Ketchup - Catsup - Catch UP!

Just Catching Up!

You ever see someone shaking a bottle of Ketchup vigorously trying to get the red stuff out? They shake, shake, and slam the heel of their hand against the bottom of the bottle and then finally, everything comes flowing out - sometimes all over the place. Then they pass the bottle to the next person who easily pours the ketchup for their own use. The bottle is then placed on the table where it sits and stiffens until the next unsuspecting person goes through the same drill.









Over the years, Heinz addressed this property and even ran a series of ads using the song Anticipation, by Carly Simon to mitigate the perceived aggravation of it all before finally coming up with the stand up flip top bottles with the open end on the bottom.



Smart people (hydrodynamic engineers) call this property "Pseudo plasticity."
(Okay, I'm about to get technical on this issue but bear with me)

And about.com defines a pseudo plastic fluid as:

One whose apparent viscosity or consistency decreases instantaneously with an increase in rate of shear; i.e., an initial relatively high resistance to stirring decreases abruptly as the rate of stirring is increased.

That's kind of how I feel in a literal sort of way. I was stuck in trial - It's finally over, You can call me Mr. Foreman! - for about 7 weeks. Meanwhile, all of my other responsibilities continued. I struggled to keep up with Blogging, coaching basketball, eating, drinking, socializing, etc., during this process with about 8 hours out of each day snapped up by my civic responsibility.

Well, I'm happy to announce that I enjoyed my refresher course in the execution of civil law and I'll be taking this knowledge along with my $427.00 (for jury service) and playing Catch - UP for the next few weeks.

It's been difficult getting the fluid moving and finding my grove but I think I'm starting to reach my stride again. I have a new appreciation for the word sluggish, but I feel like the ketchup is slowing sliding off of the glass and ready to drip down all over my juicy burger. I'm getting my creative brainwaves in motion. It's time to travel again and explore some great new ideas! In the next two months or so I'll be heading to Japan, (Go Figure) Miami, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the Caribbean. I may even be appearing in an episode of CSI. So be on the lookout!

Thanks for waiting!

Did you order the Code Red?

The Drama continues!

Yes, I'm still performing my civic duty. I'll admit, it's been a tad challenging - Staying awake that is. Frankly, some of the testimony and questioning have been painfully boring thus far. As much as I try to stay focused on the most minute details of the case, I can't help but drift occasionally off into subconscious thought allowing my creative side to prevail over my generally more proficient technical thinking. During these periods, I've contemplated sketching the room. Sketching the plaintiff. Sketching the Judge. Doodling. etc.... Conversely, I've become a master at just looking around the room and noting the nervous habits of others.

This was our first full week, i.e., five full days without a break. Personally, I couldn't wait to see "Friday" come. We've been slowly peeling this onion and getting deeper into the story. Fortunately, it has unfolded like a classic novel. Slow to get started but thrilling and suspenseful. Not quite the John Grisham caliber but somewhat intriguing all the same.

Today, I watched one of the attorneys go head to head with a witness twice his size. Maybe three times! I couldn't help but think: "If this attorney pushes this witness too much, this witness could jump off of the stand and literally break this guy in half before anyone could do anything about it." A very tense episode was subsequently smoothed over by clever and timely comic relief from the judge.

My mind drifted again...... I remembered the scene from "A Few Good Men" where the character Lt. Daniel Kaffee (played by Tom Cruise) questions Col. Nathan R. Jessep (played by Jack Nicholson).



Here it is for your viewing pleasure:

Imagine witnessing something like this first hand and sitting 5 feet away from it.

I can't wait until we start our deliberations so I can get the interpretations from the other jurors.

14 Angry People!

What do you get when you start with a group of about 200 people, siphon off about 35, ask them a bunch of questions, and then narrow that group to 14?


Answer: A jury of 12 with 2 alternates.


Yes, it's that time again for me to do my civic duty. I've been called for jury duty and actually selected to be on a jury. Now truthfully, I've been down this road many times before but I've managed to foil the selection process. In fact, in the approximately 6 prior times I've had jury duty, I've never even sat in the box and been asked a question. No, I didn't game the system by pleading hardships or exaggerating my inability to be fair and objective. It's just a numbers thing. It's been a weird, random, ironic, selection process that's never produced my name or number. Sorta like the one that results in me never hitting the Lottery..... I suppose I'd better go out and get a ticket now that the stars have aligned in my favor.



Anyway, I've always really enjoyed the "Jury Duty" process. The whole idea of bringing together a group of random individuals from very diverse walks of life and exposing them to information and asking them to collectively reach a conclusion has always fascinated me. I think this is a wonderful social experiment that clearly provides many blogging opportunities. Especially in a city like Los Angeles, where the people and issues can be quite diverse and complicated. While this process provides a fabulous opportunity for me to study new and random people first hand (one of my hobbies) and to observe the execution of our legal system personally, it makes no concessions for time. In other words, I've been plucked out of my normal life routine and thrown into a mandatory setting for at least a two week period which doesn't allow me time to accomplish the things I normally would do Monday through Friday 9-5. You get my drift? I guess it's like being locked in a closet for 7 hours out of the day and then being released and someone saying. Okay, now go do all the stuff you normally would have done while you were locked in the closet plus what you have to do now. Instant time compression! I'm not complaining per se, I'm just acknowledging that I've got to be quite creative and play catch up to keep my work load managed. When am I going to find time to blog and power surf the web for heaven's sake???


Oh well, enough of my feeble ranting......



I decided to smash some lemons and make martinis! (That's one of my new sayings) I'm having a blast in jury duty and making the best of it. I've met some new and interesting people and I've been hanging out and learning more about downtown Los Angeles. I'll try to blog a bit about some of the sites in downtown L.A. real soon.


And by the way, this legal stuff can be interesting. I'm observing quite a chess match in my trial. As soon as I'm able to discuss more of the details I will.


For now, let me ask you this: Have you seen the movie 12 Angry men?

(per wikipedia)12 Angry Men is a 1957 American film adapted from the Reginald Rose play, Twelve Angry Men. Directed by first-time director Sidney Lumet, the film tells the story of a jury member who tries to persuade the other eleven members to acquit the suspect on trial on the basis of reasonable doubt. The film is notable for its almost exclusive use of one set: with the exception of three minutes of screen-time split between the beginning and the end on the steps of the court building and two short scenes in an adjoining washroom, the entire movie takes place in the jury room.

There have been two versions that I'm aware of. The 1957 version starring Henry Fonda ,

Lee J. Cobb, E.G. Marshall, and Jack Klugman

12 Angry Men

And the 1997 version starring Courtney B. Vance, Ossie Davis, George C. Scott, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Dorian Harewood

12 Angry Men

Each of these productions was worth the time and energy. As soon as my trial is over, I'll carve out a few hours to watch at least one of these again and draw comparisons to my experiences. I've also checked my collection of DVD's to make sure my Perry Mason-Season One was still intact. Yep It's good. My Grandmother loved this series. I'll see if I can get through a few episodes featuring Mason, Burger, Paul Drake, and Della Street as well.

I can't wait. Here's a bit of a preview....