boot in your ass.

Homemade tortillas (homegrown veggies)

Fourth of July spurred a lot of magical jokes, including Ernest Goes to Concentration Camp (look for it next summer at your favorite theatre!).

Carne Asada for food–you know, the normal 4th selection.

Followed by an epic badminton tourney (we didn’t have enough badminton rackets, so we used the awesome tennis rackets as well).

Blockus and…other things were also popular.

flamingoed

I recently moved into my new house and started working…a lot.  The other night I came home from work and was greeted by…a flock of flamingos!  Their beady, glass eyes glimmered in the moonlight as I stumbled through the field of flamingos.  Ah, those glorious, beaked beauties.

The Conservatory also got a new sign in the bathroom after someone decided to leave treats in it.

The Old Sign:

The New Addition:

hearsay, I tell you!

Federal Rules of Evidence 413, 414, and 415, enacted as a part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, permit prosecutors and civil plaintiffs to offer evidence of the defendant’s other acts of sexual assault or child molestation, “on any matter to which they are relevant.” George Fisher, Evidence 182 (2002).

“The new rules for sex offense cases authorize admission and consideration of evidence of an uncharged offense for its bearing ‘on any matter to which it is relevant.’”Susan Molinari, Concerning the Prior Crimes Evidence Rules for Sexual Assualt and Child Molestation Cases, Cong. Rec. H8991-92, Aug. 21, 1994. This means that evidence of offenses for which the defendant has not been prosecuted or convicted is admissible, alongside evidence of prior convictions.

So what’s the big deal? While I understand that the court is attempting to make it tougher for child and sexual predators to get off the theoretical hook, the application of these rules simply serves to usurp the power of FRE 404(b), which is a safeguard in our court system created specifically for this purpose.

Rule 404(b) provides that “evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that the perosn acted in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence or mistake or accident.”

“The purpose of Rule 404(b) in a criminal trial is to ensure that the defendant is tried on the merits of the crime as charged and to prevent a conviction based on evidence of other crimes or wrongs.” State v. Bassett, 139 N.H. 493, 496.

By allowing evidence of crimes for which the defendant has not been previously prosecuted nor convicted of in the past, courts are allowed to circumvent a major safeguard that has been built into our system. There is no right to trial, fair or otherwise.

404(b) provides a way to admit the evidence 413-415 seeks to welcome in, but it requires a standard. Our courts should not be welcoming a melee of conflicting opinions and stories. Rules are in place specifically to protect hearsay and plotting from wiggling their way into the system.

*Please note, obviously I find the crimes heinous, but it doesn’t mean that those on trial for them deserve any less than the full protection our courts provide everyone else.

Photos from San Diego trip

Set Here.

stuffs

New comic I just finished up for Colin. I’m too lazy to fix the text, and I don’t really know how to use photoshop or a ruler, so this is basically what you get. I might break out the ink again on the early pages.

Fables Panel

Today we went back to the convention center to see the Fables panel, and to take photos with various Lego statues.  Hopefully some of the photos will be free-and-clear of babies heads and smiling children.  I hate smiling children.

At the Fables panel they handed out a “secret” page, by Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges, featuring Babe the Miniature Blue Ox.  Poor Babe is easy to ship.  There is a limited number of prints (around 309?), which are signed, but not numbered.  I suspect many will be placed on Ebay within a matter of hours (Comic-Con 2007 officially ends this afternoon, so the nerds will try to flip this shit rather fast). 

Matt Sturges makes me swoon.  I do love monster tall men with nerdy, little glasses.

Fortress of Solitude!

Comic-Con:  Day 4

 Today was probably the best day of Comic-con so far, strictly because the main floor was avoided for most of the day.

Yesterday I had some select Hernandez pieces signed–Gilbert seemed a little suprised that I brought in “Birdland” (porno).  “It pays to read comics.”

Paul Pope seems to be very self-centered, as I imagined he would be.  It doesn’t detract from the fact that his work is still wonderful; and besides, he isn’t a dick about it. 

Ashley Wood was nothing as I imagined him to be.  He was very…big.  I had pictured him a small, timid fellow, yet he turned out burly, with a strange, deep voice. 

Jeffrey Brown is still dreamy, yet very awkward and shy.  My knees were knocking as I tossed my comic at him to sign (so maybe not really). 

The panels today were very good.  I went to the ONI press, Paul Pope, Futurama, Film Crew, Sarah Silverman, and Warren Ellis.  The Film Crew panel was by far my favorite.  They showed clips from their new films (coming out in August!), which were very well done (as far as I can tell from the five minute clip of each).   The audience needs to learn that trying to yell witty comments over the movie will not get you a spot on the panel, and will only serve to irritate everyone else.

I’ve decided Comic-Con should have a room dedicated solely to mass-turbation.  In it would be a row of scantily clad females, wearing remains of fantasy-themed outfits, giggling and spanking each other with various weapons.  The purpose of the room would quickly be revealed, as the traffic in the lanes on the convention center floor would rapidly decrease, as all of the stalled nerds with hands wriggling in pockets would be contained in one come filled room.  Yay!

I almost forgot, Joe Matt signed his new book for me today, and I fairly think he was hitting on me!  He is the first guy at the entire convention center that has done so.  I was worried for a few days there.  Phew.

 Tomorrow pictures will be taken and beaches will be conquered.

ta-da!

San Diego Comic-Con:

 Comic-Con has been an awesome experience so far, seeing how I have been able to carefully navigate the treacherous waters teeming with thousands of frenzied nerds and spectators, looking for free chum.  I’m not sure if I would last were it not for the panels, which provide a much appreciated break from the bustle of the Star Wars and anime fans. 

I’ve already blown my load and spent most of my comic budget, but I will be good and not tap into the food funds as of yet.  I need to start picking up bottles in order to purchase a $10 hamburger at Comic Con.

I rather wish that Comic Con was not as much of an entertainment expo as it has turned out to be this year.  While it is nice to see the movie panels and look at the booths, it draws out an entirely different crowd for which I had not mentally prepared myself–namely “normal” people, who bring a more derisive tone to the whole event (although I imagine the community itself views the activities as amusing, if not worse).  The movie booths also add to the feeling of being crammed into a giant sardine tin, soaking in your own juices.  Once you are clear of the area the crowd smooths out, so the comic sections are relatively uncrowded, compared to the toys and previews. 

Company has been great thus far.  The drive out from Oklahoma was entertaining, and we stopped at many roadside “attractions,” taking pictures with homemade dinosaur tributes and being harrassed by creepy fossil shop employees along the way. 

We visited the beach on Wednesday, and are now all adequately cripsed (except for Ryan, who apparently goes into the sun periodically).  The worst idea I’ve had this trip to to carry a packed and loaded bag on freshly cooked shoulders.  Wah-wah!