The Blog of Blake Harris

Nickel and Dimed

2011-12-07T17:02:00.000-08:00

Amelia Island

2011-05-11T15:35:00.000-07:00

Tea Time

2011-02-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

t.r.e. 1

2011-01-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

FL/GA

2010-10-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

My new apartment. The VAP

2010-10-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

My new ride

2010-10-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

Jackson de ville

2010-10-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

The Fuel Film LAPO 3/13

2010-10-13T12:23:00.001-07:00

I can't say for sure that I have watched every documentary about energy but I can say that I have seen more than my fair share. Last week I watched my favorite movie yet about the subject; Fuel.

Josh Tickell's documentary, Fuel, tells the story of the rise of the oil empire and explains how we can survive in the future without oil.

Fuel is available live streaming on Netflix and can be purchased at

http://thefuelfilm.com/

Follow me on Twitter: Blakehar

30 seconds of the train ride from NYC to Baltimore

2010-10-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

When in Rome

2010-09-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

When in Rome...order a massive corn beef sandwich at Stage Deli

The Google Bar and Grill

2010-09-29T14:50:00.001-07:00

In exchange for free email or a free blog platform many people are willing to give up a lot of information about themselves.

Would you be willing to give up a little more information about yourself for a few cold ones or a delicious meal?

Of course you would!

Google makes money by giving away free services in exchange for people giving up information about themselves.

Google should open a bar and grill where the drinks and food are free, or at cost, and in exchange Google gets to record any conversations that take place.

In the mist of the great recession there would be no shortage of people willing to allow someone to ease drop on the family dinner for a big enough discount and in exchange Google would collect oodles more of information. While Google is at it they could go ahead and collect everything that is said on the greyhound bus in exchange for a free ride.

New poll says most Americans don't understand polls.

For other great ideas add me on facebook: Blake Harris

A temporary return to the Greyhound Bus. LAPO 2/13

2010-09-28T17:32:00.001-07:00

Riding the greyhound bus used to be a means for some of the luckiest Americans to get to see their beautiful country and brag to their friends about the places they have traveled through. Since Henry Ford built the assembly line for constructing the automobile and JetBlue introduced the all you can Jet program the greyhound has shifted from a luxury travel accommodations to a wide scale people mover where talking to your neighbor is about as welcome as trying to making friends at the DMV. (Trust me I have tried.)

The good news is this is about to all change again. As oil production passes its peak and the fleet of ethanol and electric cars are yet to be widely available we will likely see over the next decade a return of all classes of Americans to riding the greyhound bus.

The even better news is the greyhound buses are parents rode to attend Woodstock when they were young are not the same buses we will ride. As we hop aboard with our Blackberrys and IPads equipped with both Kindle and Netflix we are in for a new greyhound experience that comes with electrical outlets, more leg room, safety belts, and Wi-Fi all while leaving a smaller impact on the environment. For the car adverse agnostics this could be as close to a spiritual feeling as one could imagine.

What could be better? Add a Starbucks machine? Add a video camera to the back of each seat? Even better...

Take a lesson from the Google business model and soon the ride will be practically free. How is this possible? Check back with the BOBH soon.

If you would like to be emailed each time the BOBH has a new posting send an email with the subject "Add Me" to Blakehar@gmail.com.

This is how people watch TV in New York

2010-09-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

Times Square Subway featuring Sesame Street

2010-09-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Attention Law Students: just say no...to Barbri

2010-09-23T07:05:00.001-07:00

By the time most people have earned their JD they have spent three years in law school and four years in undergraduate. This would mean that most JD's are at least seven years old. It is fairly safe to suspect that a seven year old is able to read and do a few multiple choice questions without spending $3,000 to have someone hold their hand and tell them when to study, what a book says, and how to write a few short essays.

In short Barbri is a waste of time and money. Barbri plays on the fears of recent law school graduates that the only way they will pass the bar is to show up to another few months of class and study based on Barbri's 120 hour work week schedule.

Here is all you need to do to pass the bar.

1. Buy a book that covers the material on the bar. They sell on Amazon.com for under $100.

2. Read the book.

3. Do some practice multiple choices.

4. Read a few practice essays, outline an answer, read their answer.

5. Take a nap. Sleep is important to memory.

Seriously it takes 4-5 hours a day of studying from the time you graduate until the bar exam to prepare yourself.

Disclaimer: All advice and recommendations contained within this post or any post are for entertainment purposes only and should not be followed or read by any person ever.

--
Blake Harris, JD
904.536.5987

My First Video

2010-09-22T19:09:00.000-07:00

This is my first video.

It was filmed from the NW corner of 110th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in New York, NY.

It took me months to get the right actors, cars, financing, and music to make it possible.

Even though it is only 39 seconds it is kind of boring and I don't really recommend watching it.

Feel free to forward it along!

Did Blake Pass the Bar?

2010-09-20T09:48:00.001-07:00

There have been far too many things in my life that have happened well for me to ever say anything bad has truly happened but failure is something I can't deny I am accustomed to.

Seventh grade I was told that my learning of Hebrew fell far below the expectations of that of any soon to be Bar Mitzvah and that I should not read from the Torah upon my Bar Mitzvah.

Eighth grade I went out for the football team and spent more time on the sidelines than anyone else on the team.

Ninth grade I lasted less than a week on the wrestling team.

Tenth grade I completed two years of Spanish, after four years in the class.

Junior year I was told by my English teacher/cross country coach that he was amazed I managed to beat a million other sperm to the egg.

Senior year I was literally booed off stage for my comedy skit. Apparently if you want to tell the "that dog will bite you" joke the crowd has to be just right.

Freshman year of college I was turned down by the first girl I asked to a date function. As well as the second, the third, and the fourth...

Sophomore year of college I tried out to be an actor and was told that I was not qualified because I was "too ugly."

Junior year of College I received several rejections from various law schools.

My first year of law school I studied harder than ever before and then found out that my grades were average at best.

My second of year law school I received hundreds of rejections for various internships.

My third year of law school I graduated, without honors, and without a job.

My first year after law school I took the FL bar and found out...things may finally be starting to turn around for me.

The most important thing you should carry to survive law school.

2010-09-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

As both a law student and an attorney is is very important to always be prepared. In order to best prepare yourself for any situation is is quintessential that at all times you carry a koozie.

Koozies serve eight important functions for day to day survival in the legal profession.

Here are the reasons to always carry a koozie:

They can...
1. keep your hand dry.
2. keep your drink cold.
3. serve as a coaster.
4. help identify which drink is yours.
5. help your peacocking.
6. serve as a seat cushion.
7. open a twist top bottle.
8. and clean up when you spill your drink.

For free koozie purchasing consulting give me a call at 623-BlakeHa.

LAPO 1/13

2010-09-08T11:10:00.000-07:00

LAPO 1/13

Today begins a series of 13 blog post about LAPO (life after peak oil). Some sociologist predict a global societal collapse with in a decade after oil production peaks, my predictions do not go that far. Though sustaining a population of nearly seven billion people without oil, the best things to happen to population growth since perhaps the big bang (or at least the agriculture revolution) may seem tough, the solution goes back to the next best thing....the agriculture revolution not the big bang.

I am going to keep todays post short by simply denying the catastrophic effects of peak oil with the promise of a savior in ETHANOL. Nonetheless expect more in the coming weeks about LAPO as it relates to energy, cars, politics, the economy, The Office, terrorism, poverty, Gator Football, climate change, the IPhone 4, consumption of meat, and of course Kitten Mittens.

Add me on facebook: Blake Harris

Oh and if you haven't heard of peak oil skip checking your Gator Mail today (trust me I checked there are no new job postings you will miss out on) and google: Peak oil. If you are not already familiar with the term it will definitely be the most important thing you learned about this week.

My Greatest Accomplishment in Gainesville

2010-09-01T10:10:00.000-07:00

Being the first person to ever eat at the on campus Moes.

My Experience with Online Dating

2010-08-25T10:09:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little slow lately since taking the bar exam and moving out of my place in Gainesville so I decided to try this thing I have heard of called online dating.

I picked up my phone and called my friend Ellie and asked if she would like to go on an online date. I told her I would start with AIM, move to Gchat, then depending on how the night was going we could either Twitter or Skype she then immediately..... hung up on me.

I took this as a sign that she was interested in jumping right to the online portion of the date.

Follow along with my other online escapades with Google Buzz: Blakehar

Key Largo

2010-08-19T08:26:00.001-07:00

New TV Show Idea

2010-08-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

New TV Show Idea

I am going to start a TV show that is not about jogging and not about
walking. I will call it; So You Think You can Prance.

Sent from my home phone

The Sunrise Cafe

2010-08-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Brevard, NC

Could anyone worse join a post bar trip?

2010-08-03T14:16:00.001-07:00

A gas station that serves beer

2010-07-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

July 4th in Keystone Heights, FL

2010-07-03T17:41:00.001-07:00

The real reason I don't watch TV

2010-06-17T18:18:00.000-07:00

Should sunscreen be banned?

2010-05-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

I have always hated buying and wearing sunscreen and here is why.....

1. Do I buy "no ad" and look cheap or do I buy commercial and look dumb for paying extra?

2. If I do buy it when is the next time I am going to use this stuff? It could be a day or it could be months and plus I already have some at home.

3. "Hey man, can I get a little sunscreen?" No, I'm just going to let you burn, teach you a lesson for next time. Of course you can have some want to throw me a few bones? Oh wait I can't take payment for something that is costing me less than $1 but at the end of the day that bottle will be empty so I just spent $6 at BP for one days worth of protection from some UV rays. Next time I'm skipping the sunscreen and up grading to Corona.

4. SPF levels. They just confuse me. Do I want to go with a low level and burn or do I want to go with a high level and defeat the whole purpose of going to Ginny Springs.

5. Then if I buy it I have to put it on. That requires me to wait 30 minutes before going in the sun. I don't know what I am going to be doing in 30 minutes. Does anyone? Then once you decide to put it on comes the inevitable moment of asking someone to rub it on you back. If you are a guy you can't ask another guy but you don't want to ask the wrong girl and feel awkward.

The only thing worse than asking someone to rub sunscreen on your back is having someone ask you to put it on their back. You can't tell them them no when you are about to spend the next three hours floating down the river next to them but you really don't want to get your day started by rubbing Coppertone on someone else. In addition to getting to give a friend-zoner a public back rub who wants to get a different level SPF on their hands then have an unevenly matched sun tan.

Here is the solution; Ban Sun tan lotion. Either the human race will die off (in which case sunscreen will no longer be a problem) or the sun will finally back down and start taking orders from us.

Need something else to distract you from Barbri? Follow me on Twitter/Google Buzz: Blakehar

Feeling good again in Gainesville, FL

2010-05-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

I was feeling a little down about being 24 years old, unemployed, and still living in Gainesville, FL so I decided the best way to make myself feel better is to help someone else feel better. So yesterday afternoon I went down to the Saint Francis soup kitchen to help a few people feel better about them self.

I waited in line twice and had the volunteers serve me both times then left a mess behind for them to clean up. I then got in my car and drove home feeling good that I helped the volunteers feel good that they got to help someone else out.

My SECOND date with Ellie Patel

2010-05-19T09:46:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the past week in Jacksonville, FL. At the beginning of the week my 21 year old brother left for Spain and at the end of the week my older sister and her husband flew in from Kansas City for a visit.

On Tuesday I took my 1 and 4 year old brothers to the park in San Marco then came home and watched A Land Before Time. After the movie was done I took the next 30 minutes and explained to the two little guys how the dinosaurs eventually went extinct because of Reaganomics.

By Wednesday I got a little bored so I picked up my phone (as if I ever put it down) and called Ellie about getting together for a second date.

I am not sure if Ellie has bad eyesight or likes to hear the same jokes over and over but she agreed to let me take her out again.

Ellie agreed to meet Thursday night for dinner then we could try to buy tickets for the Corey Smith concert that evening.

After picking her up I asked if she wanted to try this new seafood restaurant "The Fishy Dish" that had recently opened at the beach. She then informed me that she was a vegetarian.

The conversation then went as follows...

Me: "Have you ever been to the doctor about that?"

Ellie: "About being a vegetarian? No. I just choose not to eat meat."

Me: "Oh, do you do it because it is healthier?"

Ellie: "No."

Me: "Do you do it because it is better for the animals?"

Ellie: "No."

Me: "Is it because of the treatment of the working conditions of the people in the meat industry?"

Ellie: "Nope."

Me:"Do you do it because it is better for the environment?"

Ellie: "Nope"

Me: "Are you attempting to reduce world starvation or political instability?"

Ellie: "Not at all"

Me: "Okay. Then why are you a vegetarian?"

Ellie: "The same reason almost all vegetarians are vegetarians..."

Me: "Which is..."

Ellie: "To annoy everyone around them."

At that moment I knew that I may be able to get past my fear of dating a girl who kept a library in her apartment for Ellie and I had far more in common than I originally thought.

We ended up just stopping by a street vendor for some Corn Dogs. Apparently Ellie keeps a strict vegetarian diet with the exception of fish, chicken, and beef.

The Corn Dogs took awhile to prepare and we were already late for the concert, so by the time we got to the convention center where the concert was being held the line was so long that we probably wouldn't get in for an hour or two and then we would likely have to sit in the far back row so I suggested just going back to her place and listening to Rod Stewart on Pandora. Ellie responded "not so fast." She then walked to the front of the line tapped the security guard on the shoulder and said excuse me sir my uncle is in there and needs us to bring this to him as she grabbed a prosthetic leg from her purse. The security guard let us both in and we got to skip the line, sit up front for free, and drink off of her pre-made concert mix she had put inside of Dustin. (Dustin-the name of her prosthetic leg)

On the way home she mentioned she was thinking about joining a gym and was curious what I thought of Jim's Gym because she saw my key chain that says I am a member. I told her I just keep that on my key chain so people think I work out often. She then admitted she does the same thing with keeping a library at her apartment so people thinks she reads a lot.

Will there be a date number 3? I can only hope...

The Fishy Dish

2010-05-19T09:42:00.001-07:00

My date with Ellie Patel

2010-05-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday was a great day for me for two reasons:

1.I took my final exam in law school.

2. I got a call from my buddy Jason in New York and he mentioned that he had a friend named Ellie Patel who just moved to my hometown of Jacksonville, FL and that I should take her out.

While I am typically pretty picky he explained that she was single so I decided I would give her a shot.

I went out to Jax Beach last night about 7PM to pick her up from her apartment. She let me into her place for a few minutes and we sat and talked for a little while before heading out. She told me a little about how she knows Jason, growing up in Buffalo, NY, and why her job had just transferred her to Jacksonville, FL.

After talking for about 15 minutes she said to me “before we go out I have something to tell you.”

I said “sure, what's up?”

Ellie responded “well, I have a prosthetic leg.”

I said “oh really, I didn't even notice.”

Ellie then said “of course you didn't notice it's in the other room.”

Ellie then stood up on her two natural legs and walked into her library and picked up a full size prosthetic leg. She then explained how she uses it to cut through lines by explaining someone in the front had dropped it and how sometimes she uses it to sneak liquor into sporting events.

I told her I was totally cool with it and applauded her craftiness in smuggling alcohol through the security gates.

The rest of the evening went well. She didn't order appetizers, refused the sparkling water, and let me use her pursue to take home the bread, a few sugar packets, and most of the silverware.

Though I appreciated her company and Ellie was well out of my league in terms of looks I am a little hesitant to go on a second date with a girl my age who has a library in their apartment.

Down and Out in Paris and London

2010-04-23T17:13:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine recommended George Orwell's non-fiction story of his experience with living in poverty.

Poverty has always fascinated me on multiple levels and while I have usually felt that when it comes to actually experiencing it that never is enough, reading George Orwell's account of it was definitely worthwhile.

You know you have been in Gainesville too long when...

2010-04-12T12:29:00.001-07:00

6. Your best outfit is something you wear to a football game.

5. The only relevant source of news that concerns you comes from Facebook.

4. You still call "Gale Lemerand" "North South."

3. The bicycle, golf clubs, and surf board your brought with you to Gainesville have long since disappeared.

2. You go to a bar at midtown to meet your friends that you met at that bar.

1. The lady driving the later gator bus says to you "Blake, shouldn't you be home studying for law school exams by now."

If you would like to receive an email each time the BOBH has a new post send your request to: Blakehar@gmail.com with the subject "Add me"

Orange & Blue Game

2010-04-10T10:52:00.001-07:00

Go Blue!

Some Good Karma from my Easter Weekend

2010-04-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

I headed to Jacksonville yesterday to spend Easter with some family. On the way out of Gainesville I saw a young man with his thumb in the air and a sign that said "Jacksonville." It made me think how excited I would get a few weeks ago when someone would slow down then come over to me. I went ahead turned on my blinker, slowed down, then pulled over just ten yards ahead of him. I saw him smile, grab his bags, then walk over to the car. As he was about to get to the car I immediately sped off because of course I am not letting a stranger in my car but it still made me feel good to bring him that moment of happiness.

TOO JAYS

2010-04-04T18:07:00.000-07:00

Original gourmet deli same great food.

Hats inside like hats anytime just not cool.

Ban Ties

2010-03-30T06:31:00.000-07:00

Ban ties

I have always had a slight disdain for ties and would like to present a few reasons why we should ban ties....

1. Think of the time you will save.

If the average time you spend on ties is one minute a day (this figure includes tying your tie, picking out a tie in the morning, buying a tie, laundering a tie, and exchanging small talk about each others ties) then that means in the course of a year you will spend 4 hours and 15 minutes wasted on putting a fancy a noose around your neck. Think how terrible it would be if you didn't get to see Avatar this year because you were busy with a tie.

2. It will drive down your utility bill.

More ties means more air conditioner you get to pay for on your GRU bill.

3. They are dirty.

Carrying a piece of cloth that almost never gets washed around your neck all day does not seem like a very sanitary plan.

4. They prevent an unfair advantage in the courtroom.

Requiring a defense counsel to dress up formal could lead a jury to believe that if the defense counsel is taking things so seriously the defendant must have done something wrong.

I am not going to make a facebook group to ban ties but I would like it if UF had a policy of not allowing students to wear ties for OCI (or shake hands during flu season). This would give no student an unfair advantage because they choose to hang a cloth around their neck and it is highly unlikely any firm would not interview at UF Law because the students are not allowed to wear ties.

Reggae Shack Cafe

2010-03-29T12:22:00.001-07:00

Reggae Shack Cafe 619 West University Avenue Gainesville, Florida.

Three thumbs up!

Super Freakonomics

2010-03-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

The questions is not should you read Freakonomics or Super Freakonomics (pictured below), the real question is; how can you not?

In the time it takes to catch up on a few episodes of Lost you can read both books and not have to suffer from "Post-Lost syndrome" where the only things you are capable of talking about for the next 24 hours is Lost.

I thought both were good books and both did what any good work of an economist does; left you more confused then you started.

For more details about Super Freakonomics click here to see what Bill Gates has to say.

What is the problem with bottled water?

2010-03-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Sure the "bottled water industry's [has had a role] in suckering the public, harming our health, accelerating climate change, contributing to overall pollution, and increasing America's dependence on fossil fuels. All while gouging consumers with exorbitant and indefensible prices." http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/459516/bottled_water_sucks

Additionally, it is typically less clean than government approved tap water.

Here is my question: How is bottled water any better than Gatorade, Snapple, or any other bottled liquid? Why pick on just the bottled water industry?

If anyone knows why we pick on bottled water please send me an email at Blakehar@gmail.com

NZ Waterfall

2010-03-24T14:25:00.001-07:00

How to Date a Law Student

2010-03-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Inspired by ATL's how to date a lawyer.....

How to Date a Law Student

1. Sit towards the front of the class but not in the front row.

It will get you attention without seeming like an unapproachable first row elitist type.

2. Occasionally speak up in class.

It will provide opportunity for fellow classmates to come up and say things to you after class such as "that was a really great point you made about how a bright line standard is best for judicial efficiency, can I discuss my seminar paper topic with you?"

3. Hang out at the library.

This is a great time to get face time with other students without having to risk saying something stupid.

4. Certain professors devote considerable efforts to matching up students in addition to helping them find jobs.

Seek these professors out and get to know them.

5. Get a Gmail address.

It is the elite club for chatting. Plus you don't want to risk having an all too famous facebook chat crash compromise your cope out means of making a move.

6. If you are not in law school then in addition to doing number three above go by Steveburts across from the law school and buy a shirt that says Levin Law.

Wear the shirt everywhere you think law students might be the bar, the gym, the bar. Then if someone asks you if you go to law school explain you don't but your dad/mom/uncle graduated from UF Law and bought the shirt for you because they really want you to go to law school. This will be a great lead into how you are debating going to law school and it is quite likely the law student will try to get your number.

A word of caution: Your target may be just trying to land an interview with your relatives firm.

7. Know what to know and know what not to know.

It is a careful line to balance. A little bit of confusion can help. For example "where is a good place to get your resume edited?" or "can 1L's participate in the class gift?" are both excellent pick up lines. But don't push it too far with a "are we suppose to take the bar before or after we graduate?" and render yourself unworthy of a fellow law student's time.

8. Another one for undergrads: If you are comfortable approaching a law student begin with "are you in law school?" Get an affirmative answer then proceed with; "Well I have a legal question for you, I live with my sister and five other girls. One of our roommates... Then use your imagination from there but be careful not to make the situation anything so bad your target won't want to check out the place.

Lastly, be careful during exam time. A certain date hits and law students cut off all access with the outside world. Typically this date depends on the number of semesters left a law students has. (For example first semester 1L's drop off six weeks in advance and last semester 3Ls only a week in advance.) Your only hope after this critical date is to work your way into a study group.

Lets play a game

2010-03-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Gainesville, FL so back to political commentary.

If the healthcare bill passes I'm going to....

A. Celebrate in the street

B. Move to Canada

C. Move to Mexico

D. Still have no clue what everyone has been arguing about for the past year.

SkyTower

2010-03-21T16:52:00.001-07:00

A few last minute random facts about New Zealand

2010-03-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

1. The Sky Tower located in Auckland is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. (take that Aussies!) If the sky tower were in Gainesville, FL it would be the third tallest building.

When I visited the tower the guy selling tickets said I could get to the top and enjoy the view for only $25 NZ ($15 US). I asked how much it would cost to enjoy the view on Google Earth. He didn't get it.

2. The entire country is moving north towards the equator at a pace of about 1.2 inches a year. There is a small movement led by Al Gore to stop the continental shift.

3. New Zealand is a popular spot for companies to experiment with new products. With the locals enjoying a similar lifestyle to that of both Americans and Europeans but having a population that is less than 2% of the US it makes New Zealand a good place for product test runs.

4. My trip home tomorrow begins at 11AM tomorrow. Door to door the entire trip will take about 31 hours. While this may seem long it is quite short when compared to the stories of the first British sailors to come to New Zealand that took as long as 20 years.

Hitchhikers Guide to New Zealand

2010-03-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Some people drink. Some people smoke. Some people watch Fox News Channel. Whatever it is we all have our vices. While mine are far too many to list the one I would like to bring attention to now is that I hitchhike. (Hitching as Kiwi call it.)

The excitement of Chatroulette and the perk of a free ride has made hitching a top choice as a means for exploring New Zealand.

While crime does exist and is on the rise down here, New Zealand remains a very safe country and has been ranked second only to Thailand on the list of best place to hitchhike.

So last Tuesday morning I set off to pursue one of my long time dreams of free riding my way through a foreign country.

What follows below is a list of the people I met on my short two day trip. Feel free to take a break and come back later to finish reading during Evidence Class. (After all the BOBH is here as an alternative and renewable source of mitigating classroom boredom.) While the BOBH will likely not be here forever (not that anything ever is) you are safe for quite a few weeks to come back and finish later.

Aside from the first two people to give me a ride, everyone who helped me along the way was a male and had admitted to hitchhiking some when they were younger. Next to each name is the letter C then a number, then the letter A and a number, then the letter T and a number. The C indicates the number of cars that had passes prior to them picking me up and the A indicates my rough guess at their age and the letter T indicates the number of minutes I was in their car. For example (C 135 A 50 T 90) would mean that a fifty year old was the 135th car to come by and gave me a ride for an hour and a half.

Gordon (C 500+ A 35 T 30)

The longest I had to wait for a ride was the first one. I made the mistake of starting my journey to close to the central city of Auckland but was lucky enough after about 30 minutes when Gordon let me into the front of his cargo truck. Gordon had moved to Auckland from Shanghai about five years ago because it was "very easy to find a job" in New Zealand. He was also very excited about the birth of his first child a few months ago because in Asia "boys are very good" but he added "girls are good too they will stay close to you forever. Boys grow up and move far away."....So I have heard.

Angela (C 110 A 30 T 15)

The conversation with Angela went as follows...

Angela: "Are you crazy?"

Me: "No. Are you?"

Angela: "Yes."

Me: "At least you are honest."

I get in the car.

Angela: "So where are your from?"

Me: "Florida. And yourself?"

Angela: "I am from here. A native Maori. My family has been here since before the British came and stole all of our land."

Me: "The British are very good at that and by the way thank you for picking me up."

Angela: "Well I try to do good things. I was a very bad kid when I was younger. I was once in jail for drugs so I am trying to make up for it now."

Me: "Well don't worry too much about your mistakes as a youth. We all do dumb things when we we are young. Heck, I once got in the car with a stranger who was an X-con."

Allen (C 110, A 40, T 60)

Allen was nice. I didn't understand everything he was saying so I asked what language he spoke. He responded "English" ... I felt dumb.

Ben (C 75, A 50, T 120)

The reason I prefer not to ride buses but instead to hitch is because of people like Ben. Ben gave me a tour of all of the countryside. Pointing out little facts about the country every minute of the way. He was not looking to sell me anything nor hoping for a tip at the end of the tour just a local telling me about his country. In regards to my interest in moving to New Zealand he offered his contact information and recommend I touch base with him later on.

Allen (C 40, A 42, T 45)

Allen was also a native Maori. Big strong guy with an eye patch. The kind of man you would expect has worked hard his whole life but never once complained about anything. Happy to be alive and excited to meet someone new.

Allen was carrying two loads of metal when he picked me up just outside of Rotorua. I was a bit nervous at first riding with someone who could easily break me in half (not that there are too many people who couldn't) but after hearing about his family, his favorite hobby (drinking beers), his favorite sport (drinking beers), and his favorite outdoor activity (hiking and drinking beers) I was assured I was in good company.

He dropped me off about 5PM in Rotorua where I checked into a hostel then when out for dinner.

Before the sunset I wandered around Rotorua. I went down by the lake and took a few pictures, walked through the gardens, and did my best to avoid paying for anything tourist related.

Aside from the smell of sulphur it was a very nice city.

When the sun finally set I went into a local bar for a drink. While trying some Belgian beer I started talking to this couple (Johnny and Heidi) from Ohio who was also hitching their way through New Zealand. I can't think of a better word than "cool" to describe the pair. They had five kids but still were willing to take a few weeks and go explore another part of the world. Johnny worked construction by day and bartenders at night. As part of business he was out to try all of the different beers New Zealand brewed. Heidi was a waitress where Johnny bartenders. Both seemed as full of life and happy as any couple I have met. The shared the type of lust for life that seems difficult for most couples to sustain with any children, let alone five.

After saying my good byes and paying my tab I went off to crash in my hostel.

Day 2

I awoke to find that someone had broken into my room while I was a sleep and had stolen everything I had brought with me. No that is not true. All of my stuff was safe but I was faced with one serious dilemma.

When using the hostel shower do I ruin my only pair of sandals or do I roll the dice and go barefoot? Needless to say later that day I was looking for a new pair of sandals.

My original plan was to hitch a ride about 45 minutes east to Tauranga and spend St. Patty's day on the coast but I started to get a bit nervous about getting back to Auckland in time for a cup of coffee with an acquittance I had recently met. I figured the coast would be there when and if I made it back but my new friend may not be as open to meeting later.

About 9AM I stood on the edge of Rotorua (a city about the size of Gainesville) trying to catch a ride for half an hour when I decide I should grab a power breakfast before heading north. I went into this local place and tried a New Zealand dish called an Egg McMuffin. I left Maccas and headed back to the road when I came across Johnny and Heidi again! They made the right decision and went east to Tauranga.

So I started a 30 minute walk to a better location to catch a ride north. Along the walk I asked for directions when a kiwi waxing a car gave me directions to the edge of town and offered a sign saying "Auckland."

As I approached the edge of town a truck carrying two loads or cargo pulled over. Guess who it was? Allen spotted me again! This time giving me a ride north out of Rotorua. This time before I got out I gave him my email address and told him to let me know when he makes it to the states.

Ian (C 77 A 35 T 75)

Ian had moved to New Zealand from the UK ten years ago and was possible the most fun ride I had. Our areas of interest coincided and our humor clicked. He told me a lot about milk in New Zealand (he was a salesman for a milk machine company) and we discussed the environment, the movie 2012, the movie home, and the spiritual leader George Carlin as well as his skit entitled Save the Planet. In a proper English way he commented that giving me a ride "was an absolute pleasure" and I was most appreciative of getting to talk with him as well.

Rob Thomas (C 50 A 75 T 20)

Rob was a 4th generation white New Zealander. (I asked if his great grandfather was Captain Cook.) He was an engineer without much formal "edge-a-muck-ation." He was very "blessed" to have five children, eighteen grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. Rob had done a fair bit of hitchhiking in his younger days (back then there were hitchhikers on nearly every corner) and Rob was doing me the service of taking me to the north edge of Hamilton where it would be easier to get picked up. I told Rob as I told everyone who offered me a ride "please don't go out of your way for me" while I was sincere about it...saying it actually got people to take you to a better location.

Mr. Furniture Guy aka MFG (C 9 A 55 T 75)

I never got his real name but he was the head of his furniture company so I'll call him MFG. MFG had moved to New Zealand 30 years ago from Germany. MFG was rather entertaining is his stories of kiwi girls. MFG also told me about how when he traveled to San Fransisco a few years ago where he saw two beggars come into the same bar in an hour and ask for money and how he had never seen a beggar before. He explained the New Zealand government gives anyone without a job $200 a week. It is not a lot of money but just enough to get by. As MFG said it is not enough money that you can have funny hobbies like "smoking cigarettes and drinking beers" unless "you role your own tobacco and brew your own beer" then you can partake in the fun activities on $200 a week. But the $200 a week is enough to reduce crime and completely get rid of any beggars.

It seems an expensive program (which I have mixed feelings about). Affording this type of social welfare makes it very difficult to become rich and lessens the incentives to work very hard. While the South African model, where there was no costly social welfare programs, has allowed a segment of the population to become very rich that same group of very wealthy South Africans are no longer provided with the luxury of safely going outside of their home after dark. Sorry for that tangent, this was suppose to be about hitchhiking and meeting native Kiwi not about the social welfare debate...totally uncalled for on my part and I do apologize.

Anyways MFG dropped me off about 3PM near a bus station where I got a ride back to the flat where I am staying.

Along the way I learned a few things about hitching.

1. Shave.
Some drivers are afraid to pick someone up because their hygiene may be lacking and a clean shave is a good indication that is has not been too long since your last shower.
2. Have a sign with your destination.
Some people may think you just want a ride down the street and not bother to pick you up.
3. Bring a female along if possible.
Drivers are less nervous about picking someone up if one of the passengers is a girl.
4. Hold out a six pack.
If number three above is not available people will surely slam on their brakes if you have some bud light to share.
5. Stand on the out skirts of town.
Probably the most important one.

To finish up the story I want to let my mom know that I am done hitchhiking for this trip. If I am not walking or riding with a friend I promise to pay for all of my transportation from here on. Secondly, I want to let everyone else know I'll be back in beautiful Gainesville, Florida late on Sunday night.

Hope all is well in the U. S. of A.!

Paino Man

2010-03-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

Just when you think the internet can't get any better.

Greetings from Auckland

2010-03-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Dear East Coast American Readers,

Greetings from 17 hours in the future.

It is Monday morning in Auckland and I am about 1/2 way through my Spring Holiday visit to New Zealand so I thought I would give an update on some of my thoughts and some of my travels.

20 years ago a big part of traveling consisted of 1. Buying as many trinkets from the local stores as possible and 2. taking as many pictures of the local landscape to bring back home and show off what the Southern Hemisphere looks like. But since the creation of Ebay, Google Earth, and the WTO these activities no longer seem the best use of time abroad.

Thus I try to spend as much of my time interacting with the locals and learning the customs, the kind of things that are much harder to do by means of the internet (although ChatRoulette is now making this possible as well!)

Since arriving I have learned a couple of interesting customs that Kiwi follow that I am trying to get acquainted with. Here are a few...

1. After using the restroom (toilet as they call it) everyone puts warm water and soap on their hands then wipes their hands off on a paper towel.
2. Before drinking milk everyone grabs an empty glass and pours the milk into the glass and drinks from the glass instead of directly from the carton. Seems a bit wasteful but I am doing my best to fit in.
3. This one I am very good at. Nobody tips.
4. Nobody jay walks. There could be no cars in sight but almost everyone waits patiently for the light to give the walk signal. (This is quite different from NYC where everyone crosses if there is less than a 10% chance of getting hit by a car)....Okay I still Jay Walk sometimes but when I get to the other side I put my hands in the air and scream "EXTREME SPORTS URBAN STYLE." People often look at me funny...I guess Kiwi and Americans have that in common.

Other than trying to fit in with the custom all is well in the "Land of the Long White Cloud."

Any updates from the states? Please send to Blakehar@gmail.com

MPRE

2010-03-04T14:56:00.001-08:00

Spring break is here but before I can get on my flight to Auckland this Sunday I get to take the MPRE on Saturday.

I think this quote does a pretty good job describing the MPRE:

“Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.” ~ The Dali Lama

(For my non-law friends the MPRE is the multi-state professional responsibility part of the bar.)

How to Date a Lawyer

2010-03-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

About every 6 hours I scan everything that has been put on the internet. During todays search I came across the following article....

http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/how-to-date-a-lawyer

This may be an inspiration for a future post entitled: "How to Date a Law Student"

Chatroulette

2010-03-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

I was recently informed of this new online sensation called Chatroulette. You go to this website and get to video chat with some random person. If you don't like whom you are chatting with you just press next.

This kind of thing seemed immature, inappropriate, childish, and most of all a huge waste of time. So naturally, I proceeded to spend most of the past few days on Chatroulette.

Okay here is a quick caution: You are chatting with random people through the internet so it is inevitable you will run across somethings that are inappropriate but if you can get past this then Chatroulette can serve as an excellent tool for finding your future employer, spouse, and a source of most of the people I call friends.

Check it out for yourself at http://www.chatroulette.com/ and let me know your results.

1 Year anniversary

2010-03-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the one year anniversary of the BOBH I spent some time reviewing a handful of the post of the past year.

While reading through some of my older post I began to wonder how long it would take to read the entire blog. Seeing that there are 228 post and if on average a post takes two minutes to read then it would take about ten hours to read through all of the content. While I do not recommend anyone do this, I would like to share a link to what are three of my favorite post of the past year.

NYSE

My Confession

Idaho Billboard

10,000!!!!

2010-03-01T13:01:00.000-08:00

Today Monday March 1st 2010 at 3:48PM marks the historic event of the 10,000 page view of the BOBH!!!!

While I do not know who was the 10,000 viewer, the viewer was located on campus at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL.

Thank you for your readership. Look forward to celebrating the one year anniversary of the BOBH tomorrow. On our way to 20,000!

Warren Buffett annual letter 2010

2010-03-01T12:20:00.001-08:00

Warren Buffett annual letter 2010

The 2010 Sense-less

2010-03-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

The US constitution requires every 10 years that a nationwide census be taken. The idea behind the census is to determine the number of people living in every area of the United States so that resources (eduction/police/fire/health service etc.) are properly allocated throughout the United States.

The idea behind it is great, figure out where people are and make sure that everyone is provided with adequate services so that they do not fall behind the development of the rest of the country and can in the years to come serve as a benefit to society as opposed to a burden.

The problem with the census is the manner in which it is conducted.

Mailing out forms to each house and hoping people fill out the number of people who live there is an excellent way to more fully represent the areas of the country whom are in the least need of more resource.

The solution is simple.

Through the use of an established polling and statistics company perform a survey (not a census) of the number of people in different areas of the country.

The process would cost less than the current system and produce more accurate results.

Note: anonymous comments correcting spelling and grammar are always welcome.

Dumb-employment Rate

2010-02-24T16:26:00.000-08:00

Measuring the success of the economy by the employment rate or the number of jobs that have been created I have often thought to be one of the dumbest concepts.

The success of the economy is measured by how much wealth has been created not by how many people it takes to create that wealth.

If one person can invent a new system that creates the same amount of wealth it takes 10,000 people to create the economy is better off. The 10,000 people can now pursue other means of wealth creation.

The only requirement for the system to work is that once one individual has created the wealth it used to take 10,000 people to create is that adequate measures are in place to ensure that those people who are now unemployed are put in a position where they still have access to education, healthcare, and various other living requirements so that they may continue to contribute to the economy.

My Accent

2010-02-23T21:31:00.001-08:00

Throughout my life people have asked me where "my accent" is from. Here is the story...

I was born in South Africa in 1985 and lived there with my family until 1994. In 1994, when I was 9 years old, my family was forced to flee the country when a revolution nearly broke out. We decided to locate in the most northern place that would allow us to keep our home if the new South African government froze our assets and forced us into bankruptcy. This is how we landed in Jacksonville, FL and my family has been there ever since.

Five years later in 1999 it was clear the revolution was no longer a serious threat and our assets would not be taken by the government but Jacksonville had grown on my parents as a better place to raise their children.

Of course, South Africa still has its beautiful landscape and many of our friends are still there thus every year or two my dad and I will take a trip there to visit old friend, go snow boarding, and take a day or two to do some elephant hunting after paying a "special tax."

Of course none of this is true. Here is the story....

Actually I grew up and Russia until I was ten years old when we left because my younger brother was on track to be a professional baseball player and his money making potential was exponentially higher in the United States than the former Soviet Union.

No that is not true either. I am embarrassed to admit it but here is the story...

I grew up Sydney, Australia for the first six years of my life and left when my parents came to the United States to help work on President Clinton's campaign.

No that is not true either, my story is far less exciting. I was born just north of Seattle in the British Columbia province of "America Junior" and thus I simply have a Canadian accent.

And so the stories go on and on. I continued making up these stories for just over the first two decades of my life. I would tell these tales for two reasons:

1. It was fun! I was astonished at how easily I could convince anyone of some absolutely ridiculous stories. The more ridiculous the story the easier it was to convince people it was true. Seriously, I probably convinced many BOBH readers just a minute ago that my family used to bribe the South African government to go elephant.

2. It was easier and more believable than the true story.

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE STORY IS THIS: Other than Canada I have never even been to any of those places and my accent is definitely not Canadian. "My accent" is the result of some hearing problems I had when I was an infant. For the first two years of my life my hearing developed slowly and thus my speech developed differently.

I went to a small private school and was not the target of too much teasing but the fear was still in me and so for the first two decades of my life I made up stories about my accent. Finally, after 20 years of making up all kinds of incredible lies, in the summer of 2005 Sara Bray on my AIFS trip to Europe called my bluff when she kindly asked "which part of South Africa are you from?" Immediately I knew she knew I was not telling the truth and have for the most part never again told anyone anything but the truth about the origins of "my accent."

On an additional note, I have never noticed "my accent." The only reason I even know (or knew) I had an accent is because people would ask me "where is your accent from?" Based on the frequency of how often someone asks me I am certain it is fading. From Early Kindergarten until my Senior year of high school I attend the same small school so it was relative rare I would interact with someone new. Once I came to the University of Florida in 2004 and met tons of new people I would get asked almost every day of the origins of my speech, by my second year of undergraduate I was only asked about once a week, once I began law school I would only get asked about once a month, and now days I only get asked about it a few times a year with some people saying they don't even notice it.

My accent has faded as a result of just getting older but I think that the increased interaction with more and more people over the past six years has had a large impact on the disappearing of my accent. I suspect my accent will be practically unnoticeable by the time I am 30 and my South African heritage will be fully masked...

Pazza Bistro

2010-02-23T21:27:00.001-08:00

Tuesday night dinner at Pazza Bistro on Arhcer by Mochi. I would not want to write a negative review when someone else is picking up the tab so I will not be writing a review.

Curling

2010-02-20T07:22:00.000-08:00

Curling- Why am I obsessed with this game? What is it about watching someone slide a disc on ice that is so fascinating to me?

My best theory for what is causing my curling obsession is that the shuffling that takes places as the disc slides is mesmerizing. The fast paced motion of the brushing directly ahead of the disc cause our brains to focus in so closely we lose sight of everything else in our life.

Follow me on google buzz: Blakehar@gmail.com

Sake Cafe

2010-02-19T13:04:00.001-08:00

Friday lunch at Sake Cafe on Archer. My first time but I will be back.

Having it your way in Jacksonville

2010-02-18T14:48:00.001-08:00

1/2 Birthday

2010-02-17T11:23:00.000-08:00

Today, February 18th, is my half birthday. I am officially 24 1/2 years old or as I like to think of it I am only 37 1/2 years away from being able to collect social security.

While the BOBH is a non-partisan organization I would like to endorse Laurie Tyler Yonge of the Unite Party for, my former position of, the Law School Senate Representative.

The Tipping Point

2010-02-16T06:04:00.000-08:00

Last week I read The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (pictured below) by Malcolm Gladwell. While the book was loaded with interesting facts about things such as the falling crime rate in NYC during the 1980's, strategies for mitigating reckless teenagers behavior, and understanding how humans communicate the book is NOT a must read if your sole interest is learning how trends get sparked. Wikipedia can save you 6 hours and $9.11 (or $6 on a Kindle) by summarizing the book and explaining how trends take off.

If you would like to borrow The Tipping Point shoot me a text at 623-BlakeHa

Coffee Part 2

2010-02-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

Today I begin "my week without coffee or caffeine."

The purpose of this experiment is to see how badly I rely on my 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning and my 1-2 sodas/other forms of caffeine a week.

Looking for something to wake you up? Follow me on Google Buzz: Blakehar

How to Frat in your Last Semester of Law School

2010-02-09T11:02:00.000-08:00

How to Frat in your Last Semester of Law School.

20. Don't take classes before noon.
19. Respond that you will attend every event then never show.
18. Backpacks...get rid of them. (They are now classified with jean shorts and cargo shorts.)
17. Show how sophisticated you have become by making friends with someone from a different country.
16. If the professor does not take attendance do not show up.
15. End an interview with this line, "I've enjoyed our talk - I'm going to meet my friends at the Salty Dog - I hope you'll join me."
14. Get to know one of your professors...over a few cocktails.
13. Move out of the Frat house but leave a bunch of your stuff there so you have reason to go back all the time.
12. Take every class Pass/Fail
11. Only tell one or two people you got a job then have them go and tell everyone. This will get you double points. Once for getting a job and again for being humble about it.
10. Never wear collars.
9. Never wear ties.
8. Start a Blog about Fratting in Law School - cite "Above the Law," where appropriate, but only post on it 2 times ever.
7. In class, sit in front of your ex. Tell epic stories of frat-dom and take no notes. Then, with two weeks left in the semester, court her again solely to get her outlines.
6. Turn down the lucrative job that everyone knows you have (but that you told no one about) and start your own business.
5. Never read for class but never admit to not reading, when called on just say something that is not funny but is meant to communicate humor.
4. Write your seminar paper on "The effects of the American Legal System on Fratting."
3. Only talk to 1L's if they are girls and still not too many of them.
2. Get rid of the facebook profile picture with "random undergrad girl" and post a picture with a member of Congress. GOP members only, of course.
1. Get excited, less than 6 months until you are blogging about "How to Frat as a first year associate."

If you would like to receive an email each time the BOBH has a new post send your request to: Blakehar@gmail.com with the subject "Add me"

34th Street Wall

2010-02-09T05:56:00.000-08:00

When I first came to the University of Florida in the summer of 2004 I had a list of 3 goals to do before leaving Gainesville. They were....

1. Get on CollegeHumor.Com
2. Paint the 34th Street Wall
3. Complete my undergraduate degree

My dream of getting on College Humor was abandoned after one week at UF when I realized only high schoolers check out College Humor. My goal of graduating college was completed in the Summer of 2007.

Then finally yesterday morning I stopped and painted the 34th Street Wall.

My plan was to write in all caps "BOBH", but this task proved to take way too long so I stopped 1/2 way...scroll down to see the results.

Although not complete, my aspirations from 2004 have finally been satisfied.

BO

2010-02-09T05:35:00.000-08:00

Close up

2010-02-09T05:32:00.000-08:00

A few links worth glancing at

2010-02-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

Outdoor Equipment Bloopers

Professor Harrison's Blog

Justice Thomas article

Footprints

The Wiki Revelation

2010-02-02T14:09:00.000-08:00

The Wiki Revelation

Here is the truth: There is no "BOBH Wikipedia Controversy page," nor has there ever been. This is also true for the "original" "BOBH Wikipedia page." It is something I totally made up and I apologize for this. But due to the number of people searching Wikipedia for the "BOBH Wikipedia Controversy" it turns out there is now a wikipedia page entitled: "The BOBH Wikipedia Controversy Debunked."

If you would like to receive an email each time the BOBH has a new post send your request to: Blakehar@gmail.com with the subject "Add me"

Twitter Tuesday

2010-02-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Today I will Twitter EVERYTHING I do. Follow along on Twitter: Blakehar

Professor Wikipedia

Apples to Apples

2010-01-26T15:26:00.001-08:00

There is currently a serious threat to the future of our children that is being greatly ignored. It comes in a box and is being widely distrusted to men, women, and worst of all children. It is called "Apples to Apples" and it is a card game plaguing families all across the United States.

Instead of playing outside children are sitting at home making comparisons between unrelated subjects in a completely arbitrary manner. This "game" is contributing to both the obesity problem in the United States and the surging levels of CO2 throughout the world. Do you want your children wasting time thinking which is more similar to "Mother Teresa"... "The Indianapolis Colts" or "The Catcher in the Rye." No! You want your children learning new things from TV shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire and improving their reflexive skills by playing Doodle Jump.

If sales of this "game" continue at the current rate (for the next 750 years) then every house in North America will be so flooded with this "game" there will be no hope for future generations to do anything but eat, sleep, and move around boxes of Apples to Apples.

Find me on facebook: Blake Harris

Kinda cool...

2010-01-26T13:27:00.000-08:00

The Stimulus Tracker

Sexy Kinda.

2010-01-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Sexy kinda...no not really. This post is about research papers the title was just there to get your attention. I mean who would take time to read my analysis on research papers...well maybe if you are stuck in Copyright or something.

So now you are stuck. A little bait and switch and you can't make yourself stop reading mid-post. You may even be convinced you want to read about research papers but in truth you are afraid to admit clicking on the BOBH link today was a mistake, perhaps even logging on to facebook was the mistake, forget that why even bother turning on your computer...we both know you are not going to ever actually study off of the notes you take yourself. Go back to bed and do something worthwhile, give your brain some much needed REM.

That's it. I've done everything I'm going to do. I gave you a second chance to get out of reading this post. You are officially on your own...

Research Papers:

I'm not sure why we still do these things. Any topic you could think of has dozens of papers authored by people of much greater credibility than third year law students. Notice I say authored, most papers are actually written though by students of similar credentials.

Second, what is the truth? Back in 3rd grade I was assigned a paper on Paris, France ( a rather cryptic topic in hind sight). So to write the paper I went to the library got a few books and an encyclopedia and found out the facts.

Now a days things are much different. There are no true facts. Anything you can imagine there is a source for that (or as us Iphoners like to say, 'there is an app for that'). Want to write a paper that debates the moon landing? There are sources out there that will support the view that the moon has never existed.

And second, why torture the professors? Sure it is torture for the students but they love it...gives them more reasons to tell there friends reasons not to go to law school.

Plus any tenured professor wouldn't make the mistake of actually reading the entire paper for all of the students. And any professor that is going to stay around long enough to get tenured isn't reading them all.

Before I give you my solution let me remind you of all the good REM you could be getting.

My solution. 1 minute video clips. You got 60 seconds to make your point. That's it. Post them on the Internet. Let the whole world see the insights of the students at Levin High. Maybe a potential employer will like what they see and want an in person interview.

Have the videos be graded voluntarily by other students. Sure there will be some politicking but that happens in most classes as it is.

Maybe even students could get on 'Above the Law' if they spice it up a little, you know make it sexy...kinda.

Don't lose sleep over missing a BOBH update. Get on the BOBH listserve by sending an email with the subject "add me" to Blakehar@gmail.com

The BOBH Wikipedia Controversy

2010-01-13T07:52:00.001-08:00

Several months ago one of my loyal readers posted an article on Wikipedia about the BOBH. BOBH passed the original Wikipedia peer review but was later deleted by an anonymous source for an unknown reason. Later that day several other loyal readers again put up a BOBH article. This article was soon vandalized, reconstructed, and again deleted. Eventually the issue was fast tracked to the Wikipedia review board. The board decided that the BOBH is NOT ready for a Wikipedia page but the speed at which this controversy escalated to being received by the Wikipedia review board was unprecedented. In conclusion the Wikipedia review board decided that this controvery did merit its own page so Wikipedia's review board in its own capacity has posted a page named: The BOBH Wikipedia controversy.

Google Docs

2010-01-11T12:38:00.000-08:00

Here is your first (and probably only) BOBH Tuesday Tip.

Before it gets too late in the semester gather a few competent classmates and divide the days of the semester each of you will take notes then each night just post it as a google doc.

34643545

Dreams Part 2

2010-01-07T09:20:00.000-08:00

I first learned about lucid dreaming a few years ago when a friend turned me onto the movie The Waking Life. In short, lucid dreaming occurs when one recognizes they are dreaming then proceeds to explore their subconscious mind. Though I am still an amateur in the field of lucid dreaming I encourage other to check it out too.

If you have seen the movie HOME please check out the The Waking Life. If you have not seen the movie HOME, please check it out then go see The Waking Life.

If you would like to be the first to receive notification of a new post email me at Blakehar@gmail.com with the subject: "add me"

Dreams Part 1

2010-01-07T09:19:00.000-08:00

Dreams Part 1

Sine 2006 I have keep a journal of my dreams. For the first couple years this seemed like a waste of time. '
Writing blurbs like....

"I was on the way to high school and ate a bagel"
"I saw someone wearing a shirt that said 'we can't all be morning people' "
"I was playing cards at the zoo"

(and yes these are all true)

Analyzing any individual dream was about as useful as discussing the number of angels that can sit on the head of a pin (or the number of teenagers that can fit in a car). But when I looked back and read these together I gained a much greater understanding of my mind set at that time period then what was offered by my 'real' journal I have been keeping since 2nd grade.

This is an activity I will continue to do and encourage others to do so as well.

If you have trouble remembering your dreams all you have to do is before you go to sleep say to yourself out loud three times "remember your dreams" and I almost guarantee you by the third night you will remember your dreams. Alternatively, set your alarm clock for some random time (4:47AM) and wake up in the middle of a deep sleep and you should remember them.

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Lies my teachers taught me.

2010-01-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

Lies my teachers taught me.

There is little that angers me more than being lied to. When I think back on my 14 years at Bolles and 5 1/2 years at the University of Florida/Levin College of Law I remain extremely appreciative of all of the great wisdom and critical thinking skills that have been bestowed upon me. There have been occasional times when I have been either misinformed or outright lied to. Here are a few...

1. Ponce De Leon came to America in search of the fountain of youth.
How silly we were to believe this. Like most explorations he got financing because of a hope for a positive ROI. He was searching for gold and slaves.

2. Spending is good for the economy.
No! Producing is good for the economy. Spending is exactly what caused the great recession.

3. Meat is important to a healthy diet.
The meat industry managed to work some real magic to get into children's text books and create their food pyramid. A truly healthy diet consists of purely organic vegan food.

4. There is a list of rights guaranteed to you.
Nope. You either have unlimited rights to do as you please (though there may be legal consequences...you can still do as you please) or you effectively have only privileges and no rights. For more on this google: (japanese americans 1942)

5. The United States has a separation of church and state.
First off, no where in the constitution does it say there is to be a separation of church and state. Second, the majority of laws in the United States seem to obey more to the rules of religion than reason.

6. Listen to your parents.
Listen to them sure, but thinking for your self should be the real lesson we teach.

7. Don't talk to strangers.
Talk to strangers! Don't talk to the scary looking ones but any chance you get you should talk to strangers. Part of the reason I love public transportation is it gives me the opportunity to gain the perspective of someone new and different.

8. The encyclopedia can settle any argument.
That is it, nothing more to debate; Wikipedia said so. Seriously, even if something is printed in a book by a bunch of people with LLM's from the Ivy leagues does not mean that it cannot be false.

9. Never say anything bad about the President of the United States.
If we all had the philosophy about our leaders Ron Zook would still be head coach of the Florida Gators.

There must be a lot more out there. If you have any to contribute please comment below.

How to Make a Blog

2010-01-05T15:55:00.001-08:00

A few friends have told me they are considering starting their own Blog to which I always encourage them to do so.

Here are a few tips I have.

1. Choose a topic you enjoy.
Don't worry if it is unusual or doesn't seem cool...what is more unusual and less cool than a blog about...Blake Harris.

2. Update regularly

3. Keep your post short
Or at least keep some of them short. People will be afraid to check out today's post if they think it is going to take 30 minutes of their day regardless of how good the content is.

4. Make list

5. Recommend actions

6. Use Humor

7. Reconsider Blogspot
Blogspot is okay for fairly basic blogs but if you want to do some real cool stuff Blogspot may not be the best. Also if you are going to keep blogging for awhile it may be worthwhile to purchase your own domain name.

8. Don't be afraid to put things on the internet
Oh yes the "mean girls" fear. Something you write could come back to haunt you forever.
There is so much on the internet an occasional typo or a minority view point on a political issue is not going to end your career. A greater threat to your career is internet anonymity.

9. Sitemeter
Google it.

10. Be patient
It may take time for the appropriate crowd to find you.

11. Avoid top 10 list
It seems forced.

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Fasting

2010-01-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

Back in 10th Grade my English teacher Mr. Creter would often discuss how about once a month he would fast for 36 hours. From sundown on Monday until sunrise on Wednesday. He claimed fasting would cleans the soul and that you should think of your body like a radiator that should be turned off once a month and flushed out with water.

Although I did not fully understand Mr. Creter's radiator analogy, the concept of fasting struck me as interesting and it is a practice I have attempted to continue.

Today I will again attempt to fast for 36 hours. I have only done this twice before once in 10th grade and once before my 2L year.

For more about the benefits of fasting click here.

New Years Resolution

2009-12-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

Among the very few things I have done in my life that are good for me is the practice of setting a new years resolution.

For 2010 my goal is to: "land my dream job." Or perhaps just one that I am content with.

It is an usual new years resolution in that it could be accomplished in the first month of the year and I feel like a new years resolution should take most or all year to accomplish but given that I am finally finishing school in May this should be the focus of a great deal of my efforts.

Now the list that follows are my previous new years resolutions, that I can recall, and there respective success rates.

2009: Learn Spanish
Result: Epic fail. Listened to the CDs a few times and had one Spanish dinner but abandoned all hope by spring break.

2006: Have 1 glass of milk a day
Result: Close, but it was effective in incorporating much more calcium into my diet.

2002:No soda.
Result: Pretty much a complete success. (Well, there was that one visit to the Sigma Chi house on a game day but that doesn't really count.)

2001: Run 1000 miles
Result: pretty far shy of a 1000 but got me to keep jogging.

I'll be heading to New Orleans tomorrow for New Years and the Sugar Bowl. Send me a text if you are in the area and would like to meet up: 623-BlakeHa

Unretired?!

2009-12-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

Head Coach of the Florida Gators Urban Meyer has now stated he will not be retiring but rather taking a one year leave of absence. Meyer looks forward to healing his body while taking time to spend with his family and enjoying activities such as fly fishing, snow skiing, and mountain hiking while he resides in the southern part of Ontario, CA for all of 2010.

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Urban Meyer Retires

2009-12-26T17:51:00.000-08:00

It has been a very tragic year for all of us. The great recession continues leaving millions unemployed, Copenhagen failed to produce a binding agreement to limit CO2 emissions, and now Head Coach Urban Meyer announced his intention to retire after the Sugar Bowl on January 1st, 2010.

According to some sources Meyer's role was an antitrust violation having the main student center named the J. Wayne Reitz Union, President of the University Bernie Machen, and the head coach of the football team all members of the same fraternity.

Other sources have stated Meyer's retirement was due to his health problems.

The health problems allegedly stem from a few weeks ago when Urban Meyer became dehydrated after losing to Alabama in the SEC game. Had the Gators won and the team appropriately poured the kooler on him this would have never occured...after all that is why they pour the kooler on the coach, to keep him from getting dehydrated.

Furthermore, Meyer stated he was concerned about trying to receive health care under the recently passed Obama-care and thus will soon be relocating to Tronto.

Meyer stated he plans to spend his retirement with other members who intend to permanently retire from the sport John Madden, Bobby Bowden, and Tim Tebow.

Lastly, there remains the question of did the VC firm who put money down on FireUrbanMeyer.com receive a positive ROI?

If you would like to receive an email for each new BOBH send an email with the subject "add me" to: Blakehar@gmail.com

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An Appealing Christmas.

2009-12-25T16:03:00.000-08:00

Last December I purchased two copies of John Grishman's The Appeal (picture below) and gave one to my mom to read and kept one for myself to read. This Christmas a humble 365 days later I finally finished the book. This was the third Grishman book I have read and ranks second, ahead of The Street Lawyer and behind The Brethren.

Originally I bought the book just to learn what the term "appeal" meant prior to graduating from law school. After reading the novel I found the plot to be rather enjoyable. Most reviews I have heard criticized the ending but I felt, for a change, Grishman's managed to conclude his book in a manner that was rather appealing.

For my seminar paper was it okay to site to the:

2009-12-18T07:32:00.000-08:00

For my seminar paper was it okay to site to the Blog of Blake Harris? I originally feared this may seem a little circular but because I was not actually citing to myself but rather a website that I contribute to I felt that it would be appropriate. Think about it, is every person who contributes to Wikipedia excluded from referencing a Wikipedia article?

Well that is it. My last fall semester at UF is over. I turned in my International Financial Crimes paper this morning and am off to Bradenton/Lakeland for the weekend before making it home to Jacksonville on Sunday. I believe the paper to be fairly entertaining and very persuasive but too long to be posted on the BOBH. Nonetheless, I would be excited to share it with anyone who may be interested in reading it as I am always looking for feedback on my views.

If you would like to read my International Financial Crimes seminar paper please email me at: Blakehar@gmail.com

Goddle

2009-12-13T16:54:00.000-08:00

Goddle- The belief that Google is God.

It is true. Google is all knowing and all powerful and here is the proof;

Through the various Google service available (Gmail, Google Searches, Google text, Google Voice, Google Documents, Blogspot, Google Wave, etc.) Google is able to collect and amass an incredible amount of data about you.

Google is able to learn more about you then you even know about yourself. Through an application of statistics based on the data Google has collected, Google could more accurately predict then you may be able to which state bar you are going to take and the likeliness of you passing the bar.

Google is able to understand public opinion and follow the reaction to popular stories better than any survey company.

The results of the 2010 congressional election will be known to Google long before election night. So called undecided voters will have their decision determined long before election night.

And what's next?

Google looks to buy companies that meet the following criteria:
1. Little to no tangible assets.
2. Access to database of information.

My prediction is Netflix or some live stream only version of a video rental company.

Lastly a little praise to Goddle...

Google has been rumored to begin a legal database creating a free LexisNexis/Westlaw. My regards Bonita.
Google has also been rumored to begin investments in electric companies...Let there be light!

Care to share any other Google rumors? Call my Google Voice at 623-BlakeHa

Y3K

2009-12-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

Why isn't anyone freaking out about the turn of the next decade? Isn't there going to be widespread panic when all of the computers reset in 23 days and say it is the year 2000 again?

The Case against Tom's Shoes.

2009-12-06T22:20:00.000-08:00

As I understand it the basic deals with Tom's shoes is this; someone buys a pair of shoes in a wealthy country someone gets a free pair of shoes in a poor country.

Sounds great right? No, it is a bad plan and here is why...

Tom shoes could do any of the following instead of giving away shoes.

1. Increase profit to the shareholders.

Shareholders have more incentive to keep the business afloat.

2. Decrease the price to customers.

Customers would provide more support to keep the business in operation.

3. Give aid to some of the poorer areas of the world.

Wait isn't this what TOMS shoes already does? Well, kind of but not really. TOMS shoes is giving something to these poor countries but I don't think at the top of the list of things they want is some tacky footwear. Most of these people are more concerned about water, food, basic medication, and education. If TOMS shoes would like to do something truly charitable they can simply contribute a monetary donation (equivalent to the cost of shoes they are giving away) and allow the people to choose for themselves what they want.

If footwear is what they need then I don't think TOMS shoes is really the answer. The cost of material that goes into making 1 pair of TOMS shoes could probably be used to purchase a dozen less expensive shoes that Blake Mycoskie could be given away.

So what should TOMS shoes do with all the extra shoes? Sell them for top dollar and sprinkle the proceeds as desired among the 3 categories above.

What has Tom's Shoes done well? Marketing. Although misleading quite successful.

Ex-Scam-Soft

2009-12-03T09:35:00.001-08:00

It seems I have been a little grumpy lately, complaining about both arbitrary class participation points and inadequate exam styles, and yet again today I have another thing that grinds my gears....ExamSoft.

ExamSoft is a computer program that all students at Levin Law who would like to use a computer to take their exam are required to purchase. The cost is $25 each year and the program is not compatible with Mac's or Linux...aka all hail Microsoft.

Lets do a little math. 1,100 students pursuing a JD at Levin Law * $25 a student = $27,500.

There are a few options the law school could take to get around this program. (Note: If either option #1 or #2 is implemented students would no longer be required to purchase any computer through out their law school experience.)

1. Allow students to take their exams on the undergraduate campus where there are quiet computer rooms intended solely for exams.

2. Take the $27,500 and buy 200 computes that allow for word processing only and let students utilize these computers for exams.

or my favorite option...

3. Have any student with a rudimentary knowledge of computer programing invent a similar program to ExamSoft then charge students $15 to use the program and wire the money to my account.

#3 is a win-win situation as far as I am concerned.

If you have any win-win ideas to share send me a text message at: 623-BlakeHa

Eco-Lies

2009-12-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

Would you lie to save yourself $100?
Would you lie to make a million dollars?
What if you had to lie to save a friends life?
Or to save your kids life?
(If you just take your medicine Santa will bring you wonderful gifts this year.)

What about exaggerating a claim or trying to ignore someone else's argument to do all four of the above points?

If some of the world's top scientist truly believe that a threat is so imminent and the only way to prevent a global catastrophe is to exaggerate their claim then are their actions all that different from a parent who lies to their kid to get them to take their medicine?

I am not indicating that dishonesty should be condoned by any means but I am going to say that often people have genuinely altruistic motives in mind when they overstate their own claim or suppress someone else's point of view.

As with any large scale debate there exists false claims, distracting points, and exaggerated information on both sides of the debate. There also exist large incentives to be correct on both sides.

Despite any of the above, the focus of any debate should not center around each side's incentives to be correct nor the misstatements of certain individuals but rather the strength of the known facts and the results of various courses of action.

If you would like to be emailed each new BOBH post send an email to: Blakehar@gmail.com with the subject "Add me"

The Myth of Energy Efficient Products and the Environment.

2009-12-02T10:20:00.000-08:00

One of the most confusion issues about the environment is the misconception that energy efficient products can save the planet.

Switching from a car that gets 8 miles to the gallon to a car that gets 30 miles a gallon but still burns petroleum will have the same ultimate effect on the planet. Releasing CO2 at a slower rate will have the same catastrophic effects as burning CO2 at the current rate...the only potential difference is a matter of a few months. The same is true for using less electricity at home and at work. If humans reduce the amount of coal they burn by 10,20, or even 50% but continue to burn every last piece of coal on earth our "efforts" to save the planet is analogous to rearranging the seat on the titanic. The truth is energy efficient products won't save the planet, eco-friendly energy will. In order to actually save the planet humans must find and use exclusively an alternative clean energy. An energy that neither releases CO2 nor can be exhausted. To Change the outcome the change must start at the source.

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A Quick Comment on Exams

2009-11-30T21:53:00.000-08:00

There are 2 types of exams that are appropriate.

1. 100% open book/note
2. 100% closed

Anywhere in between becomes a incredible waste of student's study time trying to conform outside information into "their own notes." Study time should not be spent preparing notes but rather spent learning the information. Partially opened book exams that allow a single sheet of paper or only the rule book to be used results in students wasting time and often a blurring of the line between obeying the honor code and not.

On an unrelated note, does anyone else at Levin High have an unusual urge to go to TGI Fridays tonight?

My thoughts on Class Participation as part of your Grade.

2009-11-30T09:11:00.001-08:00

I think it makes perfect sense to have professors raise or lower your grade based on the level of your participation throughout the semester.

Think about it...during a trial the jury does not just look at the evidence presented during the trial in reaching a verdict. Any respectful jury will think "While the prosecution proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt, it is clear the defense spent much more effort in preparing for the trial so we should find the defendant NOT GUILTY."

Christmas is almost here. Order a BOBH 2010 Survival Guidebook now and receive free shipping. Send request and address to Blakehar@gmail.com. First 100 orders will receive a signed copy.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone...

2009-11-24T10:41:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, Thanksgiving one of the holidays that is celebrated exclusively by Americans. Also one of the few holidays that falls on a certain day of the week as opposed to a certain date. How clever we are to create a holiday that guarantees not one but two days off every year.

Thanksgiving has never been less than entertaining in the Harris household but if you are looking to spice things up on your turkey day here are a few suggestions.

9. Come dressed as a Turkey.
8. Convince someone under the age of 10 that one of the relatives steals things around the house, then sit back and watch your little cousin spy on your uncle.
7. Don't say what you are thankful for...sing it!

6. Raise your hand and see if someone calls on you.
5. Have a competition with your brother to see how many times each of you can say "meow" at the table without getting noticed.
4. Laugh hysterically every time someone says "Gravy"

3. Act offended anytime someone says "Turkey."
2. Make up ridiculous facts about the law.
1. Ask your grandma if the room smells like "Up Dog"

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Celebrate the Season

2009-11-22T13:19:00.000-08:00

With one remaining football game prior to the SEC championship and the smell of fried turkey and family members just days away it is becoming increasingly difficult to deny exam season is officially here.

Yes the wonder that is exam season. Slowly books start disappearing off the shelf at the library, professors begin avoiding students more than they do the rest of the semester, even the most relaxed 1L's start to act a little scared, voice mails and text messages relating to class are mysteriously lost, facebook profile become deactivated and those that remain are used primary to showcase the widespread exam-panic, the demand for sunlight plummets while the demand for caffeine skyrockets, and the thought of a relaxing winter break seems to be only a fantasy.

With this chaotic fever that is rapidly taking over Levin Law, and most of the law schools throughout the nation, I would like to remind BOBH readers of a few things...

1. This is not the most important thing in your life.

We all know this but probably are not remind often enough.

2. Sleep.

If you want to learn you need to be able to concentrate. If you want to have your best concentration you need sufficient sleep.

3. Good karma can do more for you then good grades.

If you would like some good karma please send your best outline for the following classes to Blakehar@gmail.com

Antitrust with Harrison
Patent with Rowe
White Collar Crime with Seigel
Evidence with Malavet

Unconventional Resume Wisdom

2009-11-17T10:41:00.000-08:00

1. Comfort is key.

No matter how many people you have look over your resume someone will continue to change and unchange things. Follow the guidelines, but keep it as you feel comfortable. If you are not confident with how it looks you will likely be uncomfortable when an interviewer asks about your resume. At the end of the day you want both your success and failures to be a product of your own decisions. This is true for resumes, attire, and pretty much everything you do.

2. Have an interest section.

Often you are already qualified by the time of the interview and the reason for an interview is just a personality test. If a fair portion of time is spent discussing your ability to survive 6 weeks in the Amazon rain forest it may give an indication that you could adapt to the companies environment.

3. Post in on the internet.

If you haven't already got Linkedin, get it. Then post your experiences on the Internet. It shows you are confident and honest about your achievements.

Any other unconventional resume? Comment below or send me an email at Blakehar@gmail.com