Also, I haven’t been posting here as often as I would like, but look for posts sometime soon about the Blawgirl’s experience in her law school’s 1L Oral Advocacy (Moot Court) Competition, her plans for summer, and her thoughts on the close of her 1L year!

This phenomenon had me giggling whenever I came across the words “duty” and “penal”. And you can imagine the party in my head when I read about a faulty bunghole in Torts.

What can I say. You take your laughs where you can find them when you’re a coffee-guzzling, grade-obsessing, sometimes sleep-deprived law school first year.

Second semester hasn’t changed this at all.

Based on the facts contained in a memo that we drafted last semester about the misappropriation of a trade secret, me and my fellow 1Ls now must draft a settlement letter offering the other side a reasonable settlement deal.

First thing that popped into my head?

And when we were discussing proximate cause relating to a second injury caused by a weakened condition from a prior injury in Torts, I couldn’t help but remember this scene, also from Austin Powers.

Image: Wikipedia

In all other regards, we are strikingly similar.

We both wear glasses on occasion. We both have an affinity for messenger-type, cross-shoulder bags. We both love ginormous dogs. We both love chocolate, cheese and the TV show “Chuck”. We both think penguins – or “pengins” as Teenie calls them – have an evil, secret plan to take over the world.

Oh, and we both despise men who pop their collars, except European men because they can’t help it: They’re European. They come out of the womb equipped with Speedos and weird-ass shirts.

I first met Teenie Me several years ago at Anime Expo, where she was just chilling at a booth making snide remarks at all the girls dressed in Sailor Moon outfits who probably shouldn’t be wearing mini skirts and the gross amount of man boobs on display. I appreciated her candor and decided to adopt her then and there.

We’ve been inseparable ever since.

You can see where Teenie’s been so far on my Flickr photostream, and you can continue to follow her adventures here as she follows me into law school.

But unlike Sexy Bill, these photos are decidely unsexy: your hair doesn’t fit in the frame, you blink at a bad time, you sneeze at a bad time, you wonder whether you left the crimping iron on in the bathroom, etc.

So why in the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s green earth would you want to see what you would look like in a yearbook photo from previous decades? Because it’s hella fun!

Yearbook Yourself allows you to try on different looks from many different decades. Want to see what you’d look like with a ‘fro? Check the 1970s. Want to rock a bouffant? Try a look on from the 1960s.

Try it out, and post links to your photo albums below! It’s groovy. Also, you can check out some more of my Yearbook Yourself photos here.

It can turn the sweetest cockatoo into a headbanging mofo, and a cute little doggie into a vicious, i’ll-eat-your-face hell hound.

Check out the videos! Embedding has been disabled in the second video, so the link takes you to YouTube. (via BoingBoing)

Wish no more! With the Study Ball, you don’t need another party to subject you to the torture of forced labor because you can do it yourself for the low, low price of $115!

The 21-lb. Study Ball is basically a “prison-style” ball, chain and manacle made of steel that is rigged to a timer, according to Curiosite.com. The timer unlocks the device after the specified amount of time, which is indicated on a digital display. For safety, a tiny safety key is included so that the manacle can be unlocked at any time.

According to the site, which sells “unusual gifts for unusual people”, the product is:

“especially recommended for desperate parents whose children won’t study, people preparing for civil service exams who have trouble concentrating, and for all sorts of students in general. It’s also recommended for freelance workers: web designers, computer programmers, bloggers, architects, translators, and anyone else who spends long hours sitting in front of the computer.”

The amusing gadget is the product of Spanish designer Emilio Alarcon, who thought up the idea after speaking with a friend. “The project was born of a conversation I had with a friend who was studying for a civil service exam … He said: I haven’t left the house in a week, this is like being in jail,” said Alarcon.

Sounds like The Boyfriend’s description of studying for law school.

(Gizmodo via Curiosite via FayerWayer via Newlaunches)

Not all of Chapman thrilled to see you. Last week, I was pretty thrilled to discover The Daily Chapman, a satirical blog about Chapman University, but I was even more thrilled to see to see that they had written a piece about law school visiting professor and torture memo writer John Yoo’s tortuous law school class. Yoo ought to check out the piece at The Shark, which also has a link to the article. Yoo may find it funny and Yoo-seful. OK. I’m done.

Want to learn some yoga? Go to law school. Law school seems the least likely place to get your “Ohm” on. But the Roger Williams University School of Law is trying to change that. The associate dean of students at the law school instituted a class that teaches students meditation and relaxation techniques that future lawyers can use before going into the courtroom. It also supposedly teaches them how not to be soulless, hope-eating zombies with their clients and fellow lawyers.

Wait, can a disbarred attorney work for a law school? The Yoo saga saw more developments this week after the Office of Professional Responsibility within the Justice Department indicated that it is unlikely that former Bush administration legal advisers would face criminal prosecution. It did, however, leave open the possibility of a potential disbarment for Yoo, and impeachment for his former boss Jay S. Bybee, who is now a federal appeals court judge.

And what was his inspiration April 19?

Why, the torture memos of course.

Mann took the text of a portion of the memos released last week and set them to music. The result is a somewhat peppy guitar and piano tune that sounds like an unsettling mix of a CNN news anchor, Jack Johnson and the Moldy Peaches. Throw in some air quotes ala Dr. Evil, a couple of tortured-looking grimaces, and a split screen and you have yourself a music video. Check it out.

(via BoingBoing)

The rankings are out. And, no, I’m not talking about the U.S. News and World Report law school rankings due out this week that were leaked this past weekend.

Nope. I’m talking about Playboy’s rankings for the top party schools of 2009 (link NSFW).

Playboy has named the University of Miami its top party school for 2009, with the school garnering the top “bikini index score” and beating out schools like the University of Texas-Austin and San Diego State University for the top spot. According to Playboy, the study took a scientific approach (link NSFW) to the ten best by “developing algorithms to equally weigh all of the things that are crucial to the college experience.”

Playboy took measure of the Bikini index, campus life, sports, brains and sex. It’s not my cuppa tea, but if you want to go to a school that’s known for its parties, here’s the list with all 25 schools. (NSFW)

And here’s the top 10. If the university has a law school, I’ve given you a link to the law school web site:

1. University of Miami – School of Law web site
2. University of Texas (Austin) – School of Law web site
3. San Diego State University
4. University of Florida – Levin College of Law
5. University of Arizona – Rogers College of Law
6. University of Wisconsin (Madison) – Law school
7. University of Georgia – School of Law
8. Louisiana State University – School of Law
9. University of Iowa – College of Law
10. West Virginia University

Photo: Elin B / Flickr