carey - Butterfly (it was an ex-gf's, I swear)
24. Nickelback - Silver Side Up
25. No Doubt - Rock Steady
26. Notorious BIG - Life after Death
27. Oasis - What's the Story Morning Glory
28. POD - Alive
29. Puddle of Mudd - Come Clean
30. Savage garden - (black & white cover)
31. Shania Twain - Come On Over (got me the country girls :D)
32. Sugar Ray - 14:59
33. The Doors - Greatest Hits (red)
34. They Might Be Giants - Flood
35. Third Eye Bline - Blue
36. TLC - Crazy Sexy Cool ['the hell???]
37. U2 - Zooropa [I actually think i stole this from Chris...]
38. various - Tribute to Notorious BIG [f'n high school]
39. Will Smith - Men in Black
40. WWF - Forceable Entry

A pretty good week

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of seeing Aerosmith in concert in Dallas. Needless to say, it was a great show. Being the 4th time I've seen them, and knowing their Little South of Sanity CD (which I either lost or it was stolen along with about 20 other of my CDs two years ago), it wasn't disappointing at all; even though some reviews say that it was a shitty show, soundwise. I thought they sounded fine, but I'm not being an efficinato, just a fan.

If you're not familar with Aerosmith, they have three eras (like the Egypitans) -- old (70s), middle (Permanent Vacation - Get a Grip), and new (everything after). Their current tour is a "get back to basics" kind of tour, with a emphasis on the old -- my favorite -- and some middle. Here's the set list we got:

1) Helter Skelter - yes it's a Beatles cover

2) Walk this Way

3) Same Old Song and Dance

4) Cryin'

5) S.O.S. (Too Bad)

6) Livin' on the Edge

7) Shakin' My Cage

8) Stop Messin' Around

9) Sweet Emotion

10) Season of Wither

11) I Don't Want to Miss a Thing (blech)

12) Baby Please Don't Go

13) Train Kept a Rollin'

ENCORE

14) Back In the Saddle

15) Draw the Line

No Dream On. Oh well. They only played an hour and a half because it was a split show with Lenny Kravitz, who also got the same amount of time. I found out last week as well that they're coming to OKC, with Cheap Trick (a true opening band), so we might get a full 2-2.5 hour show out of them. Can't wait for that.

And earlier this week, Donivan happened to have to stay the night for a job, so we took our skill (or lack thereof) and our money to the casino and played a little Texas Hold 'Em. It was my first experience at an non-virtual table, and I was actually a little nervous. I was glad to see Donivan sit about 5 minutes before I did. We chose the 3/6 limit game and I watched him grab two quick pots. He started with 60, I plopped down 70. He was up most of the night, and I lost mine pretty quickly. I couldn't get a hand to save my life, and I think I was a little overwhelmed by it too. So I pulled out another 60 to get my stack back up, and the same shit kept happening. Eventually, I was nearly all in with only a buck left in my hand, and I won the pot, finally. Brought be back up to 50 bucks or so, and then I won a few more and was back to about 100. This was two hours in, and I was content to say screw it and just eat the 30 bucks. But I looked over at Donivan across the table and he was up 20-30 bucks, and I couldn't let that stand, so I stuck around.

I hit a few more pots and went with the Matt Damon strategy from Rounders: "Win one big pot an hour." So I hit a few more times, and I actually got up 10-20 bucks a couple of times. We ended the night at 1:30 with me being up 3 bucks. On the way out, I took that 3 bucks, and added two from my leftover lunch cash, and put it down on a $5 blackjack table. Why not, I say. Me, A-7. Dealer - Blackjack. So I broke even and couldn't have had a better time at a casino. 4 hours of entertainment for nothing. Oh, and Donivan made about 65 bucks, so Stephanie, if he says less, he's lying. :)

All in all, a pretty good week, thus far. And to add to the Aerosmith show on 3/29, I've got Nine Inch Nails on the 28th, and maybe Nickelback on 3/7. Fun, fun.