UPDATES ARCHIVE 2000

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July 31, 2000

California July Bar Exam, 2000:  Round Three

Scoring:  Cal Bar Examiners: 2 - Ravi Hayashida: 0

In this rematch, our hero, Ravi Hayashida, took special actions to assure a better chance of passing:

1)                   Sucked it up and enrolled in the National Bar Review course;

2)                   Quit a job where he was actually treated well;

3)                   Stayed on the program and wrote a lot of practice essays; and

4)                   Did NOT shave off his hair.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen: this time, it was WAR!

With a game plan that included massive issue spotting exercises and many hours wasted on attempting to improve his MBE scores, Ravi entered the ring at the Oakland Convention Center on July 25, 2000 to start the battle that would decide his fate for the next 12 months.

Here it is, the blow-by-blow commentary on the mayhem that ensued:

July 25

1st Essay – Evidence:  Ravi started slow out of the gate, finally recognizing the inevitable:  he couldn’t think of all the evidentiary issues.  Oh my God!  The horror!  It does not look good for the Great One.  Still, he carries some points by staying in the ring, taking the punches, and switching to reflexive evidentiary principals, but what a disappointing turn of events;

2nd Essay – Real Property:        Before he could get his second wind, the Bar Examiners threw a hard right through Ravi’s midsection with a question that asks for everything that he knew about Real Property, from device through remedies, chain of title and adverse possession, this was a real doosey!  The Great One holds on, though, working the facts, spotting the issues, and hitting them on what appears to be their relevant issues;

3rd Essay – Wills/Trusts:            …and the carnage doesn’t stop there.  Ravi is fighting, toe-to-toe, mano y mano, taking the punishment, but not without getting a few points on his own.  The Wills/Trusts  question took him by surprise, but he rose to the occasion and spewed out every possible issue that he could cram into his skull.  It’s the end of the 1st round, and already Ravi is bleeding from the beatings that he took.  How much more punishment can this man take?

Performance Test A – Objective Memo:          Just out of the chute for this fine afternoon’s 2nd Round and it looks like the morning round took it’s toll on the disappointed Ravi.  The Bar Examiners have changed their strategy and have starting playing with the man’s head.  He’s taking too long to figure out what’s going on.  Without knowing it, he’s already taken a few hits to the mid-section – “Block! Block! … watch for it! … don’t let ‘em get inside your head!” are the screams from the Coach’s corner.  But it may be too little too late.  The Great One is bewildered and scrambles to put the Memorandum together, but it’s all a hodge-podge of statutes and case law.  He’s out of focus and there’s no clear organization at all.  One has to ask, “Is it all over for the Come-Back kid?”

Morning MBE:  MBE’s suck.

Afternoon MBE:            Natch.

4th Essay – Con Law/Crim Pro: It’s the last day and already there is a feeling of doom.  And yet, if he can make it up in these last essays, there’s still a fighting chance to scrounge for that pass!  Alas, it doesn’t bode well for the young padowan:  he trained hard for Con Law, but now when it matters most, his mind caves into the myriad issues that aren’t apparent in the question and is forced to argue the facts.  He makes a reasonable recovery to talk about the Con Law issues, but he overlooked the Crim Pro possibilities.  Was it fatigue?  Was it lack of sleep?  Was it that really cute girl he saw earlier? Or is this the sign that the end is near…?

5th Essay – Civ Pro:      Like he was warned, Civil Procedure reared its ugly head and haunting memories of those hellish days during first-year law school coil around our helpless victim of circumstances.  He gets the bare-bones issues: “but, is there more?”, he asks himself, “is there more…?

6th Essay – Torts/Remedies:     And the Bar Examiners do not relent.  To cap off a memorable three day examination, the Bar Examiners asked the most loaded question in a long, long time:  a remedies question without specifying the applicable cause of action!  It’s evil, it’s repetitive and it’s all around not nice!  Not unlike getting kicked in the jimmy!

Performance Test B - 2 Memos:           The final go around and the points don’t look to be in the Great One’s favor.  One last round to prove his mettle.  Gratefully, this round asks for only two memos, nothing strange or exotic.  But why is the Great One taking so long to start writing?  It’s been over the 90 minute mark, and it looks like there’s not even the hint of an outline being formed.  Looks like he’s changed his strategy and is going for broke: he’s writing without a formal outline and letting issues and matters come as they are.  I think I see his strategy:  form the memos to conform with the instructions.  It’s so crazy, it just might work.

…and so it went.  Overall, I feel more confident that I was able to present my best foot forward.  However, at this time, there is no reason to believe that I have made the necessary points to pass.  After speaking with some fellow re-takers, I know that a few issues were overlooked, or not even considered.  Might these be the missing points that prevent my passing?  Only the graders can tell, and they’re not saying anything for 4 months.

Take care, and that’s all from me for now.  I’ll have a few more intermittent updates later on in August. . . really!

Pax

May 30, 2000

Wow, a lot has happened in the two months since my last update.  Good news and bad news:

In late March, two weeks after my last update, my grandfather passed away.  Cancer claimed yet another soul in my family.  It was a very sad time.  A very emotional time.  It was the kind of emotions that tax and pull you when you even begin to think about it.  We will all miss him.  Our close family got a little closer, but also a little smaller.   We’re still dealing with it, methinks.

Two weeks after that, I turned 30.  I spent it in San Francisco with my brother, just trying to get away from all the grieving.  A bittersweet celebration, but being with my bro was great.

Then, I had a reunion of sorts, meeting up with an old friend from High School.  It was good seeing her again, after about 6 years.  It’s nice to know that we could get together and just catch up.  One of the highlights of the last three months.

I also got news that one of my old High School buddies will be a new professor at UCLA, in the History department.  For future students of his, Good Luck.  You’re going to need it!  J

I became involved with the Campaign For Justice organization.  It’s primary goal is to compensate Japanese Latin Americans under the same terms as the American Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which was the redress legislation granting Japanese Americans who were interned during WWII money and an Official Apology.  For those unfamiliar with Japanese Latin Americans, the US basically went into Latin American countries to ‘kidnap’ citizens of Japanese decent, and intern them here in the US.  For me, this was the untold story of the WWII Internment Camps.  More information will be posted by the next update.

Most recently, I found out I didn’t pass the CA Bar Exam again.  Personally, I’m getting sick of taking the time out to study for the exam from Hell.  Hopefully, July 2000 will be the last time I have to set eyes upon those retched exam books.

So, in 3 months, I have already had a full plate.  I’m pretty much done with the year 2000, and I can’t wait for 2001, when the Real Millennium begins!

Anyway, I may be able to get one more update before I really hit the books, but no promises.

Take care, and let me know how you like this site!

Pax!

March 11, 2000

It was my brother’s birthday yesterday, so say happy birthday to him, if you see him.

Some new updates going on here:

I’ve added a Jpop page, but it need a lot of work. I’ll be adding links first and foremost, then info about the individual Jpop group or singer that I outlined on the page. Check out the miniature JPOP FAQ, tho!

I’ve rearranged the Home Page. I’m looking to streamline most of the pages, which means rearranging, if not absolute recreating. It all depends on how much time and energy I have left after work!

The Cal Alumni Sports page will be going through similar renovations to accommodate the wealth of new info I’ve received in the last two weeks. It looks like I will be adding International Leagues in addition to the American Professional Leagues. This is especially true for many hoops alumni! There’s still no solid leads on Baseball alumni, unfortunately.

That’s it for now. More updates when they happen!

Pax!

February 26, 2000

More News:

I did it again. I took and finished the California Bar Exam on Thursday, February 24, and I feel a little better than before. . . but that's not saying too much. get a load of this break down, day by day:

TUESDAY, February 22, 2000

1st Hour: Community Property (I actually thought this was going to be on it so I studied pretty hard for it. But I know my organization sucked pretty hard. Hope the reader can decipher it.)

2nd Hour: Remedies/Tort (The way I figured it, you had to stick to the call of the question to get this one right. In other words, I gambled by not analyzing the base cause of action until the second question. Instead, I focused on the possible Injunctive Rights, THEN talked about the base Tort and possible Damages. If I get my scores back (I'm hoping I don't cuz that means I didn't pass) I'll let you know my score on this one.)

3rd Hour: Tort/Constitutional Law (Well, I saw the issues - Tort of Defamation, Defenses under Con Law 1st Amendment Privileges - but I'm not sure I covered everything.)

Performance Test A (Get this, based on a Community Property issue. I don't think I fared as well as I should have on this part.)

WEDNESDAY, February 23, 2000

Morning MBE: Hated it!

Afternoon MBE: Hated it more!

THURSDAY, February 24, 2000

1st Hour: Wills (good thing I reviewed the night before. Nothing like Will Revocation/Republication with a dash on Lapse to get the blood going . . . right.)

2nd Hour: Contracts (I also studied hard for this topic, especially since it was one of my worst topics last July. Don't know if I covered it the way they wanted it to be, tho. It was a helluva race-horse.)

3rd Hour: Criminal Procedure/Evidence (Evidence was a really small part of this question, at least as far as I could tell. I hope my review of Crim Pro Wed night was sufficient.)

Performance Test B (This weird one was based on principals of Constitutional Law. You had to draft an alternate Policy that appears to restrict a fundamental right, then write a letter that your Boss is supposed to sign explaining why this version is better than the one that was provided. Cake walk. uh-huh. yeahrightsure.)

As you can see, I'm full of bubbling optimism coming out of this exam. It's not like I feel like I didn't know any of the topics to a comfortable level, like last year. No, I think I have a fighting chance. It's just that if I could see these issues, then so could a lot of people who, like me, are repeaters who studied their asses off to make this exam go away for good. Well, it's only a 3-month wait this time. I'll keep you updated, and bulletins when they happen.

Thanks for checking in, PAX!

February 5, 2000

New Updates:

This is a new year, new decade, and, for some, the beginning of the new Millennium;

Today is also Chinese New Year, Year of the Dragon. Us Year of the Dogs will be having a hard time, but we've been through worse!;

I corrected some errors on my main page. I don't know how the errors occurred, but I fixed it . . . somehow;

NASA's been having some problems, but that still hasn't scared them from their long term goal of exploring Mars more thouroughly. More excitement is also surrounding the moons of Jupiter! Check out their link from my main page!;

I didn't pass the Bar Exam, so here I am again, studying for the February exam and redoing my web page. Two great tastes that taste great together - NOT!;

What's up for the future of this site? Well, since you asked . . .

A JPOP LINKS Page!!!

Yup, that's right, I got into Japanese Pop music again, well, at least to a point. I was digging through some old CDs I had and realized how much I liked the artists that I had. So, artists like Akina Nakamori and Shizuka Kudo will be featured, as well as one of the latest JPop groups, Morning Musume [sigh, I know, manufactured Pop, but they're fun, upbeat and I really like their song Love Machine!]. I will mostly be attaching links for the more interesting sites, especially the ones with translations. An ANIME Page is also in the makings, though I'm so out of it, I don't know what's hot anymore. [SHEILA - Watch any anime out in Korea?]

That's all for now. More updates and notes in a month. By the by, the Trading Cards page will be updated soon. Since I've cleaned my colletion out, I have a better idea of what I have and what I need.

Pax!

August 26, 1999

A few updates and notices here:

Next Space Shuttle mission for the International Space Station is scheduled for December 2;

Dance Hall Crashers released their latest album, Purr;

The movie I still haven't seen, but really, really want to see, is the Sixth Sense and it's still kicking butt at the Box Office;

I'm finally moving back to the ol' SF Bay Area, looking for a job. 'I just got my JD and I can't do a thing with it.' [it's a joke!]

As you can tell, I've survived the California Bar Exam. My plan for keeping both in physical as well as mental shape worked out well in terms of stamina. As for performance, well . . . I have no idea. Such as it is, the California Bar Examiners, in their wisdom, will not release the results until the end of November. Gotta love 'em for that!

Lastly, my uncle, Pat Konishi passed away Monday morning, August 2, 1999. It hit our family pretty hard, but I personally believe his suffering was minimal, if not brief. He was diagnosed with a type of liver cancer that had metastasized.

I dedicate this web site in his memory.