SWEET TIMING

Jon Bream is in town, the first East Coast stop on the tour for his latest book, Neil Diamond is Forever. His timing is impeccable -- he's in NYC just in time to join me tonight for game 1 of the playoffs. It's especially sweet, because -- after one of the most amazing games ever played (for me, topped only by the Aaron Boone 2003 ALDS game) -- the Yankees are facing the Twins.

Bream has been the music critic at the Mpls. Star-Tribune for more than 30 years -- the longest tenure of any daily newspaper music critic other than Joel Selvin at the SF Chron, (and technically, Selvin has retired .) Bream also contributes to Law Technology News (his next article, "Greening Greene Espel" will appear in our November issue). 

JB and I go back to our cub days at the Minnesota Daily, where he hired me to be the first "girl" to cover rock and roll at the 43,000-circ newspaper. It was heady times -- our editor was Paul Brainerd, who went on to found Aldus Pagemaker, coin the term "desktop publishing," and become a close friend-of-Bill (not Clinton).

Late last night, JB  taped a segment for the Joey Reynolds show on WOR710 radio. Before he headed over to the studio, we watched the tiebreaker game at the Mudville 9 Saloon, a funky, friendly sports bar. The cordial staff warmly welcomed us all the way through the 12th inning walk-off climax. (Not many NYC restaurants would let you occupy a table for 3-1/2 hours over a $40 dinner!) It was a blast, and a suitable substitute for being in the Dome -- with enthusiastic constituents of both Twins and Tigers camps. 

Bream's last tome was a coffee table extravaganza, Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin, and his first was Prince: Inside the Purple Reign. The 160-page Diamond book is a feast for the singer's  fans, and chronicles his career from early struggles to sold-out arenas. Jon draws heavily from his many interviews with Diamond since 1976, and the books is crammed full of photos of memorabilia, such as concert programs, posters, backstage passes, etc.

Red Sox fans may be surprised to learn that "Sweet Caroline," the anthem of Fenway 8th innings, "was inspired by a photo of 11-year-old Caroline Kennedy." It has become the singer's most covered song, Bream says -- with Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Ray Coniff and Waylon Jennings among those who have recorded the very annoying ditty. (Go Yankees).

More on Bream's book tour:

Vintagerock.com interview.

Pastemagazine.com article by C. Lee.

BC (Blog Critics) review by J. Gardner.

MAILBAG #090730

Rummaging through the in-box:

Monty Lunn has answered the siren call of New Orleans, and moved back. He most recently was a director at Huron Consulting Group. We'll letcha know when he gets settled in with new contact info.

* Connie Moser, formerly of Elite, has joined another Elite-ite, Mark Goldin at American LegalNet. Goldin's the new CTO, Moser's the new marketing director She'll be at ILTA so you can reconnect with her there, or reach her here.

*Angelique Schaffer checks in from Thomson Reuters to advise us that Legal Current has replaced Westblog. Check it out!

* Herbert Roitblat of Oratec forwards  this encouraging article chastizing local governments for their version of "solution-speak." Note the list of 200 no-no words, including "beaconicity," "holistic governance," and "incentivising."

* Better late than never: This slipped thru my inbox cracks, so it's a bit old now, but still interesting: Katherine Petusek, of the National Association of Women Lawyers and its foundation, are conducting a fourth annual survey on retention and promotion of women in the largest 200 U.S. firms. Contact Cheryl Oblander here for an update. Copies of past surveys can be viewed here.

*Finally, a treat courtesy of SheFanJane (Jane Heller). A fun YouTube that you can embedding where appropriate. (BTW, she just featured an excerpt of my book review of her terrific new book, Confessions of a She-Fan)  on her book's website (scroll down below "advanced praise.")  Full review here. And I've also started posting my book reviews on Amazon (username Monica Bay. We'll use it to close out this edition of TCS: 

CHRIS ANDERSON'S BOOK FREE ON ITUNES

I turn the mic over to Jon Moreland:

Hello, Monica!

You turned me on to Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail, via The Common Scold, and I’ve recommended it to several friends and colleagues since then.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that his new book, entitled “Free: The Future of a Radical Price,” is available in audio format on Apple iTunes’ home page for FREE (literally) as of yesterday.

It will likely stay free through next Tuesday, so you may want to tell your readers about it.  I downloaded it yesterday and have been listening to it on my DC commute. Anderson mentions in the book that he has been experimenting with his publisher about ways to share his book for free, and this is apparently one of the ways he’s elected to do so. Because he’s chosen to give me the audio book for free, I plan to go to Amazon.com and buy 2-3 copies of the book to give to family and friends.  I want his experiment to be financially favorable! Anyway, I thought you would enjoy reading (listening) to this book and telling your loyal Common Scold readers about this exciting opportunity.

Jon Moreland
Vice President of Sales, eTERA Consulting
Washington, D.C.

Mon update: I'm a half-hour into it, and already hooked. Check out Malcolm Gladwell's review in The New Yorker (hat tip to David Brown).

MAILBAG #061209

I'm just about ready to head out to Charlie Haas' 7:30 p.m. book reading at the Barnes & Noble in the Village (396 6th @ 8th) for his new book, The Enthusiast... but before I dash out the door, need to catch up on some incoming!

• Attorney Paul Levine  also has a new novel out -- Illegal -- and he introduces a new "trouble-prone hero," Jimmy (Royal) Payne. It's a tale set in the California desert that tells the plight of a 12-year-old boy whose mom disappears during a border crossing. It was inspired by real events, says Levine. "A thriller with a social conscience, the book combines the moral decay of Chinatown with the sudden violence of No Country for Old Men," he says.

• Audrey Rubin checks in to announce the launch of her new website, Rubin Solutions. (Sigh, will they never learn -- but at least it rhymes!) (Audrey: NO SOLUTIONS!!!!!! It's the most abused word in the English language.) Chicago-based Rubin (right) served as COO for seven years at Wildman Harrold Allen and Dixon, and at Butler Rubin Saltarelli and Boyd.

• Clifford Chance's Sally King chimes in with a request to spread the word about a petition to help pass legislation that would protect women from "drive thru" mastectomies. Check it out here. This is really important -- and doesn't impact just women. Men, sign it too! Your mothers, wives, daughters and friends will appreciate your support.

• Frederick Hertz, my pal from SFO, also has a new book, which debuts in July  from NOLO, with Emily Doskow: Making it Legal: A Guide to Same-Sex Marriage, Domestic Parnterships & Civil Unions. Here's an interview with Hertz: Part 1 and Part 2.  (The book's not showing up on the Nolo site). 

• And we are not done with new books: Perry Binder says Unlocking Your Rubber Room will motivate you to achieve professional satisfaction, and is based on his courtroom and classroom experiences. (He's now a legal studies professor at Georgia State Univ. 

• Mais Oui! The Association of Legal Administrators has launched a French version of its website, available here.  It features French language introductions to key ino, special resources, and links to the English language section of ALA's main website.

• Perry Segal wants you to know about his blog, E-Discovery Insights, which covers EDD from a California lawyer's perspective.

• Adobe's Rick Borstein found this post from Matthew Buchanan about virtual letterhead to be a very green idea, (with a hat tip to Stephen Nipper). 

OK, all for now... I'm off to hear about Henry Bay!

MO' MAILBAG #052009

JoAnna Forshee checks in to let folks know that it will provide 10 scholarships to unemployed attorneys who are job hunting, to attend its "Get a Life" Conference that is presented by the Total Practice Management Association. It is a two-day workshop on marketing and practice management and social networking that will be held in Chicago on May 27 & 28. Deadline to apply, 5/22, 5 p.m. CST. 411 here.

• Brent  Bourque has replaced long-time director of marketing Connie Moser at Los Angeles-based Elite. She's a tough act to follow! Bourque, based in New Orleans, has been with Elite for 12 years, starting in sales. His title is senior director, strategic marketing and business intelligence, and he can be reached here.

• Charlie Haas, who went to University of California Santa Cruz, along with lawyer/marketer Louise Rosen Byer et moi, is embarking on a book tour for his latest novel, The Enthusiast (Harper Perennial). Check out his book readings:

Tuesday, June 2, 7:00 pm  - Books Inc. at Opera Plaza, San Francisco.
Thursday, June 4, 7:00 PM - A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland (Montclair district).
Monday, June 8, 7:00 PM - Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland.
Friday, June 12, 7:30 PM - Barnes & Noble, 396 Avenue of the Americas (at 8th St.), New York, N.Y.
Thursday, June 18, 7:30 PM - Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles.

 I'm planning to attend the NYC reading -- after all, the main character's name is Henry Bay!

Charlie also wrote the sequel (Gremlins 2) to one of my all-time favorite movies Gremlins. (Whenever I'm in a funk I just remember the scene with all the critters singing "Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to work I go" with popcorn bucket hats!)

• Stephanie Hall wants you to know about her Relay for Life -- the American Cancer Society fundraiser she participates in every year to honor her mother, who she lost to cancer almost five years ago. Any donation helps.

• And our LTN colleague Theodora Blanchfield is also participating in a project, to benefit the Cancer Survivorship Initiative at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in N.Y. She's running to hnor her grandfather, Herbert Blanchfield, who died of mesothelioma in 2000. 

• Steve Schwartz reports that certain LSAT PrepTests (past administered LSAT exams) are available only to students who take prep courses, not those who self-study. Check it out on his LSAT Blog. 

OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS

I'm a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell, and I'm absolutely fascinated by leadership, so I was eager to grab his new book, Outliers: The Story of Success. I know it got trashed by some critics, but ignore them. It's a fascinating study that sets out to debunk the cowboy notion of "self-made men" -- and explores the factors that have come into play to create successful people.

Gladwell concludes that everything from when you are born (for example, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were both born in 1955, so they were young adults at a critical time in cyber-history), and how much time you invest (it takes just about 10,000 hours to perfect any craft), and what type of social/family/cultural  structure you were raised with, can sharply influence your ability to succeed.

Gladwell studies a cross section of powerful, successful people, from Gates/Jobs, the Beatles, Canadian hockey players, to Joseph Flom -- the first associate at  Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. And he looks at how his theories played out with Gladwell's own family. His observations are fascinating and encouraging.

And do buy the audiobook -- Gladwell reads his own book, and he's a perfect storyteller, none better.

CHANGE THE WORLD - PART 2

Smooth travel day as I headed to Mpls, giving me a chance to finish the incredible book, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, where John Wood chronicles his efforts to launch and expand, "Room to Read." It's an amazing and utterly inspiring book, that makes you want to immediately pull out your checkbook and help.

The second half of the book focuses on the organization's efforts to get scholarships for young girls. With a philosophy that closely mirrors Oprah Winfrey's efforts in South Africa, he tirelessly works to make a difference by getting girls into classrooms. In Nepal, he explains, adult male illteracy is 39% - but for women,  75%.

It's a pattern repeated throughout the developing world. The United Nations estimates that 2/3rds of the 850 million illiterate people in the world are female." ...My friend Usha, who helps run a wonderful girl's education program in Nepal, always says, 'When you educate a boy, you educate just the boy. But when you educate a girl, you education the whole family, and the next generation.'

And in India, he notes, bias is so severe that "a common wish to a bride is 'May you be the mother of a hundred sons.' ... 'To give birth to a son is like witnessing a sunrise in heaven. A daughter is like having an uninvited guest at the banquet.' "

Wood goes on to explain how his organization set up programs that, for $250 a girl, could provide education, two school uniforms, two pairs of shoes, a book bag, school supplies, health insurance and a bicycle. "It's not often in life that one is given the opportunity to change another person's life for such a small amount of money." In fact, that last sentence is the theme of this amazing book, which reads like a compelling novel. 

I loved his tale of kids at a London Montessori school who raised quite a bit of money by offering their parents "the opportunity to pay for what they called the Sponsored Silence. For 10 pounds an per hour, the parents could basically hit the Mute button on their children for the evening."

This book is amazing. Buy it, read it, share it, and send a check. I'm going to.

Here's my prior post with lots of links that explain Wood's program.

READING ROOM

Here's another must-read: Leaving Microsoft to Change the World, by John Wood. It's a fascinating tale of how Wood, a senior marketing staffer at Microsoft, founded Room to Read -- a program that brings books and schools to youngsters in Nepal, Vietnam and other remote areas.

In 1998, Wood, decided to take a trek to Nepal as a break from his hectic life with the Mothership. The vacation would change his life -- when he met a middle-aged Nepali man named Pasupathi, who convinced him to visit a local school. Wood was astounded to find that the only books available to the children were a handful of paperbacks left by other trekkers, including a Danielle Steel novel, Finnegans Wake, and the Lonely Planet Guide to Mongolia.

When he left the humble school, Pasupathi asked him to return. The school's teacher reiterated the request, adding, "Perhaps, sir, you will someday come back with books."

That chance encounter would ultimately result in a life-shift for Wood, who would, at age 35, leave his high profile post, and leverage his contacts and skills to make a huge difference across the world, with small amounts of money.

I've always been fascinated by "micro-loans" and the impact they can have in developing countries. Early in the book, he tells of his friendship with Nguyen Thai Vu, a bright, creative Vietnamese youngster. Wood met the young man who was working at Wood's hotel, and quickly learned of Vu's hunger to learn more about computers. Wood wanted to help Vu but had to do it in a way that that would allow the youngster to accept it, because an out-and-out gift would be rejected as insulting the growing friendship. The younster wouldn't even allow Wood to buy him an Excel book.

"How was I going to help him? I was thrilled that he was not begging and that he valued his independence. But I wanted him to achieve his dream of a full education, and he was not making it easy." Then the mentor had a brainstorm, grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote a letter informing Vu that as a Microsoft employee "I have been financially empowered by Bill Gates to provide scholarship money for promising young students in Vietnam to learn computer science," and enclosed "a crisp $20 bill" into the letter as a "study grant," providing a way for the youngster to accept the help.

That was the beginning of an ongoing partnership, writes Wood. Ultimately, Vu pursued a graduate dregree in software engineering, with the help of about $1,300 from Wood.

Like his relationship with Vu, the secret to Room to Read's success, says Wood, is that it is a partnership, a reciprocal relationship rather than just a hand-out. In the first school in Nepal, Wood generated the funds to buy the bricks, and books, but the community itself provided the labor to build the room.

Now based in San Francisco, Wood established a non-profit, now called Room to Read, and has established 3,600 libraries, built 287 schools, funded 2,300 long-term girls scholarships, and donated or published more than 2.8 million books.

I'm about half-way through this wonderful book, (I haven't yet gotten to the section about setting up the girls' scholarships) and I'll continue to post about it as I read further. But don't miss it. It's incredibly inspiring. That's wonderful these days, when it's far too easy to get a case of "charity fatique," and become completely overwhelmed by so many important causes pleading for your attention and your check book.

Adopt a project info here.
Overview here.
E-mail updates here.
Slideshow here.

MAILBAG #070108

Overflowin' inbox:

* Michael Arkfeld (a member of the LTN edit board) checks in with the latest edition of his Arkfeld's Electronic Discovery & Evidence Alert, which answers the question, "Do the FRCP EDD amendments apply to pending cases?" Plus, he announces that his presentations have now been professionally videotaped and will be available on DVD on February 1. The first two are The New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (90 minutes) and E-Discovery and Evidence Best Practices (4 hours).

*David Bowerman, also of our LTN board, advises that the Preston Gates & Ellis/Kirkpatrick & Lockhart merger is complete, and the EDD website has been redesigned. The firm's now Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates & Ellis LLP -- and will brand itself as K&L Gates. PG&E's EDD blog already reflects the change!

* Author Paul Levine (Solomon v. Lord, et al.) enjoyed the high seas and a writeup in The New York Times on a recent "literary authors" cruise that sounds like it was big fun. (I'm also jealous because one of my favorite authors, Elinor Lipman, was also participating.) One of the days I'll get over my fear of cruises and give them a try. (I know, I know, but I get soooooooooooooo seasick.)

Levine also suggests checking out Law Forum here.

* Blawg Review's Editor 'n' Chef takes the mic:

Have you heard about the campaign to get Blawg Review voted the "best-kept secret weblog" in the 2007 Bloggies? Of course not. That's why we're probably sure to win a Bloggie in this category, if everyone who loves Blawg Review would please take a minute to nominate us.

(Of course, Mon wouldn't object to a few votes for The Common Scold (writing? design?) ... somehow I don't think I'll win in Sports, even if my heart is there.  :)

* Change your contact info for Rick Rifkin: He's left Hummingbird and now is is with Contact Networks as veep of sales, based in Boston. Email here.

* Kenneth Lopez says Animators at Law has released the results of a three-year study on the differences between how lawyers and the general public communicate.

They polled 387 attorneys and 1657 non-attorneys over a three year period to see how they fit into one of three learning/communication styles: visual (seeing/showing), auditory (hearing/speaking) or kinesthetic (feeling). They found "a marked difference" between how attorneys and non-attorneys prefer to communicate. For example, only 18% of non-attorneys learn best by hearing information, as compared to 29% of attorneys. Further, 61% of civilians prefer to learn from visual information, while less than half of attorneys prefer to communicate with visual information.

TOUGH CHOICES

I'm always fascinated by biographies of strong women. I recently listened to two, both from Penguin Audio, that were equally compelling yet tell tales of two very different lives. Both books were read by their author.

Tough Choices is Carly Fiorina's memoir, which focuses largely on her days at Hewlett-Packard, as its CEO and board chair. It's a fascinating tale of her journeys through corporate America (AT&T, Lucent, HP). Perhaps not surprisingly, what I found the most interesting was how she coped with, and mostly overcame, the tremendous sexism she encountered at mainstream technology companies. I think she's just a bit older than I am, but I found her attitudes and stories refreshing and surprisingly encouraging. On several occasions, I found myself going, "ah!!" when she explained why she was so reticient to be singled out as "the first woman ..." or "the most influential woman..."  She is straightforward, analytical, introspective, and above all pragmatic. And smart. But never whiney or preachy.

I found myself frequently saying to myself, "I should try that," as she described her management experiences in motivating people or handling prickly situations.

Of course, after she left, all hell has broken loose at HP's board, as we all know. It will be interesting, when the dust finally clears, to see how Fiorina's legacy stands. I suspect there may be many in the end that will wish they had never fired her. Time will tell.

Lorraine Bracco's On the Couch is another life story, equally gutsy, but Bracco focuses more on her personal family struggles than on her professional challenges. The actress currently plays psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Malchi on The Sopranos, and most recently appeared as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate on Broadway.

For years, she was in a difficult relationship with Harvey Keitel, the father of her second daughter. While I applaud Ms. Bracco for her personal growth and found myself rooting for her throughout the book, I was also troubled by this book. Agreed, both Bracco and Keitel are public figures, and agreed, it is important for strong women to show less strong women that it is possible to extracate oneself from destructive relationships.

Yet, these two are parents, and their daughter and his step-daughter are bound to be injured by the public machination of their relationships. At some level, I felt I was privvy to "too much information" about this family. I'm not a parent, but if I were, I think I would be charry about publicly writing about such intimate family matters.

On the other hand, just as Fiorina uses her memoir to tell her side of a messy corporate "divorce" that was very very public, perhaps that is what ultimately justifies Bracco -- whose custody battles were likewise very much in the public arena.

Without a doubt, both women's stories are ultimately are helpful lessons to other women (and men, too). I support the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, and other organizations that help women separate from destructive relationships. Perhaps Bracco's motivation is to serve the same goal. I just wish it didn't make me feel just a bit uncomfortable.

MAILBAG #3,245

Once again, playin' catchup:

* Jim Hassett checks in to let his know that his new book, Legal Business Development: A Step-by-Step Guide is now available. To download the Table of Contents, click here. We turn the microphone over to Jim:

"This book will help lawyers at large and mid-sized firms to get immediate and practical results from their limited marketing time, by building stronger relationships with current clients and with new ones. It includes step by step instructions to help you decide how much time to devote to business development, to identify the most productive activities that can be accomplished within that time, and to assure follow-up. The book is built around exercises and quick references that will guide you to take immediate and practical steps that fit your practice, your personality, and your schedule."

*Ruth Balkin has resumed regular publication of her "Off the Shelf" newsletter about law librarian trends and developments. She's also changed the name of her company to Balkin Information Services.

Here's some advice from her Sept. issue:

RESEARCH TIPS: Sometimes it is better to use a printed directory to find the information you need. To find associations, see Encyclopedia of Associations. This is available in most public libraries. To find contact information for corporations: Headquarters USA 2006 is now available from Omnigraphics (28th vol., $212;

Keep in mind that information goes out of date quickly; consult the newest editions of directories. You can also use phone books and the internet to double-check the information.

Check out Ruth's blog here and website here.

* Destination NYC: Both Zantaz and Fios are heading to New York City in early October for conferences. The ZForum 2006 user conference will be held Oct. 4-6  and Zantaz is offering a chance for users to have one-on-one meetings with company execs, but you hafta register by Monday. Details here. 

Fios Inc. will hold a special session on Oct. 3, in conjunction with the Association of Corporate Counsel's  Greater NY chapter. The conference, entitled “Zubulake, the Federal Rules, Ethics and Beyond: Perspectives for Corporate Counsel,” will feature Laura Zubulake as the keynote speaker, Judge Ronald Hedges, and a panel of electronic discovery experts. Details here.

*My colleagues over at ALM Research report that their latest survey, on Global Firm Knowledge Management, is now available. Details here.