Of signs and Seinfeld
June 24, 2008
Rarely does a day go by where I don’t make a “Seinfeld” reference – not that there’s anything wrong with that (I think). It has become a language unto itself between some of my friends, to the point where we could probably have entire conversations using only “Seinfeld” dialogue.
So it was when I read a story in Monday’s Washington Post concerning a dispute about proposed signs on a mixed-use building in Philadelphia. Technology-consulting firm Unisys is moving in to four floors of the high-rise and wants “two illuminated signs, 11 feet high in red letters, more than halfway up two sides of the 58-story building” at Two Liberty Place, according to the Post.
Not so fast, say residents of the building, who’ve mounted a legal challenge in federal court.
Sure, they worry that the signs could decrease the value of their homes — but they also “fear the planned signs would reflect into their living rooms,” according to the story.
Almost immediately, I thought of the “Seinfeld” where the neon sign from a new Kenny Rogers Roasters leads to Jerry and Kramer switching apartments and Jerry going crazy. (“I’m on no sleep, no sleep!”)
“The Chicken Roaster,” of course, ended with the restaurant closing after Jerry’s wet hat, made from nutria fur, came apart in the restaurant. It’s unclear how the Two Liberty Place dispute will end. I just hope someone called Jackie Chiles for representation.
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentBoston Legal takes on the Supreme Court
April 23, 2008
Last night on ABC’s “Boston Legal,” an attorney at the fictitious firm of Crane, Poole & Schmidt argued a death penalty case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Material for the episode was likely derived from the actual case of Patrick Kennedy, a black man from Louisiana sentenced to death for the rape of his then 8-year-old stepdaughter. The real Supreme Court heard Kennedy’s appeal last week.
Beyond that, though, this was hardly a case of art imitating life. The laughs are few and far between in the 73-page transcript (PDF) of the Kennedy proceedings (though R. Ted Cruz, solicitor general for the amicus state of Texas, has a good line about Saxon law and William the Conqueror’s “kinder, gentler” version on page 52.)
Things were much livelier on the show, where Alan Shore, known for his persuasive closing arguments and inappropriate courtroom comments, took the opportunity to lambaste several justices individually and the court as a whole. Here are a few choice tidbits, as well as a clip on YouTube:
- “You all testified under oath that you never actually considered how you would rule on abortion. You must be kidding! Never gave it a thought! No perjury there?”
- “Justice Scalia, you went duck-hunting with Vice-President Cheney while he was a named defendant in a case before this court. Congratulations on not getting shot by the way.”
My favorite part was when Shore’s speech prompted a response from Justice Clarence Thomas, who sits silently during most arguments.
Notwithstanding the fact that the court would never let this happen (nor would any attorney I know ever speak like this to the Supreme Court of the United States), what do you think about Shore’s argument, or his comic-insult advocacy?
CHRISTINA DORAN, Assistant Legal Editor
Sphere: Related ContentDoes Your Mother Know about this settlement?
March 11, 2008
Let’s see if I can reference 10 ABBA songs, “Fernando,” (1) as I bring you news of a legal settlement reported by Reuters involving Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the male members of the ’70s Swedish pop group, and one of their plays.
Andersson and Ulvaeus have become “Super Troupers” (2) in the theater world since ABBA said “Thank You For The Music” (3) and disbanded more than 25 years ago. The duo’s most famous production has been “Mamma Mia!” (4), which has been performed all over the world since 1999.
Before “Mamma Mia!” however, Andersson and Ulvaeus wrote the music and lyrics for “Kristina from Duvemala,” the story of a 19th-century Swedish family that lacked “Money, Money, Money” (5), based on the works of noted Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. The play premiered in 1995, not in “Waterloo” (6) but in the Swedish city of Malmo and was on track to come to Broadway.
On track, that is, until Andersson and Ulvaeus clashed with playwright Carl-Johan Seth as to who should receive credit as “Kristina’s” author, with the ABBA members believing it should be the play’s director Lars Rudolfsson, according to the Reuters article. So the duo decided to “Take a Chance” (7) with the legal system and won a lawsuit against Seth in Sweden last year. Seth was in the process of sending an “S.O.S.” (8) to an appeals court but will drop his claim as part of the undisclosed settlement, according to Reuters.
So while we may never know if “The Winner Takes It All” (9) in this case, what is clear is I made all 10 ABBA song references, which was, after all, “The Name of the Game” (10).
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentPsst, wanna buy a used Oscar?
February 27, 2008
How much is a 13-inch, 8-pound, expressionless, naked guy covered in gold worth? If that guy’s name is “Oscar,” the answer is $1, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Since 1950, Oscar winners have been required to sign an agreement with the academy, stating they and their heirs will not attempt to sell the awards without first offering them to the academy for a dollar, Forbes.com reported. Those who do not sign the agreement cannot keep their Oscars. (Rumor has it that this year’s winners, including Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem, were also threatened with starring roles in “Norbit 2.”)
Legal experts are unsure if the “Oscar for a dollar” agreement would stand up in court, and sales do happen on the open market despite the academy’s efforts to prevent them; an estimated 150 Oscars have been sold since the awards were first handed out in 1929, Forbes reported. The most paid for an Oscar is $1.5 million, by Michael Jackson in 1999 for the 1939 Best Picture Oscar for Gone with the Wind, according to the article.
Some celebrities, such as Kevin Spacey, have bought Oscars only to return them to the academy.
But not magician David Copperfield. As if being able to walk through the Great Wall of China did not make him awesome enough, Copperfield keeps the 1943 Best Director Oscar for Casablanca, which he bought for $232,000 in 2003, in his bedroom, Forbes reported. His lava lamp is probably very jealous.
Assuming it was for sale and price was not an issue, which Oscar would you want on your mantel? (Personally, I would choose this one.)
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentShow goes on for ‘Law of 24′
January 15, 2008
Despite the writers’ strike in Hollywood effectively halting production of the Fox Network television show “24,” the academic show must go on for the Georgetown law professor who is teaching a counterterrorism law course based on the series.
The course, taught by adjunct law professor Walter Gary Sharp Sr., takes the fictional reactions to international terrorism presented in the show and uses them as a series of hypotheticals for classroom discussion. The idea was featured in a November Daily Record article (subscriber-only link).
Sharp said Monday that he is excited for the course’s premier this week and that 24’s delay would not affect the class material and discussion, as the curriculum (PDF) is based on scenarios raised in prior seasons.
However, he said, new episodes “would’ve helped generate more interest” during the class discussions.
“This particular season also dealt with cyber issues and we would’ve been talking about that at the end of the semester,” Sharp added. “So [the strike] impacts it a little bit.”
Sphere: Related ContentMontel takes a spin at Wheel of Fortune
November 14, 2007
Baltimore-area-native Montel Williams will appear on Wheel of Fortune this week as part of the game show’s Celebrity Week.
The Andover High School graduate will take on the Food Network’s Sandra Lee and HGTV’s Kristan Cunningham on the show, which airs at 7pm locally.
Although the talk show host’s Web site lists the air date as “Thursday, November 14th”, Wheel’s schedule correctly labels today - Wednesday - as the 14th.
We’ll forgive Williams, who is playing - like the other celebrity contestants - for charity. In his case, his own multiple sclerosis foundation.
I’ll be tuning in, if only to see Sandra Lee attempting to solve the puzzle.
-JACKIE SAUTER, Multimedia Editor
Update, noon: I’ve been schooled on Maryland’s ties to Wheel of Fortune. Turns out that host Pat Sajak owns a home in the Severna Park area and is a season ticket holder to the Washington Capitals. Oh, and Montel Williams’s father, Herman, served 40 years with the Baltimore Fire Department before retiring in 2000.
Sphere: Related ContentClooney and HIPAA
October 10, 2007
When ER-veteran George Clooney landed in an actual ER after a motorcycle crash last month, the last thing on his mind, no doubt, was the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Known by the far catchier nickname HIPAA, the federal regulation is what’s behind those lengthy privacy forms your doctor has been making you sign every now and then for the past several years.
HIPAA, a notorious tangle of bureaucracy for the health care industry, not surprisingly was omitted from the flashy, action-packed world of medicine depicted in the hour-long NBC drama for which Clooney is best known.
But now that more than two dozen employees of Palisades Medical Center in New York have been suspended for violating the actor’s HIPAA-given rights to privacy after his biking spill, the actor seems to have become the face of a privacy regulation many Americans likely have never heard of.
The hospital employees were suspended for peeking into the actor’s medical records without permission, a HIPAA violation.
And now Clooney is appearing on various gossip and entertainment blogs and Web sites commenting about the incident. I’d say it’s a safe bet this is the first time HIPAA has been mentioned on TMZ.com or E! News online.
“While I very much believe in a patient’s right to privacy, I would hope that this could be settled without suspending medical workers,” the actor said in a statement.
One key question remains — how many times will gossip columnists and bloggers misspell the acronym HIPAA in the next few days? (The Daily Record already has received one e-mailed news release on the Clooney debacle with the word “HIPPA” in the subject line.)
-KAREN BUCKELEW, Business Writer
Sphere: Related ContentHip-hoppin’ into court
September 25, 2007
Baton Rouge rapper Webbie and his Trill Entertainment label mate Lil Boosie are the latest Louisiana lyricists to find themselves in the crosshairs of a Baltimore lawsuit.
Webbie, born Webster Bradney Jr., and Boosie, born Torrance Hatch, were slated to perform at two popular city clubs last winter but never showed up, Baltimore-area promoter Tracye Stafford alleges in a lawsuit (subscriber-only link) filed Sept. 20. Entertainment lawyer Paul Gardner is representing Stafford.
New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne has been sued twice recently by students who were injured when loose cash was thrown from the stage into the audience at his concert at Morgan State University last year.
What’s with Baltimore’s bad legal blood with hip-hop artists from the Bayou?
-BRENDAN KEARNEY, Legal Affairs Writer
Sphere: Related ContentSomeone please stop the bleeding
September 12, 2007
In the latest blow to Maryland’s film and TV industry, Discovery Communication’s TLC channel is moving to LA, taking about a third of its 50 employees.
Ever heard of TMZ?
September 11, 2007
I was working at a marketing firm last year when my boss rushed out of his office, clutching an industry magazine. “Have any of you ever heard of TMZ.com?” he breathed. Almost everyone shook their heads.
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