Archive for October 25th, 2010

Playing chicken.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Here’s another interesting story from California.

In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court on Monday upheld the dismissal of 18 criminal cases, two of them felonies, in Riverside County because there were not enough judges to hear them.

Apparently, Riverside County has a “shortage” of judges and courtrooms, and the defendants in these cases refused to waive the right to a speedy trial, so a trial judge dismissed the cases. (I’m not 100% sure why a defendant would waive the right to a speedy trial to begin with, unless they’re making some sort of deal with prosecutors. “Waive your speedy trial right, and we won’t oppose your bail application,” maybe? I wonder if Patrick or Ken might be able to comment.)

Riverside County prosecutors seemed to be contending that there were judges available, if the court had called upon probate, family law, and juvenile judges to hear the cases. (I’m not 100% sure about the courtrooms, but is there a constitutional requirement that cases be heard in a courtroom? As opposed to, say, an unused meeting room at a public library, or the gym at the local middle school?)

The state Supreme Court, on the other hand, seems to be taking the position that if the California Legislature won’t hire new judges, then they’ll just start throwing out felony cases. By God, that’ll show ’em!

And the California Legislature, of course, doesn’t feel like it has the money to hire new judges and build new courtrooms…

Yeah, I don’t see this ending well.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Law | Comments Closed

This one’s for Mike the Musicologist.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Stephen Sondheim’s 1966 made-for-TV musical, “Evening Primrose”, starring Anthony Perkins (no kidding) is coming out on DVD Tuesday.

Just in case you were wondering where you could find it and how much it goes for, here’s a link to “Evening Primrose” on Amazon.

Interestingly, Tuesday is also the day that Sondheim’s Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes will be released.

Posted in Art, Books, Clippings, Music, Theatre, TV | 1 Comment »

Norts spews.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

The Austin Aztek are leaving for Orlando, Florida.

Speaking strictly for myself, I have to say, “Who?”

Edited to add 2: Breaking! The Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz (stet) will not be playing in the AFL next year.

Speaking strictly for myself, I have to say, “The AFL? I thought they folded last year.”

Edited to add 3: The above led to a discussion with Lawrence about the various developmental leagues; for example, did the players actually have to pay to play in the developmental leagues? The Information Supercollider is unclear, but it did lead me to this.

The New United States Football League? Seriously, guys; the best you could come up with is to associate yourself with a legendary failure?

Bonus: The San Antonio Gunslingers.

Team President Bud Haun at one point bailed out a window of the Gunslingers “offices” – a double-wide trailer parked at the stadium – to avoid coaches who were looking for their pay.

And that’s not even the most bizarre Gunslingers story, but I’m leaving the footlocker one out, out of deference to the more sensitive members of my audience.

Edited to add 4: I was going to post a whine, “When are the 30 For 30 movies coming out on DVD?” but I checked the Google. It looks like the first 15 are coming out December 7th. And that’s wonderful, because the first 15 include “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?“, Barry Levinson’s “The Band That Wouldn’t Die“, “The Legend of Jimmy the Greek“, and “Without Bias“. I don’t have cable, and iTunes seems to be pretty spotty about making the 30 For 30 films available, so this is relevant to my interests.

Amazon preorder link here.

Posted in Clippings, Movies, Sports | Comments Closed

Rizzo watch.

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Robert “Ratso” Rizzo, the indicted former city administrator of Bell, California, has lost his horse owner’s license. The license was suspended after he failed to appear at a hearing to answer charges of “conduct detrimental to horse racing”.

According to the LAT, Rizzo owned “dozens” of horses

including a thoroughbred named Depenser de l’argent — French for “to spend money”

See also the Daily Racing Form‘s summary, which gives more details on Rizzo’s racing ventures.

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Horses, Law, Politics | Comments Closed