All Points West

So you’re going to go to new york and trek out to Liberty State Park in Jersey City to listen to 20 some bands on what’ll probably turn out to be a muddy mess.  You’re going to pay $20 for a hot dog and $40 for a bottle of water; cripes the economy is bad.  But you’re going to get a picture of either The Beastie Boys, Tool, or Coldplay.  Don’t get me wrong, the pics’ll make your friends jealous when they see them on facebook, and they’ll be in awe when they see the lo-fi 20 second vids you post, but in terms of enjoyment, really do your research before you base your decision on those 3 headliners.  Are the Beastie Boys really going to tell you to fight for your right to party?  Will they get intergalactic?  Do you care anymore?  Do you want to hear Coldplay perform to bad backing tracks, or are you still confused as to why the live video you saw at your buddy’s place sounded like they had a string section. And when Chis Martin tells you to make trade fair, and you’re dying of thirst, are you going to puke on your girlfriend?  As for tool, not too many people know the faces of the band, but when they hear schism they know for sure who it is.

But I don’t mean to put the festival down, sure there are a lot of good acts, and there’s no better way to watch the sun rise, hover, and set.  Sure, you may not like every tune, you probably won’t puke, and you can always buy a poncho if it rains.  And to tell you the truth, you guys who are reading this cuz you already have tickets and you wanna read the scoop on the show, I honestly haven’t said anything about it.  But I’ll let you know, my point is that, you’ll probably like the names in small print better than the names in big bold and also that I’m tres jealous that I can’t go myself.

-M

Female Law Power

I found this quite interesting after I found out  that Sonia Sotomayor was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Sotomayor was named the first Hispanic Justice and the third female Justice of the Supreme Court.  I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the integral females of the legal system in my country.

Everyone knows the great Sandra Day O’Connor, from the United States, who has recently retired, and was even on David Letterman, this week, June 24th, 09.  The lesser known (even to Canadians) Bertha Wilson,  served on the supreme court of Canada for nine years, retiring in 1991.  However, she was indeed the first female to be appointed.  Actually, when Canadians look back, the 80’s were probably some of the greatest modernizing times for our nation, especially in the legal areas and naming the first female justice to the supreme court is almost as important as declaring for the first time the fully Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Since this we’ve had, although for only a short time, a female Prime Minister, and have beefed up the estrogen level on the Supreme Court.  Bertha Wilson wasn’t just a one-time deal; now we boast a 4-female-justice supreme court, including Marie Deschamps, Rosalie Abella, Louise Charron, as well as the right honerable, Chief Justice Beverley Mclachlin.

And, in looking up these fine femmes of the law, I found out that the woman, Bertha Wilson, who broke the barrier and set the record for all of the other women that followed, had recently past.  She was said to be an inspiration to other female law students, lawyers, and justices.

Also, Wanted to give a shout out to my female lawschool peeps, Viv and Colleen.