"From strength to strength"

Recent post in Newsbreak on the Chief Justice's public pronouncements. Read here.

He reigns!

There are some songs that just blow you away. When I heard this one sometime back, it did.

The Newsboys, He Reigns.

Mad World, Redux

Two versions of the same song. The same message though.

Mad World
(Roland Orzabal)

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cos I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me



Tears for Fears





Gary Jules




Still and all, in a mad, mad world, there is this promise that remains true: "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:10) It is a promise of hope, of restoration, of abundance and of true joy. It is a promise I take comfort in, for it comes from the only one who is important and the only who should matter.

That Hah-vahd thing

Apparently, I have friends from abroad and also from the country who read my blog and also know the subject of my previous post and also HLS. Suffice it to say, I've gotten my fair share of ribbing and also a lot of information (from my students, current and previous) about the background leading to the commencement address. Suffice it to say that, instead of res ipsa loquitur (the thing speaks for itself), it is apparently a case of "there is more than meets the eye" in this Oscar Tan thing.

I cannot reveal though what has been sent to me because a lot of them, even if true, would be defamatory. Apparently, Oscar elicits the same reaction everywhere he is--either you like him or you don't. But the hidden story behind the Harvard commencement address of 2007 is apparently more interesting and funnier than the actual fact that Oscar Tan was "selected" to give it.

Oscar at Hah-Vahd

Since the "advanced" copy of his speech came out--wonder how it got leaked and who leaked it--and started to make the rounds of the email groups, those who know him and know me have been asking me what I thought of it. It, being Oscar Tan addressing his Hah-vahd graduating class.

My honest answer: I'm happy for him and I'm happy for his family.

Oscar Tan is a gifted writer, not so gifted in social or relational skills, but definitely a gifted writer--and it shows in his speech, which is so Oscar (if you've ever read what he has written, you know what I mean).

Congratulations Oscar, sincerely.

Hopefully, those nameless peasants and farmers who bore our legal education can start being paid back though by us, with undersubsidized U.P. and overpriced Hah-Vahd degrees*, through quality legal service rendered free and willingly. A first step perhaps would be to leave the current firm you're in right now and perhaps start treading the ground trod by those nameless peasants and farmers who bore our legal education? Practicing the law from the ground up or at ground level. Now, that would be putting an overpriced Hah-Vahd degree to good use and that would be practicing law in the grand (whatever that means)** manner.


* Disclaimer: I do not have a Hah-Vahd degree; I don't intend to get one. I do have a UP degree, which I am extremely proud of and which, pound for pound, I sincerely believe, despite everything, is worth more than an overpriced Hah-Vahd degree not only for what it gave me in terms of legal education but for what it did not give me but allowed me to look for, in terms of learning about law and lawyering for the people--lawyering from the ground up.

** The U.P. College of Law quite pompously advertises in granite in its lobby that "The purpose of a Law school is not sufficiently described by saying it is to teach law and to make lawyers but it is to teach law in the grand manner and to make great lawyers." It is a quote attributed to Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the U.S. Supreme Court (the same Justice who advocated eugenics in Buck v. Bell); it fails to sufficiently define what "grand" manner means, thereby leading to a surfeit of interpretations.

One of those sing-along songs

When I first heard this song, I sang along (got a lot of the lyrics wrong at first; but eventually when I did get the lyrics right, they proved to be pretty good). This is one of those feel-good songs where you don't need a context but just an excuse to sing along.


Brighter than Sunshine (Live) by Aqualung



I never understood before
I never knew what love was for
My heart was broke, my head was sore
What a feeling

Tied up in ancient history
I didn't believe in destiny
I look up you're standing next to me
What a feeling

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine
Brighter than sunshine
Let the rain fall, I don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine
Suddenly you're mine
And it's brighter than sunshine

I never saw it happening
I'd given up and given in
I just couldn't take the hurt again
What a feeling

I didn't have the strength to fight
Suddenly you seemed so right
Me and you
What a feeling

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine
It's brighter than sunshine
Let the rain fall, I don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine
Suddenly you're mine

It's brighter than the sun
It's brighter than the sun
It's brighter than the sun, sun, shine.

Love will remain a mystery
But give me your hand and you will see
Your heart is keeping time with me

What a feeling in my soul
Love burns brighter than sunshine
It's brighter than sunshine
Let the rain fall, I don't care
I'm yours and suddenly you're mine
Suddenly you're mine

I got a feeling in my soul ... [repeat chorus to end]