Now, I have to admit that the first time I ever saw Bucky, I thought he was the gayest mascot in the land. But that's because I saw the wood carving statute at State Street Brats, which, it must be admitted, is rather gay looking.

But, since those first naive days of my 1L years, I've come to love Mr. Buckingham U. Badger. Bucky is the best mix of manly aggression and adorable cuteness. Yeah, he's technically part of the cheerleading squad, but he's also able to do something like sixty push ups when we're beating second-rate football teams like Minnesota.

Once, sometime last semester, Bucky was down on State Street doing his thing (that is, getting people pumped/pissed about the UW) and, I have to admit, I wanted to get my picture taken with him. I didn't ask him, though, because that would have been totally uncool. But, even if I had done it, I'm sure Bucky would have obliged. He's a very polite and accomodating badger.

But don't let his unassuming demeanor fool you: he'd disembowel you in a second if you had the audacity to wear a Michigan sweater on game day. God help you then, my friend.

Let's do a quick review of other Big Ten mascots, shall we?

First of all, Michigan State's Sparty is a laughing stock. I mean, look at him:

That's the most pathetic mascot I've ever seen. And Bucky's definitely better than the other anthropomorphized animals.

Here's Goldy the Gopher, for example:

The first thing you notice about Mr. Gopher is that he bears a striking similarity to Bucky. Look at that sweater. Even the stance is an exaggerated version of Bucky's classic "do you feel lucky, punk?" stance. Some research on Wikipedia reveals that Bucky was invented in 1940 but Goldie wasn't invented until the 50s. I doubt this is a coincidence. (Also, on the Bucky Badger page, note that an actual badger was used at first, until the animal proved to be "too fierce." No one's ever said that about a fucking gopher.)

Let us briefly consider Herky the Hawkeye:

Whoever decided that mustard yellow and baby-puke green were the best colors for a mascot should be shot, assuming that person is not already dead. That's just a disgrace.

Then you've got Willie the Wildcat:

Northwestern should be ashamed of itself. It takes more than a purple t-shirt and some grey sweats to make an awesome mascot.

There's the Nittany Lion:

But what the fuck is a nittany lion? And how does it explain this:

Purdue Pete is just creepy looking:

Worst of all, though, is Brutus Buckeye:

He's a fucking nut! He's just about the least intimidating Big Ten mascot. In fact, the only mascots he's more intimidating than are the mascots that aren't even mascots. What the fuck is an Illini, anyway?

It's obvious, after careful study, that Bucky Badger is one of the best mascots throughout the land. I mean, look at him:

He even comes in a law-specific flavor. Witness Blind Bucky:

Look at him! Defending justice and supporting his team, all at the same time.

Tough. Sensitive. Mischievous. Lovable. That's Bucky Badger.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 1:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (15)| Filed under 150 Things to Love About Madison , Funny Shit , Law School , Reviews , Things I'm Irrationally Attached To

I've decided that I'm going to start naming my Monday night posts after the Heroes episode that day whenever there was a new episode on. Tonight's episode was called "The Fix," and it rocked. The usual spoiler warnings apply. If you don't give a shit about Heroes, scroll down.

Ok, how was Sylar able to trick the doctor guy into believing that he was dead? Is that another of Sylar's abilities? Why hadn't he used it before? Is the doctor just an idiot? And what the hell is Sylar going to do with Mr. Bennet? I can't wait to see.

The most interesting development, to me, was Hiro's part of the story. First of all, why the fuck is his dad (played by George Takei!) doing all the crazy yakuza shit? I wonder what their relationship is like. I always thought it was strange that Hiro never talked to his parents or family before deciding to leave for America. And it'll also be interesting to see how Mr. Nakamura knows about Hiro's mission and powers.

The other thing I really liked about the Hiro story this week was that Hiro finally acted like a hero. Don't get me wrong, Hiro's one of my favorites, but up until this week, we hadn't seen him do anything actually brave or heroic. And, in fact, we had seen him do some pretty sketchy things. Remember when he used his abilities to cheat at poker? Yeah. But, this week, by at least offering himself in exchange for Ando, he showed that he might actually have what it takes to be a hero, rather than just talking about what it takes to be a hero.

Peter's story was pretty solid. Who's this invisibile guy, though? I don't trust him, and I don't know how Peter can, either. It's really strange that the guy keeps talking about "others" and "they." Why didn't Peter do more to find out what's going on with that.

Nathan's back to being a cold-hearted asshole, but, hopefully, he'll get over that.

And then there's Claire. Her story's been pretty good, and it'll be extremely interesting to see where things go from here. Who's her dad? Does he also have an ability? Does Claire's mom have the same ability as Ted Sprague?

All in all, I'm going to say it was a really good episode.

The Promised Explanation . . .
So, the past few posts have been rather sad and introspective. I wasn't sure, at first, whether I was even going to post that last one. But, in the end, I decided that, regardless of how many readers I have, and regardless of how many of them are assholes, this is still my blog--it's worthless to me if I can't do what I want here. So, I posted some sad posts.

I'm feeling a lot better now about a number of things, although I'm still pretty depressed about a number of other things. Still, I'll be fine, and writing that post (along with the encouraging comments) really helped get me out of the slump. So thanks to those who posted or spoke to me directly.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , General Awesomeness , Heroes , Television Reviews

People are fond of telling me that, someday, I'll find a girl who appreciates me and who won't be stupid and superficial. People have been telling me that for almost twenty years. And it's a fucking lie. Maybe that's going too far--maybe people actually believe it when they say it. But, in any event, believing it doesn't make it true. And it is absolutely not true.

Of all the girls that have rejected me because of my weight, two of them have had the guts to tell me that's what it was to my face. At least I can respect them for being honest, even if I can't respect their reason.

I'm smart, funny, caring, and I'm going to be relatively successful. None of that matters. All that matters is how much I weigh.

So what happens if I lose weight? What happens if this horrible thing about me changes? Then what? Maybe I'd get a few dates. But with who? With girls who wouldn't date me now, girls who wouldn't date me when I weigh this much.

I don't like girls because of how they look. Yes, I absolutely notice how people look. But there are so many hot girls that I wouldn't want to so much as talk to, much less date. I want someone who's beautiful on the inside, as corny as it sounds, and I don't really care what that person looks like. I should already be attractive to someone like that.

Why the fuck would I want to date someone who'd only date me if I weighed less? That person could never really love me. So I don't want that to happen.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 7:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)| Filed under Goddamnit

I just wish things would be different sometimes, you know?

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)| Filed under Life Sucks Sometimes

After working on Law Review stuff until about 10:30, I decided that I would join Cole, Kristin, Chris and others down at bar review. Tonight's bar review was at the Orpheum, a downtown movie theatre and bar. This was in spite of the fact that the original announcement said bar review was at the Great Dane, an altogether better and cooler bar. Still, a bunch of my friends decided they were going to go out, so I did, too.

For various reasons, I was in kind of a bad mood tonight and was suffering from what I've decided to call S.A.D.: social anger disorder. Simply put, I was in a touchy mood. The fact that the Orpheum sucks as a bar didn't help.

Eventually, Emily, Noel, Chris, and I went to the Piano Bar. That's not actually what it's called, but I don't remember its real name. In any event, we went and we sat at the bar built around the piano. The Piano Bar is cool, I think--you can sit there and talk while listening to piano music. The piano guy himself is pretty nice. He's an altogether shitty piano guy, though.

For example, he played Elton John's Tiny Dancer, which is an amazing song. But he played it way too fast. He probably played it at about 150% of the original tempo, which just didn't work with the song. He also tends to make the songs, well, piano-bar-y. Plus, a lot of the songs just don't lend themselves to piano-only renditions. For example, he played Michael Jackson's Man in the Mirror, a song I like a lot. But that song just doesn't sound nearly as good with some guy and a piano. To top it all off, the guy's a terrible, horrible singer. I mean, really bad, off-key stuff here.

But it doesn't matter--the piano bar's fun, and, for all of his flaws, the guy's nice and he knows a lot of songs.

And he's willing to play Piano Man on demand. But no more than twice a night.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Fun Shit I've Done , Funny Shit , Law School , Restaurant and Bar Reviews , Wisconsin Law Review

Un-fucking-believable! I seriously don't plan on blogging only about this class from now on, but this is fucking ridiculous. We just had to "register our clickers." Well, other people did--I don't have a clicker. Anyway, this was the most absurd thing I've ever been involved with in law school. Basically, people's names scrolled down the screen and, at the right moment, people had to push one button, then another. It was the stupidest thing ever. And, to top it all off, we're going to have to do it again on Monday because it didn't work this time. Fucking amazing.

I don't have much to write about right now, so I've scoured the news for stuff to get pissed off about. Here are some of my favorite stupid stories:

Tiny London Apartment on Sale for $335K
Location, location, location, right? Well, regardless of where this 77-square-foot apartment is, you're still paying more than a third of a million dollars to live in a glorified shoe box. The idiots that would rather live in a jail cell in some pretentious neighborhood than a decent place in a not-as-trendy neighborhood deserve this place. This is one of many indications that our society has stopped being rational. This place doesn't even have a stove! It has two hot plates! Ugh.

Cheney: Talk of blunders in Iraq is 'hogwash'
This is like that time smoeone asked President Bush what mistake he regretted most and he responded that he hadn't made any mistakes. It can be explained in one of two ways, I think. The first is that Cheney really doesn't think the Bush Administration has made any mistakes. If this is the case, then Mr. Cheney is a moron of unbelievable proportions. The second possible explanation is that he thinks people will believe him when he says that his administration has made no mistakes. If this is the case, then Mr. Cheney believes that each and every American is a moron of unbelievable proportions. In either event, all he's doing is demonstrating, yet again, that the entire administration is comprised of very, very, very stupid people.

And, also, someone should tell him that denying the premise of a question is generally more effective when you do it rather than say you're doing it.

Obama calls for universal health care within six years
That's great. Why doesn't he also make it his goal to get rid of poor people and rich people. Nothing that I saw in the article even mentions a plan for paying for universal health care. It's this kind of half-assed political nonsense that makes the primary season so annoying. Even though Mr. Obama says that he's not making empty promises, the promise of universal health care, unsupported by a realistic plan to pay for that care, seems pretty empty.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Clinton keeps talking about talking. I don't know what the point of her "let's all figure this out together through sitting around and talking" strategy is, but I can tell you that it's annoying.

That's all I've got right now. This class gets more and more ridiculous each time. Wow.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 1:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Funny Shit , Law School , Political Rants , Rants on the News

Oh. My. God. So far, this class has been off to the most ridiculous start ever, so I'm giong to attempt a simulblog. Since I don't hate any of the people in the class (yet), I think I might be able to post this.

1:34--Ok, we're doing the clicker test. Thanks to the miracle of technology, we now know that there are a lot of 1Ls in the class. That brings us to the other point--there are a lot of 1Ls in the class. Oh, yeah, she just said "I think you benefit from having something to do with your hands once in a while."

1:36--The clicker quizes are not part of the grade, read: I won't be getting the clicker.

1:40--She just explained to us that people learn in myriad ways. Woo.

1:41--Why do we study Constitutional Law? A 3L pipes up and points out that it's the foundation of our government and our law. Which explains why she and the other second-semester 3Ls, like me, are taking this class now. Then, one of the 1Ls chooses to identify herself as such by giving some long-winded explanation about how the Constitution is the roadmap to our freedom or some such crap. And she gets shot down.

1:45--Smoker's cough plus microphone amplification equals bad.

1:48--Awkward silence.

1:49--Awkward silence.

1:50--Awkward silence. Followed by the successful accessing of a webpage.

1:52--Prof is giving us the timeline of formation of the original colonies. No one is writing it down. Not even the 1Ls.

2:01--The Articles of Confederation didn't work. Now we're up to par, educationally speaking, with fourth graders.

2:05--Let's all have a pointless conversation about whether the Constitution is built on a sound legal basis. Yeah, this is going to be productive, especially since, even if all of us agree that the Constitution is illegal, our class (not to mention our profession) will continue along as if the Constitution is, well, the Constitution.

2:27--You can't advance to the next slide until you start the slideshow. "New Slide" will not do it. How many people have to tell her to push F5? Can anyone see the mouse? Oh my god!

After that, nothing interesting happened at all. This class is going to be . . . let's say "interesting."

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)| Filed under Funny Shit , Law School

The recent lack of amazing serialized television in my life has been disturbing. But, today, the powers that be deigned it appropriate to treat me to two hours of great television. Spoilers follow, so don't read on if you didn't see tonight's episodes of Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

First up, Heroes returned tonight after having left several weeks ago. I was left a bitter, empty shell. There were so many unanswered questions: What happened to Sylar? What was the Haitian going to do with Claire? Nikki turned herself in? Hiro fights a what now??

And, in classic serialized-drama fashion, the show only addressed some of the outstanding questions, offered only hints, and raised all-new problems: What's going to happen to Nikki? Did she use her super strength without the Jessica persona? Is Nathan finally coming around? Is he actually a nice guy? How does Peter know to go to the desert? And why the fuck is he going, rather than trying to meet up with Simone, Isaac, and Hiro? What's Mohinder going to do?

Goddamn, it's awesome. And the best part, for me, was seeing the heroes start to work together. Isaac and Hiro are already working together as a team, and they've made some good inroads to recruiting Nathan.

Then there was Studio 60. I have to say, this has been my favorite episode of that show so far. This was the first episode that made it seem like Studio 60 might, one day, reach West Wing heights. I thought some of the scenes were really touching and that the characters have come into their own really well.

Oh, and, for the record, I came up with that letters of recommendation bit a long time ago.

On another note . . .

The law school's got this absurd new system where they tell you that a grade's about to be posted, rather than telling you when it's been posted. The net effect of this system, as far as I can tell, is that you ed up fearing the grade, building up an entirely unnecessary level of anxiety. I'm waiting on one more grade. As much as I've tried not to let it happen, I've got my hopes up. That can only mean one thing in law school: disappointment.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Heroes , Law School , Life Sucks Sometimes , Rants , Television Reviews , Things I'm Irrationally Attached To

Today is the last time I will ever start a new semester. Today is my last first day of school. Ever.

I can't really believe it. When I came to law school, I was incredibly eager to get out into the world, get a job, be a real person. I still really, really want that. I want to move into a nicer apartment, I want to have a good job, I want to buy a new car. I want to be a real person.

But the responsibility frankly freaks me out.

I can't believe that in four short months, I will be a licensed attorney and that I will, hopefully, have a job. I can't believe that I'll be done with school. Twelve years to graduate from high school, five years for college, and now three for law school. That's twenty years--four fifths of my life. And tomorrow is the beginning of the end of all of that.

I'm excited, but I'm not looking forward to it. I can't wait, but I wish it wasn't happening so soon.

And, not to mention, there's a new episode of Heroes on tomorrow night.

Man. This is really hard to believe.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Heroes , Law School

Hillary Clinton announced that she is, officially, forming an exploratory committee. That's not very surprising, obviously. But check out the video on her webpage. I think there are some pretty interesting things going on there. I tried to find a transcript of her announcement, but was unsuccessful. Therefore, all quotes from her announcement were transcribed by me. Sorry for if I get anything wrong.

The first thing I noticed was that the camera movements are incredibly annoying. I know it's not anything substantive, but I found that pretty annoying. Moving on.

"I'm not just starting a campaign, though, I'm beginning a conversation. With you--with America. Because we all need to be part of the discussion if we're all going to be part of the solution."
This sets up the theme to her announcement: it looks to me like she's trying to affirm the fact that she's a Democrat while simultaneously trying to be more inclusive. She's clearly setting herself up as the non-Bush-like candidate, moreso than being the Democratic candidate. I have no idea if she's actually going to move further to the center, but she's definitely trying to make herself seem extremely moderate. I think it's a good strategy, but I think it's a little obvious and ham-fisted here. Just a little, though.

"Let's talk about . . . how to make us energy independent, and free of foreign oil. How to end the deficits that threaten social security and Medicare. And let's definitely talk about how every American can have quality, affordable health care."
Maybe she's not moving very far to the center at all, but I think that's to her credit. She's got to stick to her guns for her to have credibility. Still, she's being very careful about how she says these things. She's couching these goals in very carefully thoughout ways, making universal health care sound extremely uncontroversial, for example. It's almost as if she's taking a stand, but not really. I think this is fine for now--it's just an announcement everyone was expecting. But it'll be really interesting to see what happens later, once she's forced to take hard stances on topics.

There's nothing about education, though. That's surprising, I think, and it's more disappointing. If this announcement is to set the tone for her campaign, I'm disappointed that making public education better isn't going to be one of her promises.

She mentions George Bush, which I didn't think she was going to do. Still, she's not losing any voters. It just furthers her theme of being the anti-Bush. I think that might pay off, but only if the Republican nominee is someone very Bush-like. Personally, I think the Republicans are smarter than that--I bet they'll run their own anti-Bush. (Hey--what if Cheney resigned and Bush appointed his chosen successor to the job? That way, that guy would have the VP cred that could make the difference. Wouldn't that be a mindfuck?) Anyway, Ms. Clinton's attempt to win voters, maybe even some Republican voters, on the theory that she's the anti-Bush could backfire if the Republicans run a better anti-Bush.

Then she invites "us" all to talk, noting that "the conversation has been a little one-sided, don't you think?" Honestly, her attempts to appear like a "normal person" or "just one of us" fall flat for me. That was one of George W. Bush's strengths, right? That you wanted to have a beer with him? I think Ms. Clinton's appeal to that same emotion is ill-advised at best.

So, while the gyst of the announcement isn't very surprising, some of the details are pretty interesting. At the very least, it looks like the 2008 campaign is going to be really interesting--probably the most interesting campaign in my life time to date. That's something to look forward to, although I still think that the outcome is far from certain, especially that there still aren't any serious Republican candidates. But I'll say it right now. If Ms. Clinton gets the nomination (which she will) and the Republicans come up with a non-Bush-like viable candidate, the Republicans will win.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)| Filed under Political Rants , Rants on the News

You know, I have a lot of goals. And the thing that sucks about having goals is that, sometimes, you're not going to accomplish your goals.

Most of my goals aren't all that important or big. For example, I wanted to learn how to play the outro solo from "November Rain" by the end of this past summer. And, while I was able to make some progress, it's really, really hard. So, I failed at that goal.

I set goals like that for myself all the time, and I'm rarely able to do what I set out to. No matter how much I want something, something else almost always comes along to distract me. No matter what I want to achieve, some other, more important, more pressing thing rears its head. It's not that I forget about the things I want to accomplish, it's just that, at some point, there just aren't enough hours in the day. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd say that, but it's true. There just isn't enough time to do all the things I want to do.

I had various goals coming into this year. Most of them involved a certain aspect of my life. But, going into the second semester, I'm starting to see that there's no way I'm going to be able to do all the things I wanted to get done. And that really pisses me off. I feel like I've let myself and others down.

So what's the solution? Better time management? Absolutely. But I fear that using my time more efficiently would just give me more time to find things I have to change and improve.

I can't remember who, but there was this artist who never considered his pieces finished. I've often felt the same way about my creative outlets--drawings, music, blog posts. I've always felt that there's an almost infinite number of things I could have done better. If I had had another week to work on my version of "Carol of the Bells," for example, I think I could have made it three times better. But there comes a time when you just have to let things go. I wanted to post that song before Christmas.

I'm starting to see that the same is true about other types of goals. If you set big, vague goals for youself, like I sometimes do, there has to come a point where you look at what you were able to accomplish, are proud of it, and deal with the regret that you weren't able to accomplish more.

I just wish I had more time. I think I could make everything better.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 4:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Life Sucks Sometimes

I figure that if some asshole can come up with the "what's on the top twenty-five most played songs on iTunes" meme, I can come up with one, too. Maybe I'll fail--who knows.

My proposed meme is simple but it'll make you think, maybe.

The rules are as follows:
1. In no particular order, name your top ten favorite songs--ever.
2. Justify each choice.
3. The list should be completely subjective. The point is to name the ten songs you think are best, not the best songs you think everyone else thinks are best.

So, here's my list (remember, in no particular order) (these are all taken from my iTunes "Best songs... EVER!" list, that is, songs that have earned a five-star rating on iTunes).

1. Soma - The Smashing Pumpkins
Yes, I have to start with a song by this band. And this is their best song ever, in my opinion. It's long, and Billy Corgan rules at writing long songs. It's about breaking up, being alone, being let down. It features some of my favorite lyrics, for example: "Didn't want to lose you once again, didn't want to be your friend. Fulfilled a promise made of tin, crawled back to you" and "I'm all by myself, as I've always felt." And it features one of the most amazing guitar solos I've ever heard. Plus, the soft-to-loud transition is amongs the best. So this song is definitely amongst one of my favorites.

2. The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
This song is absolutely incomparable, in my opinion. This would be my choice for best song, objectively speaking, ever. It's just . . . amazing. It's a song about being so lonely that you take comfort in whores. A song about persevering, even if you just want to give up. "In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade, and he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down or cut him till he cried out, in his anger and his shame, I am leaving, I am leaving, but the fighter still remains." It's a song about not giving up, even after you feel like you've lost. It's an amazing song.

3. Hey - The Pixies
I can think of few songs that I'd rather sing along to at 4am while smoking rollie cigarettes with my friends. This song resonates with me, even if I can't identify exactly why. I think it has something to do with the theme of being separated, by whores in your head, whores at the door, or whores in your bed, from someone. I don't know--I just really love this song. "If you go, I will surely die."

4. Only in Dreams - Weezer
I don't think any song in the universe captures what it's like to be me more than this song. You like a girl, you can't avoid her, she's in the air. But the whole thing is impossible. And you know it. And she knows it. And nothing could ever change that. Things are only different in movies--or in your dreams. This song is a perfect expression of those emotions, from the verses, to the chorus, to the extended slow-down, speed-up section. "You say it's a good thing that you float in the air, that way there's no way I will crush your pretty toenails into a thousand pieces." Just amazing.

5. Untitled 8 - Sigur Ros
This is the only song, and in fact the only thing, that has ever caused me to undergo what I would call a religious experience. It was at the Sigur Ros show I went to (they're an awesome live band, by the way). It was the most intense feeling of love and peace I've ever experienced. It was just unprecedented. Although this song cannot fully explain that experience, the experience would not have bene possible without the song.

Although later events tainted the experience, causing me to avoid listening to this song for fear of remembering how things were and how things shoudl have been, I've never forgotten the feeling, and I've never stopped associating it with this song.

6. Beck - Nobody's Fault but My Own
The first time I heard this song, I was in high school and Beck was performing it live on SNL. I was blown away. Something about the combination of haunting music, performed by exotic instruments, and un-straighforward lyrics, delivered in a way that's both confident and remorseful, made me instantly love the song. I went out and bought Mutations the very next day, and it remains my favorite Beck album.

7. Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead
If you know anything about anything, I don't think I should have to justify this choice. This song is just pure genius, at once beautiful and ridiculously depressing, if this song doesn't take you from whatever mood you're in and put you in its mood, then you're just an idiot. Thom Yorke has said that this song is exhausting to play, and it's just as exhausting to listen to. But that's a good thing, I think.

8. Cherub Rock - The Smashing Pumpkins
I first bought Siamese Dream over ten years ago and, for my money, there's still not a better "get up and go" song than this one. Everything, from the drum intro to the awesome guitar build-up, to the guitar solo, to the lyrics make this song one of my top choices for starting a road trip off on the right foot, getting dressed for a good day, or just getting myself out of a funk. You can't help but tap your foot to this song. It's just great.

9. Rebellion (Lies) - The Arcade Fire
Some of my favorite memories are from nights when I didn't sleep at all (Monopoly, anyone?). I've always been a night person, and I've always hated the fact that, at some point, your body makes you sleep. So why wouldn't I love the lyrics "sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is. Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids."

10. Whir - The Smashing Pumpkins
The fact is that it's been very hard for me to come up with the tenth song. At any given time, any song by The Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer, The Pixies, or any other number of bands might take up this spot. Right now, tonight, though, this is the song. I've loved this song since the first time I heard it (which I remember very distinctly). It's mellow but still up-beat. It's just an all-around awesome song, in my opinion. "My honey, little girl, c'mon, let's go for a whir!"

Honorable mention:
The Wind - Cat Stevens (would have made it except it's just too short. But what there is is awesome); Thru the Eyes of Ruby - The Smashing Pumpkins (one of my favorite songs on Mellon Collie); The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel ("I get the news I need from the weather report."); Rocket Man - Elton John (a song so awesome not even William Shatner could ruin it for me); Virginia Reel Around the Fountain - Built to Spill; Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix); Worry Wort - Radiohead; Zombie - The Cranberries (perhaps this one's controversial, but I really, really like this song); When I Come Around - Green Day (Dookie was the first CD I ever bought, based almost entirely on the awesomeness of this song).

There are just so many awesome songs. So, now, your mission, should you choose to accept it: list your favorite ten songs, in no particular order, on your own blog or, if you don't have a blog, in the comments here.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 3:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Music Reviews , Quiz Things , Things I'm Irrationally Attached To

I really think that Mr. Obama should not run for president in 2008. That's not to say that I don't think he should run eventually, or that I don't think he'd make a good president. And it has nothing to do with the fact that he's black. Ok, it has something to do with the fact that he's black. But let me explain.

In general, I see two problems with Mr. Obama running in 2008. The first is that he's unlikely to win the nomination. The second is that, win or lose the nomination, he's in great danger of losing his presidential candidate credibility.

Mr. Obama cannot win the Democratic nomination
Hillary Clinton is going to win, assuming that she runs. The last time I saw some pollng numbers, Ms. Clinton was well ahead. As in, by an order of magnitude, even as compared against Mr. Obama. Even though Mr. Obama is a hero (and rightly so) to some, he doesn't have the name recognition of Ms. Clinton. And, of course, his last name isn't Clinton.

While it's true that Ms. Clinton's winning the nomination depends on her seeking the nomination, I don't think it's very likely that she won't run. I just don't see her giving up that opportunity. However, if Ms. Clinton chooses not to run, then I think that Mr. Obama would have a very good chance of getting the nomination. But, then, that leads into the second problem.

Mr. Obama must keep his eyes on the importance of credibility for future races

Mr. Obama is the freshman senator from Illinois, with heavy emphasis on "freshman." Although he's got extremely good academic credentials (he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, for example) he is extremely inexperienced in national and international politics. The fact that he hasn't been a governor also counts against him--he doesn't have any top-level executive experience in any government unit. The last president that went from being senator to being president was John F. Kennedy, and while I recognize that Mr. Obama and Mr. Kennedy are analagous in some ways, Mr. Kennedy won by a very thin margin.

On top of all of that is the fact that Mr. Obama is black. Now, I want to be very clear about this: I do not consider a candidate's race in any way to whether or not they should be president. The reality in early-twenty-first century America, however, is that not everyone is like me in that regard. In all honesty, I don't know how many people would let Mr. Obama's skin color affect their decision. I've seen numbers that are very encouraging as well as numbers that are very discouraging. It's discouraging that this is even something that would be an issue in this day and age. But it would be an issue. Perhaps not an overt issue brought up by opposing candidates, but I think that there would definitely be an undercurrent of racial grumblings.

In short, I do not think that, even if he were to secure the Democratic Party's nomination, Mr. Obama could win the general election in 2008. 2012 and 2016 are entirely different, however. I think that, with more experience, more exposure, more name-recognition, and more support, Mr. Obama could be a force to be reckoned with. But I also think that all of that would be foreclosed if Mr. Obama ran now. Numerous examples demonstrate that you get one legitimate shot at being elected president. After that, you're an alsoran at best. Just think about Al Gore, John Kerry, Howard Dean, and Wesley Clark, for example. Mr. Gore and Mr. Kerry both ran, both won the nomination, and both lost. And now, neither one of them can even hope to make a legitimate run at the Oval Office. I see no reason to believe that Mr. Obama would avoid that fate.

Kristin brings up a good point: a Clinton/Obama ticket would be very strong. And it would set up Mr. Obama for a future bid. Honestly, for the Democrats, that makes a lot of sense. Mr. Obama might make Ms. Clinton more pallatable to those, like me, who would otherwise strongly consider voting non-Democrat.

So, 2008 is not Mr. Obama's year, although I'd vote for him. But you can bet I'll be wearing my "Obama '12" pin.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)| Filed under Political Rants , Rants on the News

I've got a bunch of stuff on my mind right now, so this is going to be one of those random posts.

First off, I was reading Althouse today (I don't know why, it's one hell of a crappy blog), and I suddenly realized: I hate coffee shops. I don't necessarily hate the people in the coffee shop, I just hate the coffee shop itself. Althouse posted pictures of herself at one of the coffee shops here in town (she didn't say which one, although it's pretty obvious from the pictures. Still, if she doesn't want to give away which one, I won't, either, out of respect for her), and I have to wonder--why would you ever go to a coffee shop, get coffee, and then sit down? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

The first part that baffles me is the coffee itself. I don't drink coffee. It doesn't wake me up at all, so there's nothing to justify the bad taste. When I wake up in the morning, after the first fifteen minutes or so, I don't have trouble staying awake, so I just don't get the big deal.

But, obviously, I'm in the minority, and that's ok with me. Some people like their coffee. Fine. But, still, why would you, after getting your coffee, hang out in the shop? Yes, some of them have fluffy chairs, but most of the time you're stuck sitting in uncomfortable chairs at tables that are too small. I've done this on several occassions, and the whole time I was thinking "Good fucking crap, this is uncomfortable. Why don't we just go somewhere--my place, your place, anywhere--where we're not surrounded by people and forced to sit in small, uncomfortable wooden chairs." I guess my problem is that, if you're committing to hanging out, why not hang out in a place that has all the comforts of home? Like, say, home?

I guess I just don't get it.

Second, I was driving around the other day listening to one of the rock stations here in town, when the absolute worst Metallica song I've ever heard came on. I found out later, through the help of Wikipedia, that it was the song "Shoot Me Again (I Ain't Dead Yet)" off of St. Anger. Let me just say this: shoot him again. Until he's dead.

The song was fucking bad. It didn't even sound like Metallica. It sounded like Nü Metal(lica). It was just terrible. It just goes to show that Metallica is a bunch of poseurs. Something that should have been obvious after Load.

Third, it's been snowing for a long time. The sky's doing that thing where it's pink because it's reflecting all the city lights. It never got dark tonight, really. It looks like there was an accumulation of a few inches. Maybe enough for sledding. Man, that would be awesome. I love the snow.

Fourth, the internet in my apartment is out right now. I don't know why, but I connected my laptop to my neighbor's unsecured wireless network to see if it was a problem on my end or a more general problem, and it didn't work, either. So, it looks like Charter's broken. Sweet.

Well, it's 4:32am. Maybe I should go to bed . . . .

UPDATE: the internet's fixed.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Music Reviews , Rants About Things That Make Me Irrationally Angry , Things I'm Irrationally Attached To

Sometimes in life you have to get together with some of your best friends and resolve to do nothing more than drink. That's just the way the world goes sometimes. That's the way the world went tonight.

Starting with the always horrible Philips vodka, Mr. Utah and Mr. RPM and I worked our way through the liquor cabinet. Then, after we all realized that we were, in fact, drunk, we walked to a party consisting mostly of undergrads. Mr. Utah, in an amazing display of badassery, walked on a broken limb--without crutches. Upon our arrival at said undergrad party, we were treated to a truly amazing array of awesomley bad 80s music, including, but not limited to, "Highway to the Danger Zone," "Hungry Like the Wolf," and "Sweet Child 'o Mine." It was a good time.

And it got me thinking about when I was an undergrad, oh so many years ago. One of the kids at the party tonight challenged me to a beer drinking contest. We each chugged or beer. I ultimately won. But, let me tell you, I am not the chugger I used to be. I'm getting older, I'm losing my drinking abilities, and it's a hard thing to come to terms with.

Still, the night was fun. And I developed some a new obsession--Arrested Development is now my second favorite prematurely cancelled show. Firefly is still, definitely, my favorite.

In other news . . .
I'm obsessed with Ismael McKee's "Drifting." Thank you, Mr. Cañez.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 3:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Fun Shit I've Done , Hanging Out With My Friends , Television Reviews , Things I'm Irrationally Attached To

The other night, a few of my friends and I were at this late-night gyros place on State Street. We were sitting in a booth; I had my back to the door and counter area, my friends were facing it. All of a sudden, my friends start laughing and saying things like "what the fuck." I turned around to find something I had not imagined was possible:


Here are the other pictures, in case the first one wasn't clear enough:




Yeah, that's a man in a wig, leather thong, high heels, and full-body catsuit thing. I have no idea what the fuck was going on. He was completely by himself. No one sat down to eat with him, and no one else that we saw that whole night was dressed in a similar fashion. He looked like he was in a pissed-off mood, too. Which, really, I can't blame him for.

It was strange, to say the least

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Funny Shit

Having read in the comments at Legal Badger that someone had gotten a grade back, I decided to take a chance and check mine. Not having gone through the extensive mental preparation I usually go through before checking my grades, I wasn't really prepared. Bad news might have killed me.

In any event, I did have a grade back. I passed Contracts II. There were some moments when I was seriously scared that I wouldn't. But, thankfully, it was all for naught.

The downside: other grades will be coming out soon. I'm not excited.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 2:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Law School

Smart Studios is the recording studio here in Madison. It's run by Butch Vig, drummer for Garbage, producer of Nirvana's Nevermind and, more important to me, The Smashing Pumpkins' Gish and Siamese Dream. Mr. Vig is also a regular at Genna's Lounge, one of my favorite downtown bars.

Although The Isthmus article says that Nirvana recorded Nevermind at Smart Studios, that's not actually true. Nirvana did the initial sessions for what would become Nevermind in Madison, but then moved on to a different studio. The only song on the final album that was recorded in Madison is "Polly," although ovedubs were apparently added at the later studio.

It is true, however, that Gish was recorded completely in Madison. And that, right there, is enough to make this city a hell of a lot cooler.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)| Filed under 150 Things to Love About Madison

I finally read Catcher in the Rye while I was home. I thought it was ok, but not great. My problem with it is the same problem I had with Franey and Zooey, namely that nothing happens. More happens in former than the latter, but that doesn't change the fact that almost nothing happens. Let me summarize the plot for you, with apologies if I ruin the book for you.

Holden Caulfield is a rich kid who gets kicked out of another exclusive prep school. He runs away to New York City, where his family lives, but doesn't go back home. Instead, he gets a hotel room, hires a prostitute, does not have sex with her, drinks, and spends all of his money. So he sneaks into his parents' house, gets money from his sister, tells her he's running away, then doesn't. Then there are some vague hints that he's in a mental institution which, I admit, I missed. But by the time the book ended, I really didn't care.

And that's the problem. Holden's a hero for many. He's the epitome of isolated, depressed, misunderstood teenaged angst. It's easy, for me, at least, to see Holden growing up to be someone like Kurt Cobain or even Marilyn Manson. But that's not enough for me. Although Holden's an interesting guy, a likable character, one that I could certainly identify with on some levels, nothing that happened to him mattered. He was clearly never going to run away, and his financial problems were laughable since he could always just go home. The only real conflicts were internal, but even there, we know that he makes it through this period (the entire story is a flashback), we know that he ends up relatively ok, if not better.

The point, then, is the journey. But the journey didn't resonate with me. Ultimately, it seemed phony.

Worse, the writing was annoying at times. Holden's voice was unique, but it was grating at times. The constant use of a single device (e.g., "Phoebe was great. She really was" "Ackley wasn't a bad guy. He really wasn't." "I was getting more and more depressed. I really was.") was infuriating. And, perhaps because of my experience on Law Review, I found the excessive use of italics for emphasis to be incredibly distracting.

Ultimately, if I had to rate the book on a five-point scale, I'd give it a 2.5.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 4:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)| Filed under Book Reviews , Existential Nonsense , Wisconsin Law Review

Getting back into the groove of doing work has been slow going, to say the least. Although school hasn't started yet, I've got a long list of stuff I need to do during the break, most of it Law Review related. It's ok, though--I've had a decent vacation and now it's time to get back to work. I just don't want to yet.

I don't have any new year's resolutions, really. If anything, I have two goals: keep from gaining weight and get more organized. My quest for increased organization encompasses both time management (I'm going to get a fucking organizer!) and physical placement of objects in my immediate surroundings (I'm going to take stuff off my floor).

The most exciting thing that's happened lately is that I used my Vegas winnings to buy a very cheap electronic drum set. I bought this model, specifically:

It's not a piece of shit, really, but it's no where near as advanced as, say, this:

Still, I have no idea how to play the drums, so I didn't think it was time to spend almost $5,000.

My attempt to learn to play the drums has been going pretty decently so far, I think. It's incredibly frustrating--I haven't started learning a new instrument in over ten years. The drums are definitely much, much harder than the guitar. At first, the guitar was daunting in several ways, but the drums are even much more so. I have several levels of newfound respect for Jimmy Chamberlin. So far, I've spent hours trying to master the drum beat from Cherub Rock, and it hasn't been going too well.

Other things I've been doing to keep myself busy include finishing the second season of Battlestar Galactica, which Mr. Vice let me borrow. Let me tell you, that was one hell of a finale. I don't know how I feel about it yet, but, goddamn, I can't wait for the next season. The only way to watch TV is on DVD. Tivo works, too, though. I can't wait till Heroes comes back.

And, finally, I've redone the sidebar a little. I think it's better this way. Also, I've added a new section exclusively for The Lovers of Sight and Sound. My goal is that, as I record more music that I'm willing to share, I'll upload the songs here. I've got a few things from college that I'm going to review and potentially upload soon, so stay tuned.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 3:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Fun Shit I've Done , General Awesomeness , General Remarks , Heroes , Television Reviews , Wisconsin Law Review

So, I went home for the holidays and was divorced from regular internet access, thereby preventing me from being able to blog. I'm sure you were all having a great time with your families, anyway. Still, I kept a running diary of my trip and have now put up that running commentary, split up into various posts. I've screwed with the dates so that each entry appears to have been posted on the day that I wrote it.

I hope everyone had great holidays and that everyone has a great new year.

I've got several posts I've been thinking about for a while, so stay tuned--I'm going to resume my regular posting schedule.

Index of trip entries:
The Voyage Home: A Special Here is No Why Simulblog
Christmas, 2006
Of Mexican Soap Operas and Shopping
Sometimes You've Got to Buy Yourself an Old Luxury Car
Contrary to Popular Belief, I Can Spell "Poker"
Happy International Here is No Why Day!
The Voyage Home. To My Other Home.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)| Filed under General Remarks

What the fuck did people do at airports before internet cafes? I don't know, and I don't want to know.

I got dropped off about half an hour ago here at LAX. After using the amazing curbside check-in option ($2 a bag? Why doesn't everyone use this?) I bypassed the interminable line and got straight through security. Now I'm in said internet cafe, killing time.

My flight leaves at 11:55pm Pacific time. I'm kinda excited. I plan on reading my new book, Tipping Point for a little while before going to sleep. I'm in an aisle seat--that's definitely the best place to be. It's always fun to sit by the window when you're a child, but that lost it's appeal real quick.

I'm sure I'll have more things to say once I get back to Wisconsin. Honestly, I'm looking forward to it. As awesome as this trip has been, I'm ready to be back in my own little apartment with my cats. I miss the cats.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , Fun Shit I've Done , Rants About Things That Make Me Irrationally Angry

At long last--the day that families all over the world gather around their computers, come to Here is No Why and celebrate the anniversary of the world's best blog. For it was one year ago today that I posted the first entry on this blog. It's been a long year and a lot of things have happened. I'd like to take this time to thank all of you who have read my ramblings, and especially those of you who have taken the time to comment. If you haven't taken advantage of the comments feature yet, I invite you to do so. In any event, and much more importantly, I want to wish you all a happy and prosperous new year. Regardless of how well 2006 was for you, I hope 2007 is even better for you.

I spent the last few hours of last year and the first hours of this year with my family. It was a lot of fun. My mom, aunt, and uncle told us a bunch of stories about our family, mostly ones that happened just after my mom and aunt first came to this country. Let's just say they were hilarious. The coolest thing for me was to be surrounded by so many people that know pretty much all of my flaws and accept me, anyway. One of the things I've realized on this trip more than any other is that even though each of the people in my family is far from perfect (the most prominent personality trait is stubborness), our strongest feature is that we stick together and that, when it counts, we're there for each other. It's a good feeling knowing that there are so many people I can count on. And I hope they know they can count on me, too.

Posted by Ismael Tapia II at 12:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)| Filed under Existential Nonsense , General Awesomeness , General Remarks