I turn 25 tomorrow - WTF?

For some reason, whenever I think about my years going by, a (perhaps morbid) side of me kicks in that imagines a software installation bar.  The only difference is I don’t want my personal installation bar to go faster, FASTER, damnit!

On another note, 25 is just about the last year for awhile that something significant happens.  As you all know, what I’m talking about is I’ll no longer be charged a penalty for car rentals.  This is a seriously lame benefit of turning 25 - truly pales in comparison to:

16 - drive
18 - the Os - tobaccO, pornO, lottO
21 - booze

Seriously, couldn’t they reserve something better for 25?  The next thing I have to look forward to after this is an IHOP discount on a Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘n’ Frooty when I’m 60 or so.  The world needs to space out privileges, give us more reasons to look forward to aging.  There are some other ones out there, but they’re pretty limited (e.g. can become President of the United States when 35).  What I’m trying to say is just give me my Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘n’ Frooty discount now.

Over and out.

BJT

Ben Beneral Stuff Me

Dear Loyal Readers (all zero to five of you),

As you may have noticed, it has been a long time since bentraverse.com was updated.  Well, looks like I just couldn’t figure a way to work it into my schedule (along with exercising, reading books, eating healthy, brushing my teeth two times a day, etc.) - read: no excuses.

I have been relatively busy, though, with my first year of law school - the infamous “1L.”  I say relative because I wasn’t much of an academic in my college years … ?  The 2010 US News Law School Rankings recently came out - let’s just say I fell well below the Brooklyn Law School lower 25th percentile of undergrad GPAs but well above the higher 75th percentile of LSAT scores.  However, I have picked things up (i.e. actually reading textbooks, going to class, taking notes, etc.).

“1L” was not all that bad - many had made it out to practically be a parallel of waterboarding.  All I can say is that if the law/government/policy is what you like, law school is what you’ll love.  If not falling into that category but still a person who enjoys critical thinking, reasoning, or intelligent discourse with professors and peers, law school is what you’ll love.  If you don’t fit any of these categories then I ask, why are you going to law school?  Clearly, it’s not the right choice for everyone - three out of the roughly twenty folks in my small section didn’t quite make it to the end of the year.  If it’s not right for you, it will be the “torture” that many warn of - a whole semester of learning being decided by one half-day exam for each class, grueling writing exercises, forced into extracurricular activities, job hunting in a poor market, a constant aura of competition among your classmates - these can be tough things to get over.  But, here’s to next year.

I start a summer job on Tuesday, May 26 at the Urban Justice Center.  Basic rundown is I’ll be helping homeless and poor folks who have their public assistance benefits (e.g. food stamps) either revoked or denied.  It should be interesting, particularly in these times.  Prepared as I can be for a  slap in the face from reality but looking forwarding to getting my hands dirty with people who are really in need.

Dedicated to fitting more time in for the blogosphere.  Stick with me.  Over and out.

Ben Beneral Stuff law school

Shout out to my boy Higgins for recommending this wonderful piece of work. Blockhead is apparently the producer for Aesop Rock, a totally sick artist posted earlier to Ben’s Late Night Music Club.

This song already has a special place in my heart for two reasons. One, I have been more cheery lately as a result of not being hit with space debris. Two, I used to be called blockhead when I was a little kid … maybe I’ll do a deeper post on that fact when I’m not so mentally fragile from fear of being hit by space debris.

Potential posts tomorrow:
* Microscopic organisms that live on our bodies
* Every time I run, I lose a friend

Peace,
Ben

Enjoy:

Ben Beneral Stuff Ben's Late Night Music Club, blockhead, exercise, space

Just hypothesizing here, but last Tuesday, a US communications satellite and a deactivated Soviet satellite crashed in orbit, creating hundreds of pieces of debris.  It appears that today, in Texas, some of the debris may have come crashing to Earth:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/15/texas.sky.debris/index.html

As pointed out in the CNN article, the Federal Aviation Administration warned pilots after the satellite crash to watch for “falling space debris.”

Now, as reported in the New York Times (and multiple other sources over the past couple days), the reason for the tragic airline crash last Thursday is still a mystery (i.e. why did the plane suddenly lose all forward momentum?):

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/nyregion/15crash.html?hp

All I’m saying is I wouldn’t be surprised to hear other folks start wondering if it was a piece of space debris that hit Continental Flight 3407 and caused it to come plummeting to the ground.

Either way, it’s yet another reason for me to be scared shitless of both flying and space.

Ben Beneral Stuff flying, space

In honor of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday, I thought I’d post a very interesting article that questions whether or not he was a racist.  Happy B-day, Abe!

Was Lincoln a Racist?

The Great Emancipator was far more complicated than the mythical hero we have come to revere.

henrylouis.gates

I first encountered Abraham Lincoln in Piedmont, W.Va. When I was growing up, his picture was in nearly every black home I can recall, the only white man, other than Jesus himself, to grace black family walls. Lincoln was a hero to us.

One rainy Sunday afternoon in 1960, when I was 10 years old, I picked up a copy of our latest Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, and, thumbing through, stumbled upon Jim Bishop’s The Day Lincoln Was Shot [2], which had been published in 1955 and immediately became a runaway bestseller. It is an hour-by-hour chronicle of the last day of Lincoln’s life. I couldn’t help crying by the end.

Read more…

Ben Politik Lincoln, racism

Sorry to have not posted, I had an interview early today - think it went well, except for the part where I talked about things the organization doesn’t do … my bad, Dad.  Tonight’s song goes out to a dear friend of mine who is currently in an airplane overseas (literally) - the song is her favorite karaoke jam.  Yes, the person singing this song is, in fact, a dude.  Peace. Love. Harmony.

Ben Beneral Stuff

Shout out to my main man Stanton for introducing me to this jam a little while back.  Night.

Ben Ben's Late Night Music Club Ben's Late Night Music Club, hip hop

Dave:  “Why exactly are you here, honest to God?”

Blagojevich: “I’ve been wanting to be on your show in the worst way for the longest time.”

Dave: “Well, you’re on in the worst way, believe me.”

David Letterman clearly tops the list of most comedic, intelligent, and classy late-night hosts on network TV.  At one point I would have said that Conan holds a candle to him, but he has been toning down his act to fit the sickening Leno mold.  While Dave never landed the Tonight Show gig, he is by far the true torchbearer of Carson.

I’m moved to write about this because Dave’s been doing some particularly great things lately.  First, last night, he had Governor Rod “The Hair” Blagojevich on for a full twenty-four minutes.  Sure, the interview had its funny moments, but all-in-all it was informative, insightful, and tough.  For anyone who hasn’t been following the Blagoevich story (or even for those who have), this is truly one of the best clips to watch.  Dave, who I’m sure is written off in the world of journalism with the dirty term of “talk-show host,” finds a way to ask the right questions in the same way that David Frost quizzed Nixon (by the way, SEE FROST/NIXON).

More below the fold…

Read more…

Ben Beneral Stuff Blagojevich, Letterman, television

Sully in front of tree

This is a phrase we should all start to use more often.  From urbandictionary.com:

Land it like Sully
The Godly act of averting cataclysmic disaster and overwhelming odds to forever become a household name.

Eric: Holy crap!!The U.S. economy is about to go to hell.
Pat: No worries man, I’m sure Obama will Land it like Sully.

How sweet it must be to be Chesley B. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger - the heroic pilot of January’s US Airways crash into the Hudson.  Hero is a word we use pretty loosely nowadays, but this guy truly fits the bill.

How can anyone not love the name - Sully - so perfect.

Anyways, now this guy has everyone clamoring for an exclusive interview, gets invited to sit right behind Obama at the Inauguration (“Capt. ‘Sully’ Will Be At Inauguration”), and gets a standing-O at the Super Bowl (“Super Ovation for ‘Sully’”).  Richard Branson of Virgin fame even wants a piece of the Sully:

“I’d like him to come fly for us. We’ll make him the best-paid pilot at Virgin — we’ll give him double [the salary of] anybody else. He also can become one of the astronauts in my intergalactic spaceship company.”

On a side note, it must be very awesome to be able to say “my intergalactic spaceship company.”  In reality, though, I highly doubt his spacecraft will be going to other galaxies anytime soon.  However, it is now clear that I no longer have to make the big bucks to fulfill my dream of going to space.  I just have to save 150+ people by crash landing a jumbo jet into the Hudson River … no biggie.

Sully, we salute you.

P.S.  My “Sully Is My Co-Pilot” tshirt is in the mail.

Ben Beneral Stuff hero, space, Sully

Hello all and wilkommen to my blog.  I figured I’d start things off with what will be a regular post on bentraverse.com - Ben’s Late Night Music Club - request line open!  I first heard this song in the car ride to Obama’s Inauguration and I’ve been rockin’ out to it (and Obama) ever since.  Peace.  Out.  BJT.

Ben Ben's Late Night Music Club Ben's Late Night Music Club, dancing