What About Paris? ™

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March 29, 2018

105 Things Long-Divorced Yank Lawyers Know.

Paris 1952: Willy Maywald, Mannequin en tailleur quai Saint-Michel.

1. Never swive anyone named Zoe, Brigit or Natasha.

2. Let no one leave anything at your house.

3. Don't buy cheap shoes.

4. Shoe trees. Cedar. The most expensive.

5. Sorry. The Havard Bluebook is always important.

6. British women don't really like British men.

7. Have a coworker in same room if you interview someone.

8. Completely legal interviews are not very informative.

9. Don't jump to hire law grads with blue collar backgrounds. Some think they've arrived and are done.

10. Women make better associate lawyers.

11. On documents Rules 34 and 45 do different things. Know what.

12. If you travel, cats not dogs.

13. Very attractive women think they're ugly.

14. Very attractive men are delusional.

15. Irish, Welsh, Finnish and Afro-American women are totally and forever in charge. They are heroes.

16. A disproportionate number of Irish people are drunks.

17. A disproportionate number of Irish people are verbally and lyrically gifted.

18. Jewish doctors do not get Irish, English or German drunks. Have a cookie instead?

19. Jews and Italians are the best drinkers. They have rules. They have the genes.

20. The Jews really are it. Consistently awesome and world-changing tribe for 2500 years.

21. Well-dressed Russian women are cheap, treacherous and insane.

The Cardsharps, Caravaggio, c. 1594

22. Most lawyers dislike being lawyers. It shows.

23. Lawyers are less well-rounded every decade.

24. Super-smart and super-nice kids--without lots more--make lousy lawyers.

25. There are at most 35 truly excellent American colleges and universities. It shows when you meet their grads.

27. Parisian men are not as insecure, jealous or violent as other men. Let's just talk about this, Luc, okay?

28. Never be impressed by Phi Beta Kappas.

29. Always be impressed by Marshall scholars, Rhodes scholars and Wesleyan grads.

30. Have at least 4 impeccable suits. They should be expensive but need not be tailored.

31. Don't wear bow ties every day. Almost every day is fine.

32. Cuffs on all long pants except jeans and tuxes. Khaki? Summer only.

33. Twice a month you should dress like a pimp from a New Orleans whorehouse.

34. Saabs can be driven forever. They like to go fast.

35. Know who you are. Learn if you can family history back 8 generations at least.

36. Talk to people on elevators. All of them.

37. Don't do Europe with other Americans.

38. Just 2 cats.

39. Most people are very happy going through life as Turds. Get used to it.

40. When in Rome, do as many Romans as you can. ~ Hugh Grant, Brit actor

41. Always attribute--especially when you think no one will notice. They do.

42. Sometimes more than one person thinks up the same unique thing.

43. Don't let people tell you who you are.

44. The Internet teems with folks telling you what you must do/think/say/write. Get off your knees.

45. Always talk to jurors post-verdict.

46. One juror will always surprise you big time. Learn who that is before you close.

47. Don't communicate in any manner ever with that one female juror who seemed to like you a lot.

48. Women are meaner, more vindictive and more treacherous than men.

49. The dumbest woman is 100 times more complex than the smartest man.

50. Most men are easy to suss. Not much going on with most of them.

51. Rule 36, Fed.R.Civ.P., my friend.

52. Rule 56(d) is misunderstood.

53. Civil RICO is an unintended consequence.

54. Seldom watch television.

55. Dads don't get a pass for merely siring. So what?

56. All moms suffer.

57. Your mom is your best friend.

58. Buenos Aires has the best-looking people on this planet.

59. Lovemaking probably cannot be learned.

60. Love can be learned.

61. There are no lapsed or recovering Catholics. This is not bad.

62. Jewish women rarely have great legs.

63. Japanese woman have the best legs.

64. Jewish women are good lovers.

65. Japanese women are the best helpmates.

66. Hopelessly insane WASP women are the best lovers.

67. Fewer people should become parents or lawyers.

68. Brown shoes go well with grey suits. No one knows why.

69. Your handkerchief should never match your tie.

70. We need to bring suspenders back.

71. Being right is expensive.

72. The Dutch have no use for Italians.

73. Most Italians view Germans as classless.

74. The English diss anyone who is not English. This will not stop.

75. The French are playful.

76. The Irish are playful, but in a different way.

77. Women in Prague are not playful.

78. Trust no one in Budapest.

79. Don't tell people you just met your problems. They don't care. They shouldn't care.

80. Copy someone on every letter.

81. "Never write a letter. Never throw one away."

82. Many Jewish men are overly-suspicious. There's a good reason for this. Work with it.

83. Irish guys talk too much. There's no reason for it. Work with it.

84. Keep an open mind. Your cat could be an ET.

85. Be nice to important people who just had a downfall. Don't pile on. They'll be back.

86. Beware of the lily white.

88. Beware of people with no enemies.

89. Tighten up, like Archie Bell & The Drells.

90. Jimmy Page & Eric Clapton worked a lot harder than you did.

91. 100% screaming in-your-face male homosexuals are not okay. Tell them to fuck off.

92. 100% screaming in-your-face religious evangelists are not okay. Tell them to fuck off.

93. Persian women make too much noise.

94. There are 3128 people worldwide who can drink or say the word "fuck" properly. You're not one of them.

95. "Dogs have owners. Cats have staff."

96. Nothing is more important than a first kiss.

97. Lots of women kiss badly.

98. Write hand-written thank you notes.

99. The Arts are "central to life, rather than an add-on, like some set of alloy wheels." --Julian Barnes.

100. Coffee and sugar drive Everything.

101. Ritual and trivia are important.

103. Try not to raise ritual and trivia to an art form.

104. Little things are important. Figure out which ones.

105. Zimmerman was right. You gotta serve somebody.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2018

Av. Winston-Churchill, 8th Arrondissement.

A photo from Paris-based A Clear Blue Sky.

Winston Churchill in front of the Petit Palais, Av. Winston-Churchill, 8th Arrondissement.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2018

Ray Mungo: Famous Long Ago.

Released in 1970, "Famous Long Ago: My Life and Hard Times with Liberation News Service" is still the funniest and wisest read on the mostly failed revolution of the 1960s. Ray Mungo was a co-founder of the Liberation News Service, the counterculture's own wire service used by hundreds of underground and campus newspapers. He was also of the few leaders spawned by the anti-war movement of the 1960s who refused to take himself too seriously. Now in his early seventies, he has authored over a dozen books.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2018

Irish.

This is a week for The Irish. We drink pretty poorly but write pretty well. The Romans were afraid of us. We’re Druid & Pagan at heart. Catholicism made lots of us nuts. And a tad 3rd World. But we were 1st-rate Oppressors once we got to America & Australia. We’re improving.

Posted by JD Hull at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2018

Happy 96th Birthday Jack Kerouac.

Mad to live.

Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac
March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969
American Novelist, Poet, Trailblazer.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:46 AM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2018

More on Trumpism?

“The idea was never to elect/not elect/approve/disapprove of Donald Trump as POTUS in the short-term (4 to 8 years). The idea is what Trumpism and any movement like it can do to restore the West to cultural sanity in the next 50 years or more.”

—Some Boomer WASP

Posted by JD Hull at 01:21 PM | Comments (0)

Real Religion: Buenos Aires.

Headmistress, Mystery School, 2004

Posted by JD Hull at 12:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2018

America Morning Tweet.

America may very well be the last hope for survival of The West. There is still some Speech here. If our culture wars—pitting the Merit-Centric against the Equality-Centric—get worse, how many of you fire-breathing partisans are willing to take the fight to our streets & fields?

Posted by JD Hull at 07:54 PM | Comments (0)

March 07, 2018

Mayflower, 1925 Edition.

I like old smaller hotels. But there is nothing quite like The Mayflower on Connecticut & DeSales, NW. The lobby is long and huge (bigger than most city blocks) but pitched to human scale. Just in a room Charles Lindbergh once spoke in. Opened in 1925.

Posted by JD Hull at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2018

Cross-border arbitration rules for international business disputes.

Want something you can use now, GCs, in-house and firm litigation shops? Three years ago, New York City-based CPR (International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution) released its Rules for Administered Arbitration of International Disputes for use in cross-border business disputes. I was introduced to CPR years ago by Michael McIlwarth, a well-known in-house GE lawyer, author and expert on cross-border resolution based in Florence, Italy. As an organization and a resource, CPR is a general counsel's dream. It champions super-quick, efficient and sane resolution of business-to-business disputes internationally. One of the best-kept secrets in international business litigation.

Posted by JD Hull at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

"Vas you ever in Zinzinnati?"

Good morning, Buckeyes. Well, to be fair, The Pretenders' classic "My City Was Gone" (better known by its snarky, ironic refrain "Hey Ho/Way to go/Ohio") in the live recent performance below is about the Akron-Cleveland megapolis in northeastern Ohio where the band's leader, Chrissie Hynde, grew up the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1982 song, Hynde complains about the environmental and other damage that industrialization eventually did over the decades to the region and her "pretty countryside".

Things got better, though, by the end of the 1980s. As in the similar case of steel-making Pittsburgh, Ohio's northeast reinvented itself as a center of business services, banking, smaller busineses, health care, sports and even the arts. And Cleveland, of course, is the Rock 'n Roll Capital of the World. But the rust belt still starts here, and anyone can see the scars on the land: a reminder of the area's historical importance in as a blue collar stronghold in shipping, refining, processing, and automobile parts manufacturing, and the social price paid for it.

"My City was Gone" is not about or directed at Cincinnati, which was the last of several hometowns I had growing up in the Midwest. Cincy is more white collar--it has always been primarily a town of professionals and business people. It is also smaller, more conservative, and less industrial than Akron-Cleveland. It's civilized and pretty, if nothing else. Also, it actually sits on the Mason-Dixon line. The Queen City, with its rolling topography, forested hills and bluffs overlooking the Ohio River, is on the northern edge of the American South, tucked away in the extreme southwest corner of Ohio. It's more relaxed than other Northern cities. Cincinnati people speak with a faint southern drawl.

In their own ways, of course, Cleveland and Cincinnati are unique, vibrant and great American towns. But we do think that in a fight between these two cities--you know, like a fist fight in the street as in days gone by--that gritty and blustery Cleveland would beat up smart, respectful Cincinnati. (Yeah, we think about these things, including who could beat up who in the office.) Chrissie Hynde? She lives mainly in London these days. Finally, "Vas you ever in Zinzinnati?" is a book by Dick Perry, a great Cincinnatian. Now that we have all that straight, many thanks to one-time Buckeye Ray Ward for his fine ear and generosity.

Akron's Chrissie Hynde laments the loss of her past Ohio in a powerful rock anthem she's performed for thirty years and only she can make work.

Cincinnati's famous Over-the-Rhine district, an architectural and multicultural wonder of nearly 900 older buildings in one 'hood.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2018

Irving: On Revision.

Half my life is an act of revision.

--John Irving (1942-)

Posted by JD Hull at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)

Season 4: "1 Night, 1 Person” for the Winter Homeless.

You say you would really like to help the urban homeless on both cold and super-cold Northeastern and Midwestern nights? Both plain cold and the bitterly cold, often unpredictable nights that many cities are prepared to accommodate more homeless residents at shelters but for a number of reasons (both good and bad) thousands of Americas's rough sleepers take their chances outside?

Good. So see our inaugural post about our One Night, Person (March 5, 2015) campaign and our follow-up March 7, 2015 post. No, we don't have time to go over all of this again; we're working stiffs like you. Just read the posts.

Once again, and in short, here is the idea and the rules:

You're a Yuppie, professional or other generic dweeb between the ages of 22 and 82.You live in towns like New York City, Philly, Boston, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Wilmington, DC or Chicago. Or similar cities in Europe. Or Asia. Generally? Think Northern Hemisphere. Planet Earth. Wherever Yuppies roam. You may live in the suburbs or in a downtown neighborhood of these cities. But if you work during the day in a downtown area of any of them, you and yours will go forth and do this:

1. Pick out and ask a homeless woman or man what articles of warm clothing she or he needs that you already have at home or in storage--thermal gloves, wool scarfs, warm hats and beanies, big sweaters, winter coats, thermal underwear, socks, etc.

2. Ask just one person at a time.

3. Agree on a time to meet (preferably at the same place) later that day or the next day.

4. Find the iwinter stuff you have at home or in storage.

5. Bring said stuff to the homeless woman or man as agreed.

6. Nine out of ten times, your new friend will be there when you show up.

7. Wait for forecasts of the next super-cold night--and repeat.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:34 AM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2018

Ah, Zürich.

Mann, Joyce, Jung, Wagner and Einstein each lived here in District 1. Zürich, first established as a Roman customs post, and now a truly global city, also claims a living and breathing Tina Turner, unless she left since my last visit four years ago. Not Paris-beautiful or London-exciting, but solid, reliably Western-style commercial, and nearly too North American by the year 2000.

Posted by JD Hull at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2018

Happy 250th, Daniel Hull Sr.

Daniel E. Hull Sr. Born & died in Middlebrook, Augusta County, Virginia.
(March 2, 1768 - January 11, 1854)

Posted by JD Hull at 08:03 PM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2018

P&G’s Big John

Near the end of his career, 2 younger P&G exec friends spotted him leaving work on the down escalator about 4:00 PM on a weekday. This happened:

“Jesus, John, this is P&G. Headquarters. Half-day for you?”

“Hi guys. I would have left a lot earlier but I feel asleep at my desk.”

John Daniel Hull III
May 17, 1928 - December 27, 2012

Posted by JD Hull at 09:20 AM | Comments (0)