“Anchorage is kind of like South Bend, but in Alaska.” –Professor Nagle

I have a credible report — second-hand and anonymous, but credible — that Brian’s theory may be correct about tomorrow’s big Apple announcement.

We’ll know soon enough. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Leak or hoax? We link, you decide.

UPDATE 2: From Apple’s Q4 conference call today, according to MacRumors: “Intel Based Macs still expected by June 2006. Some ‘very cool’ PowerPCs in the pipeline.”

Oh, its name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed… from the new Great Big Sea album (which debuted today). It’s AWESOME!

Downtown Los Angeles (or as I like to call it, North Anaheim) is powerless at the moment.

UPDATE: There’s nothing on the Los Angeles Times homepage yet about the Los Angeles blackout, which is Drudge’s top item. But then, why should there be? It’s not like the city’s third electrical blackout in a month is either important or interesting news! Nope, better stick with the current selection of front-page stories, including two about the Angels, one about the Dodgers, and one ultra-hard-hitting piece about the Museum of Contemporary Art. Oh, and let’s not forget “Times Names 3 New Senior Editors.” (Suggested secondary headline: “A good start.”)

This is, of course, a pattern. Previous relevant posts here and here, and possibly the most egregious example yet here:

Can it be that an improvised explosive device was found and detonated by police on Friday near the University of California at Los Angeles and the story still has not made the Los Angeles Times? It looks that way. … Note to LAT editor Dean Baquet: Whatever you do, don’t run this bomb story. People might be interested! That’s always dangerous.

Heh. As a former Daily Trojan editor, allow me this parochial and juvenile (but coincidentally true!) insult: it takes a great deal of incompetence to make one’s newspaper look bad compared to the Daily Bruin. (Hi Tran.) Congrats to all Times editors, old and new! ‘Tis a momentous day!

UPDATE: Okay, the power outage story — an insightful, five-paragraph masterpiece — is now the third item down on the homepage’s “more news” list … right underneath “Man Shot Trying to Hijack Train With Bow and Arrow.” Good call, Dean.

P.S. Am I being entirely fair to the Times? Probably not. But I’m having fun, and Mickey Kaus will be amused by this post, even if no one else is. Isn’t that enough?

Okay, back to my Biodiversity and the Law reading…

Last week’s New York City subway threat was a hoax devised by a “normally reliable” informant.

“What does Poison think about this issue?” –Professor Garnett

Rumors are flying about Friday’s pep rally. We already know it will be at Notre Dame Stadium instead of the Joyce Center — the first time that’s happened since the Nebraska game in 2000, according to The Observer. But that’s not all. The Backer says “the campus is buzzing that Bon Jovi will be making an appearence for fellow Jersey native Charlie Weis.” The Backer doubts the Bon Jovi “buzz” is accurate, but he adds, “Definite word is someone big…is coming, and even Fr. Jenkins’s secretary doesn’t know who.” (That’s “someone big” in addition to Joe Montana and Lou Holtz, who will definitely be there, according to The Backer.)

At the law school, the “buzz” is focusing on another Jerseyite: Bruce Springsteen. At least, that’s what the SBA newsletter, the Patty O’Herald, is reporting — but it appears now that the O’Herald report is a joke, and the “Confirmed Gossip” about a Springsteen appearance is all gossip and no confirmation. Still, the rumors persist. Meghan points out that Springsteen’s tour schedule says he’ll be in Chicago on Thursday night and in Madison, Wisconsin on Saturday night — but he doesn’t have a concert scheduled for Friday night. Hmm… (Bon Jovi is apparently not on tour this month. See also here.)

So… will it be Bon Jovi? The Boss? Neither? Both? It’s anybody’s guess! (Though personally, I’m guessing “neither.”) But for what it’s worth, Lisa says the marching band will be playing both Jersey boys’ music at halftime Saturday. (But Kate says that’s long-planned.)

[UPDATE: It’s the Fog of Friday! Chris says Lou Holtz won’t be at the pep rally, and he has a link to back him up. Montana, he says, is “confirmed.” They’re saying this on NDNation, too (which might be where Chris is getting his info). … Over on NDToday.com, the rumors are flying faster than a Matt Leinart-to-Dwayne Jarrett touchdown pass. Meanwhile, on NDNation, they’ve having some fun with the whole thing: see, for example, here and here.]

In other news, the Chicago Tribune confirms earlier rumors that ESPN GameDay is coming to campus. In fact, they’re coming a day early:

ESPN…will dispatch “GameDay” commentators Chris Fowler and Lee Corso to South Bend on Thursday for a “SportsCenter” segment. ESPN2’s “Cold Pizza” will originate from an area between the stadium and the Hesburgh Library on Friday.

“It’s always our goal to be right in the center of the activity,” ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said. “Getting there Thursday gives us a chance to rev it up a little early.”

Bottom line… even assuming the Springsteen/Bon Jovi rumors are just that, it’s still going to be an absolutely insane weekend.

P.S. Mike at The Blue-Gray Sky calls Saturday’s showdown “the biggest game in 12 years” (harkening back, I presume, to the “Game of the Century” between #1 Florida State and #2 Notre Dame, which the Irish won by a touchdown), and is optimistically recalling the last time USC game to South Bend with an undefeated record, in 1995. (The Irish upset the #5 Trojans, 38-10, and students rushed the field.)

Sean at Kelly Green, however, is less optimistic: “I’m more horrified than ever” after the Trojans’ win over Arizona, he says. “If their defense doesn’t start to play with a sense of urgency, we may score 50 points on them. Unfortunately, 50 probably won’t be enough.” That, presumably, is based on his earlier analysis of the battle between the ‘SC Air Attack and the ND Pass Defense: “Sh*t… Advantage: Sh*t…” Heh.

Still, he says, “I haven’t been this excited about a football game in years” … but he ultimately predicts a 41-31 USC victory: “We just don’t have the horses on defense to contain Leinart (or Booty, or Sanchez for that matter). To win this game, the offense will have to be outstanding (likely), and the defense will have to force a few turnovers and limit SC to field goals a few times (not likely). I think we’ve got about a 10% shot of coming away with the win, which is exactly 10% higher than we would have been under Ty.”

Newfoundland band Great Big Sea, one of my absolute favorites, has a new album out today — “their first-ever all-traditional, all-Newfoundland album,” which sounds AWESOME — but it’s only available in Canada; it doesn’t go on sale in the United States for two more weeks! Harumph! I’m half-tempted to drive to Canada just to buy it! Not sure what Customs would think, though. “Uhh, I’ll be in Canada for about 15 minutes… I’m here to buy a CD…” :)

On the bright side, GBS’s tour dates for 2006 are now available. They’re coming to Chicago on February 2! I am so there! And their western New York fans will want to take a look at March 9 and April 19. :)

UPDATE: Hold the phone — the new album is on the iTunes Music Store! YAY!!!

(If you have iTunes, you can click here to view the album.)

They’re putting on a Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto, starting next February.

Must… go… to… Toronto…

(Official site here.)

Waiting outside the Joyce Center to exchange my ticket for the BYU game. I am definitely getting some funny looks because of my USC sweatshirt. :) Also, it is starting to rain… erg.

Speaking of bird flu… here’s a bird flu blog.

UPDATE: Here’s another. And here’s a great article, if you have some time to sit and read for a while.

I apologize for not posting more about the terrible calamity in Pakistan. Frankly, I barely have the heart for it. There’s just been too G*ddamn much death and tragedy lately. If the bird flu hits, I might just have to give up blogging entirely. (Okay, okay, that’s an empty threat and we all know it. I won’t give up blogging unless the bird flu hits me, in which case I’d presumably be giving up a bit more than blogging…)

Anyway, suffice it to say, things are very bad over there. More than 30,000 are dead, as many as 2.5 million are homeless. Once again, there are simply no words for the awfulness of it all.

Complaints about the slow Western response have begun. I don’t know if they’re fair or not, but regardless, let’s not just sit around and grouse about it — let’s do something! Here are some links for how to help earthquake victims.

Stepping back from the horrible human tragedy for a moment, one wonders what will be the political ramifications of this. Pakistan is always teetering on the brink anyway — on the brink of various things: nuclear war with India, revolt by Islamists, etc. No country, let alone an exceedingly volatile one like Pakistan, can suffer a huge national calamity like this without some sort of major socio-political impact. But what will that impact be? I suppose it’s simply too soon to say, although cooperation with India on the relief effort is a positive sign.

UPDATE: The Washington Post sums things up nicely:

More than 176,000 people died in the earthquake and tsunami of December; an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 in the quake Saturday; perhaps 1,000 or more in Guatemalan landslides last week; more than 1,200 in Katrina. Asian beaches, mountainous Kashmir villages and American urban streets and casinos all were overwhelmed.

Okay, not “nicely,” but… accurately, anyway.

And now, in Pakistan, there are hailstorms. Jeez.

The National Hurricane Center has issued its final advisory on Tropical Depression Vince, one of the strangest tropical cyclones ever to grace the Atlantic Ocean:

…VINCE MAKING LANDFALL IN SPAIN AS IT BEGINS TO LOSE TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS…

AT 5 AM EDT…0900Z…THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION VINCE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 37.2 NORTH… LONGITUDE 7.1 WEST OR ALONG THE COAST OF SOUTHWESTERN SPAIN NEAR HUELVA. VINCE IS THE FIRST TROPICAL CYCLONE ON RECORD TO MAKE LANDFALL IN SPAIN.

The discussion, which declares that “the short happy life of Vince is now over,” adds more detail:

THE HISTORICAL RECORD SHOWS NO TROPICAL CYCLONE EVER MAKING LANDFALL ON THE IBERIAN PENINSULA. BASED ON SURFACE REPORTS FROM FARO PORTUGAL…THE CENTER PASSED JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE COAST OF PORTUGAL…BEFORE BECOMING THE FIRST TROPICAL CYCLONE TO MAKE LANDFALL IN SPAIN.

Well, it’s been a season of firsts, so I guess that’s no great surprise.

Anyway… adios, Vince.

Chris, a fellow USC ‘03 grad and Baylor 2L, offers an amusing fantasy transcript of himself as barrister and a hapless 1L as respondent in Baylor’s moot-court competition:

Respondent: I see that my time is up, may I briefly conclude?

Me: No, you may not.

Respondent: Very well, Your Honor. For the foregoing reasons, we respectfully ask–

Me: What part of “stop now” don’t you understand?

Respondent: But I was just sewing up that sentence.

Me: When I ask you a question, private, you answer it. What part of “stop now” is incomprehensible to you?

Respondent: But you didn’t say “stop now,” you said–

Me: I know what I said, I don’t need to have the court reporter read it back to me like I’m a child.

Respondent: Yes, judge, I’m sorry, and thank you for your–

Me: Colonel Jessup, did you or didn’t you order the code red?!

Respondent: Yes, I think they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hayul!

Me: No further questions.

Heh.

This made me chuckle, too, though alas, I guess it didn’t actually happen.

Okay, Google ads for USC and Notre Dame-related websites I understand… but, huh?

Jeez! That’s almost as bad as the ads for “New Orleans Real Estate” and “French Quarter Hotels” right after Katrina!

This is Tran’s doing, somehow…