Putting my knowledge of the US Justice System to the test in a Real Courtroom
So I have never been in a courtroom in Australia, but today I had my first experience in a US court and was impressed by how much American TV had taught me about the US justice system.
The background : Joshua’s car was towed from outside of our house for being "within 5 feet" of our neighbour’s driveway.
Apparently police do not cite cars for blocking driveways in residential areas unless a resident complains.
We are on friendly terms with our neighbor and it would have been faster for him to pop in and ask us to move the car of it was blocking his driveway than to call the police and he claims he never called the police about our car.
We didn’t believe that we blocked the driveway or that we were within 5 feet .
So Josh headed off to the preliminary hearing as I hummed Beastie Boys refrains of "I’m gonna Fight, for my Right". He returned disgruntled after being told that he would have to go to court and get a judge to make a decision.
Things are now at a point where the costs are starting to add up – he had so far cranked up the cost of the ticket and towing, time off work for the preliminary hearing, future time off work for the hearing and potential court costs if he lost.
However his sense of justice (and bloody-mindedness) meant that he wanted to go to court, have the police officer explain himself and have the opportunity to have a judge decide.
At this stage our chances looked slim – but as we reviewed the ticket printout from the preliminary hearing, we noticed that the police officer had stated that Joshua was on the opposite side of the driveway from where he actually was and that the rear of the car was blocking the driveway.
My limited knowledge of the US justice system acquired from Judge Judy and Law and Order, along with my compassion for hardworking police instilled by "The Bill", helped me come up with the following hypothesis :
Someone else was blocking our neighbour’s driveway on the RHS
By the time the police officer arrived they had left
He booked us because there was no other car
He got sloppy in his paperwork and wrote down the wrong side of the driveway on our ticket possibly using the original complaint as the wording
Having a witness always helps, so I should attend the hearing
Josh and I headed down to the court today to explain that the ticket was wrong and find out first-hand how the justice system worked.
Observations of Court:
1.No-one screams at each other as in Judge Judy’s court nor do they laugh as much – wow maybe that bit is just for TV entertainment value
2.Court Rooms are intimidating when you have no idea how the system works – if I hadn’t watched Judge Judy I would have been intimidated
3.Just telling the facts short and sweet works in your favour – Judy ,and all judges, know when you are lying
4.The judge asks additional questions to see if you will over explain or expose yourself as potentially telling a story rather than the truth, just like Judge Judy
5.The judge appeared to be considerate of the fact that we didn’t know what the exact procedure was in his courtroom
6.I got to swear that I would tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth – but there was no "so help me god"
7.I was too chicken to call the judge "Your Honour" in case it sounded wanky so I stuck with Sir.
Conclusion :
With no evidence that the officer was right and with 2 people testifying that Joshua was not on the side of the driveway that the officer stated – the case was dismissed and Josh gets his money back for the ticket and towing.
Who says you can’t have great design for babys....
I have nothing against Sage, Ecru and Beige as colours. In the right hands they can be very stylish. But in the Baby Section of Target and similar chainstores, they are bland bland bland !!!!!!!!!!
Couple this with the superbrands of children’s entertainment ,like Disney, currently invading children’s aisles, and you are left with very little choice when preparing for your newborn child.
So after doing my due diligence on the basics in the chainstores, I was motivated to add some style to my baby’s world. I stumbled across this indulgent investment in style and function from some modernist dutch designers. Mine is of course going to be in rocket red
The improbable has happened: Kevin Shields, the erstwhile frontman for My Bloody Valentine, has announced the band has regrouped and is readying a release for before the end of the year.
In a multi-part interview at Soft Focus, Shields confirms the reunion speculation that diehard fans have been talking about for months.
Says he:
We were making a record in the 90s, around when the band broke up in 1995…and I continued with Belinda [Butcher]. We kinda made most of an album….It's going to be this '96/'97 record half-finished record finished, and then a compilation of stuff we did before that in 1993–94, and a little bit of new stuff.
I pretty much know what the one that's going to come out this year is going to sound like because its already pretty much 3/4's done already…it sounds like what we sounded like – different but not radically different. People will go, "Yeah, it sounds like My Bloody Valentine.
Specifics of the release(s) remain sketchy, as MBV currently has no contract with any label. However, the band has announced the first three dates of their reunion tour: The Roundhouse in London on June 20th, The Apollo in Manchester on June 28th, and the Barrowland in Glasgow on July 2nd. Tickets can be purchased at See Tickets starting this Friday. English readers: that vibe you're sensing is jealousy.
Any further reporting delves into rumor, but talk continues regarding further dates for the band, including a dare-to-dream headlining slot at Coachella. Will it happen? Who knows? Who thought even this much was possible?
Whilst Americans are excited about Thanksgiving, I'm afraid for me it's little more than 4 days holiday. Christmas is the big celebration that I am looking forward to.
And I will be running around saying - Merry Christmas - not - Happy bloody Holidays despite living in the USA.
Now this is an expensive time of year - shopping for presents is governed by laws of nature that force the buying pattern of 1 for me and X for others. Especially when shopping online is soo easy and cheap here :)
So today I received some presents for friends from my new favourite shop www.shopplasticland.com and they were accompanied by a little something that I picked up for myself to trim my XMAS tree. A collection of retro robot and spaceman ornaments. Schweeeet !
For those of you who I have shared my evil plans about living childhood memories of american movies about XMAS where the front yards of houses are covered in tacky XMAS lights - stay tuned, I will provide updates on my outdoor light selections soon.
Now back to normal programming surfing art gallery websites .... my favs for this month :
Chris Reccardi at M Modern (saw the preview this morning, I love Chris's work)
Starting to wonder if the new job role I started 4 months ago will work for me. Maybe 16 years in technology sales with a passion for helping and doing the right thing, has ingrained me with a definition of job satisfaction that a planning, influencing role canot fulfill.
Should I decide to make a change, the options in Seattle are seriously limited. It would probably mean that I should leave corporate and go back to the field. That would mean LA, NYC, London or maybe Dublin. Of course the concept of moving then also puts Melbourne back on the map, should I just go home ?
No idea what the answer is at this time just putting it out there that the question is on the table.
All options involve heartache and opportunity. Damn it - isn't anything ever easy ??
I am horrified to have watched the Real Life Sydney intro. If I watch any more of this I will be illl, don't touch this stuff with the furthest tip of your chop stick !!!!!
I have always been a fan of Doctor Who. As a small child I would hide behind my mum when the daleks killed people.
Currently watching the 2nd new series of doctor who and lurvin it !
As I watch, I reflect on the Doctor and his travel companions... There was an episode in the first revival series where they brought back the infamous "Miss Jane" from the original. I noted that all of the doctor's "companions" over the years have had varying degrees of attachment percieved and reciprocated.
However every one handles the doctor's departure with Grace !
Live and Learn.
I had a recent breakup a month or so ago and I hope I handled it with the appropriate measure of grace. In the future I hope I can model the doctor's confidantes.
Almost at three years in the good ol' US of A and I can't help reflecting on how may cool things have happened that I never dreamed and that could never have happened back in Oz. Promise to blog on reflections of the last 3 years soon !
An Omnist is someone who seeks and is open to spiritual truths from many religions and then comes up with their own individual form of faith or spirituality. Omnists realize that although all religions have some powerful spiritual truths and great wisdom in them which can be very inspirational and moving, they also contain a lot of human opinion, social politics, and outdated viewpoints (beliefs and rules that made sense at one point in history but don't apply as well in today's world). Omnists explore spirituality and religion in a modern context using reason and their intelligence as well as their intuition and insights gained from personal mystical/spiritual experiences. The key is what has meaning and relevance to each individual in their seeking. You could say that for Omnists the focus is spirituality more than religion and the general approach is exploratory and open minded rather than dogmatic and rule-based. Omnists tend to be freethinking, non-dogmatic, non-hierarchical, syncretistic and science-friendly. Omnists respect the rights of each individual to have their own spiritual/religious views as long as those views do not espouse harming or being intolerant of those who disagree with them.
"It would be easy to dismiss an offering like Barbie Girls (feminists are probably going to roll their eyes at the whole concept) and yet 3 million registered users in 60 days does say one very, very clear thing: virtual worlds are going mainstream and the user base is dramatically shifting from being predominantly male to majority female. That shift isn't quite as important now as it will be in the next 5-10 years as those playing Barbie Girls grow into adults; simply the next generation of online gaming and virtual world users will not be dominated by men."
Energy and Inspiration from Art - ramblings inspired by the Venus show
I was exceptionally lucky to score Sas Christian's "Rise" and Chris Reccardi's mod girls Magenta + Jade from Roq La Rue's Venus exhibition last month. Last weekend I brought them home.
Thankyou to both artists for pouring your creativity into these works, they are exceptional pieces and I am blown away multiple times a day by these beauties. Needless to add, compliments from visitors about the artists are flowing.
10 years ago I used to say that one day I would love to have original art on my walls from living artists who inspired me. At the time I had a few Klimt, Monet and Dali prints but something inside me kept shouting about new, original art.
Several years later my grandmother died and my family "distributed" her artwork and belongings (a politically correct description of an event that still horrifies me on many levels and taught be about the power/horror of a person's base values and how they can be exposed under emotional stress).
At that time I didn't realise, but on reflection learnt that, my blood carries a tradition that I have unconsciously continued. My grandparents supported emerging artists in Australia, purchasing and in some cases "posing for"/commisioning works. Their collection was not of the greatest names, but those they loved and whom they supported.
I met the phantasmagorical Gemma Jones a talented painter and one of the mentors of the infamous Outre Gallery through Melbourne friends. Thru her I also met Martin the Maestro of Outre. Over time I visited their gallery and eventually I was under the Pop Surreal and Lowbrow Art spell.
Since then I have become a collector of prints and original works, I hope my grandparents are proud of me :)
Recently, after moving to the USA, Kirsten from Roq La Rue has become my local purveyor of blissfull Surreal Serenity.
Thankyou to the gallery genies who educate me and the artists who enthrall me !
