Upstate New York Family Lawyer Blog

Well, it's been a great run and, hey, if I don't see or hear from you tomorrow, have a Merry Oblivion, since, as we are all well aware, the world is supposed to end.

Or not.

I tend to side with The Nots actually. You know, those 99.9999% of us who are sane enough to realize that, duh, there is no scientific evidence that the world is going to end tomorrow.

Is the world going to end? I have no doubt that it will. Will its end occur tomorrow? I have no doubt that it won't. We were all born and we are all going to die; so it goes with worlds, though over a much, much longer scale of time.

And, quite frankly, if the world were to come to an end, it's very likely that we would already have found at least an inkling of evidence to support such a wild hypothesis. Something, say, like an asteroid slamming into the earth at unimaginable speed and energy levels. An E.L.E. An "extinction-level event" if you will. Yeah, yeah, I know you know what I'm talking about, you saw "Deep Impact" (good movie) and you may have seen "Armageddon" (awful movie).

Continue reading "#261 It's The End Of The World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine!" »

Going through old scrapbooks of mine, I stumbled upon something amazing: some sort of home-made charts of the music we used to listen to way back in the day. These particular charts happened to be a list - by consensus - of what we thought were the greatest songs of 1972 (and other years). I'm actually quite shocked at how prescient we were, way back then. It seems musical tastes do not so much change as they slowly mature and ferment, like an exceptionally good vintage.

I remember that we tried to come up with a way to best describe what we thought of as the most amazing songs from a given year. We had a very complicated methodology for determining how any given song got on the chart to begin with and then how it got ranked. Yes, I still have the old notes concerning all of this (as I am a bit of a hoarder). What we ultimately settled on was making several mix tapes (chromium dioxide, of course, since that was the best technology back then) of what we deemed to be songs that were "high-octane, kick-ass rock 'n' roll" - H.O.K.A.R.R., for short. These were the songs that we thought defined the year in music. If the song made the list, then we felt that the song was timeless. If it was cool in 1972, then it was going to be cool in 2022. And, looking back, I've got to admit that we were really on to something. I don't know about 2022, but, in 2012, all of these songs are still cool, some forty years on. Some you never hear any more, though I don't know why.

We'd usually compile the lists deep into January of the following year, in order to determine which songs were part of which year. Then we'd use all sorts of formulas to figure out The List, and then we'd create mix tapes from the order of songs on the list. Hey, it's what we did for fun when we were unsupervised kids with lots of time on our hands. Plus, our parents didn't care since we were occupied with seemingly innocuous music.

See what you think about our selections ... and rock out to them.

Continue reading "#260 H.O.K.A.R.R.: High-Octane Kick-Ass Rock 'N' Roll From 1972" »

Looking back, what I appreciate most about those innocent times was the amazing amount of time we had as kids to fill with whatever the heck we wanted. Endless afternoons; endless weekends; endless summers. Nothing was ever scheduled; everything was spur of the moment. And a huge chunk of that time was spent listening to music. Of course I'm biased, but I was lucky to come of age at a time when the greatest rock music of all time was being made. And it seems so quaint now to realize that all of our music was vinyl, played on a turntable, and at the mercy of the quality of the needle on the arm. Now, any music you want is merely a few mouseclicks away.

Another great thing about almost all that time spent with friends was that it was unsupervised by adults. We were just off in our own world - and no one worried about us. Just let the parents know where you were going and be home by dinner. That was it. It was a vastly different world forty years ago. And it's been fun remembering it over the past year. And here is what I was listening to ...

Continue reading "#259 What I Was Listening To ... 40 Years Ago: December 1972 Playlist, Part 2 of 2" »

The funny thing about The Great Moments In Life is that you are almost never aware of them when they are actually happening to you. However, on those rare occasions when you can step back and realize that Something Very Special Is Happening, the memories of those times gets branded into your brain. That was exactly the way it was with me, when I stumbled onto a treasure trove of the most amazing music from the 1960s and 1970s, back when I was far too young to truly appreciate it. I knew it was important even then. Just hanging out with my best friend, taking the time to explore each and every album in the massive record collection of his older brother.

Remember, this was back in an age before computers and video games. If we weren't hanging out on our bikes, building forts in the woods, playing board games, reading comic books, or watching television, then about all we had left to do was listen to music. Most of my friends had to settle for the Top 40 and a bunch of scratchy 45s. We were the lucky ones: we had over a thousand pristine albums at our disposal, with a few more added each and every week.

And here is what I was listening to ...

Continue reading "#258 What I Was Listening To ... 40 Years Ago: December 1972 Playlist, Part 1 of 2" »

And here are the new artists and albums for the month of December:

1. Animal Collective, "Merriweather Post Pavilion";
2. The Antlers, "Hospice";
3. Bear In Heaven, "Beast Rest Forth Mouth";
4. Between The Buried And Me, "The Great Misdirect";
5. The Bravery, "The Sun And The Moon Complete";
6. Julian Casablancas, "Phrazes For The Young";
7. F@#k Buttons, "Tarot Sport";
8. Jet, "Shaka Rock";
9. Matt And Kim, "Sidewalks";
10. Neon Indian, "Psychic Chasms";
11. OK Go, "Of The Colour Of The Sky";
12. Porcupine Tree, "The Incident";
13. Bruce Springsteen, "Working On A Dream";
14. White Lies, "To Lose My Life ..."; and
15. White Rabbits, "It's Frightening".

Continue reading "#257 What I'm Listening To: December 2012 Playlist, Part 2 of 2" »

So, this month will be the last in this series. It's been a ton of fun, but it's high time to get back to the enormous backlog of caselaw round-ups, which will be coming back with a vengeance very soon. I'll always be listening to as much music as I can get my hands and ears on, but it is just too time-consuming to keep track of it all here. All you have to do is tune in to 102.7 WEQX, out of Manchester, Vermont - or go visit them online at www.weqx.com.

These are the artists and albums retiring this month:

1. American Hi-Fi, "American Hi-Fi";
2. As Fast As, "Open Letter To The Damned";
3. The Ataris, "So Long, Astoria";
4. Clutch, "Pure Rock Fury";
5. The Fiery Furnaces, "Widow City";
6. Hootie And The Blowfish, "Scattered, Smothered, And Covered";
7. Indigo Girls, "Come On Now Social";
8. The Killers, "Hot Fuss";
9. Modest Mouse, "Good News For People Who Love Bad News";
10. Mumford and Sons, "Sigh No More";
11. The New Pornographers, "Challengers";
12. Queens Of The Stone Age, "Songs For The Deaf";
13. R.E.M., "Accelerate";
14. Sleigh Bells, "Treats"; and
15. Swati, "Small Gods".

Continue reading "#256 What I'm Listening To: December 2012 Playlist, Part 1 of 2" »

CHECKLIST FOR CRIMINAL APPEALS:

Step 73: 800.9(b): Respondent's Brief:
"After the record on appeal and appellant's brief, or brief and appendix, have been accepted for filing, the clerk shall mail to each respondent a scheduling memorandum which shall require respondent to serve and file respondent's brief within 45 days from the date of the memorandum or within such shorter time as the memorandum may direct."

"Each respondent shall file the same number of copies of respondent's brief as appellant shall have filed, with proof of service of two [2] copies upon each appellant."

"Upon any appeal in which an attorney for the child appears for a non-appellant child, the provisions of this subdivision regarding mailing of the scheduling memorandum and filing of respondent's brief shall also apply to include the attorney for the child." Go to 800.14(c).

Continue reading "#255 So, You Say You Want To Know How To Perfect A Criminal Appeal?, Part 13 of 15" »

CHECKLIST FOR CRIMINAL APPEALS:

Step 63: CPLR 5528(b): Respondent's Brief and Appendix:
"(b) Respondent's brief and appendix."

"The brief of the respondent shall conform to the requirements of subdivision (a), except that a counterstatement of the questions involved or a counterstatement of the nature and facts of the case shall be included only if the respondent disagrees with the statement of the appellant and the appendix shall contain only such additional parts of the record as are necessary to consider the questions involved."

Step 64: CPLR 5528(c): Appellant's Reply Brief and Appendix:
"(c) Appellant's reply brief and appendix."

"Any reply brief of the appellant shall conform to the requirements of subdivision (a) without repetition."

Continue reading "#254 So, You Say You Want To Know How To Perfect A Criminal Appeal?, Part 12 of 15" »

If I had to pick a favorite month, by default, it would have to be December, since it contains Christmas, my birthday, the end of the year, and - usually - lots of snow and, if you're particularly lucky, a snow day or two. December is the month of hearth and home. December is also a month of twin dichotomies: of biting cold and searing warmth, of marvelous kitchen smells and no smells at all, thanks to stuffy noses. It's the month that forces you inside for most of your daily life. And, when outside, it's a month that teaches you to respect nature. It's a month that can scare the bejesus out of you, if you're not careful. And how many teenagers that you know can be called "careful"?

December is a time when human life is forced, by nature itself, to slow down to a crawl. It is a time when you truly appreciate and are immensely grateful for such otherwise simple things as shelter and warmth.

Continue reading "#253 December" »

CHECKLIST FOR CRIMINAL APPEALS:

Step 56: 800.4(c): Appeals by Indigent Parties:
"An appeal in a criminal case, or in a civil case by a person who has been granted permission by this court to proceed as a poor person, may be prosecuted by the appendix method authorized by subdivision (b) of this section."

"Appellant shall file seven [7] copies of a typewritten brief and appendix with proof of service of one [1] copy upon each adversary."

"Respondent may likewise file seven [7] copies of a brief with proof of service of one [1] copy upon each adversary."

"The clerk of the court from which the appeal is taken, after service upon him of a copy of the decision of this court, shall furnish without charge to a person granted permission to proceed as a poor person one [1] copy of the stenographic transcript of trial or hearing minutes and one [1] copy of any other paper or document on file in his office which is material and relevant to the appeal."

"In criminal and family court cases, the court may, where such is necessary for perfection of the appeal, direct the clerk of the court to send a copy of the stenographic transcript of trial or hearing minutes on file in his office to the clerk of this court, who shall attach it to the single copy record [on appeal] upon which the appeal shall be prosecuted." Go back to 800.14(a).

Continue reading "#252 So, You Say You Want To Know How To Perfect A Criminal Appeal?, Part 11 of 15" »

37. Larry Hoppen, 61, January 12, 1951 - July 24, 2012:
Musician; American musician; cause of death unknown

Co-founder, vocalist, and guitarist of Orleans, who is best known for singing lead on their two huge hits "Still The One" and "Dance With Me".

Continue reading "#251 In Memoriam: July 2012 Deaths, Part 3 of 3" »