Saturday, July 31, 2010

I'm FREAKING out. Also, I changed the name of my blog.

48 hours.  I have 48 hours before I leave for DC.  I'm freaking out.  It's officially sinking in.  I know I'll deal with it, but for now, I'm gettin' my panic on.

This blog.... it's so often just a waste of my time.  And frankly, it's almost always a waste of the time of anyone who ends up here.  But, I don't want to get rid of it.  I like getting to write about whatever I want.  So... despite my frequent temptations to just delete it, I'll keep it.  But it has a new name: The Internet Barnacle.

So... yeah... there ya go.

New title, but I'm keeping the same web address to avoid confusing anyone who happens to have linked to this thing.

Well, see ya later.

Friday, July 30, 2010

A law school-related annoyance and the formation of my legal ideologies...

One small annoyance that I have with law school stuff is that everything has legal formalities. There's a form for EVERYTHING. The law school is putting together a profile compilation of all the students' pictures and our names and our prior degrees that we've earned. Is there a form that we must sign and mail or fax in? Yes. Honestly... I can't just email you with the information? Who sued over having their picture in a yearbook thingy? Honestly. Lawyers. Lawyers probably kill more trees through paper usage per capita than anyone else on the planet. Small annoyance, but an annoyance, nonetheless.

Also, I've been loving reading all of my fun pre-law summer reading that my brother-in-law assigned me. It's tough though. I'll read one book and think I know exactly how I feel about the constitution, and then a few great paragraphs about an opposing legal theory and I'm off in a new direction. It's fun and difficult to determine exactly what I feel are the most appropriate approaches to the constitution, and to statutory interpretation. But, seeing as the odds of me being a judge one day, especially one that would participate in judicial review, are not great.... I won't count on needing to know where I stand within the next couple months. So far the biggest influences on how I've felt have been Laurence Tribe, Ronald Dworkin, and Justice Antonin Scalia. I really appreciate Clarence Thomas, as well. We'll see where I'll end up on the judicial ideology scale.


K, bye.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Taking a moment to appreciate my right to write whatever the crap I want...


I was just having yet another moment of realizing how lucky I am to be able to write whatever I want on my blog.  I'm grateful to live in a country where so much is open to us.  It's also a blessing that the (albeit oft-times annoying) press can expose corruption without fear of severe censorship.
Our journalists have it easy:
"While working for mostly local outlets in seemingly peaceful times, [many journalists have] lost their lives as they plied their trade to expose corruption and other wrongdoings.
On a recent assignment in Iraq, a UNTV crew from my Department captured on video the plight of a journalist who was doing just that, although, luckily, with a much happier ending. Amina Al-Thahabi, an Iraqi television reporter, took two bullets from a revolver and two from a Kalashnikov. Despite the attack, she was not intimidated. She told our interviewer that her next project is making a documentary about the freedom of speech. A mother of two, she says she is working hard to make sure all the Iraqis get the information they need."
   --Huffington Post, May 3, 2010  by Kiyotaka Akasaka, UN Under-Secretary-General for Comm. & Public Info.

With stories like that, I hope that I'm not the only one that appreciates freedoms of the press & speech that we enjoy here.
Just saying.

K, bye.

And you thought I was crazy for talking to myself...

So.  You think I'm crazy for talking to myself sometimes?  Well, at least I don't talk to Google search!

I've noticed that some people don't ask questions in their Google search terms, or even list a topic... they make definitive statements as though they were telling Google what's what.

Crazy Person X's search terms: "I'm hungry"

What is Google search supposed to do?  Make you a sandwich?

Crazy Person Y's search terms: "Obama is a terrible president"

Google can't vote, FOOL!

The reason for this post is the fact that the title of my last post (my review of Inception) has lead many who apparently don't like the film to my blog.  I just saw that someone typed, (I like to imagine furiously, and saying the words out-loud as their fingers flew around the keyboard) "i hate inception," and that brought them here.  I hope that they then had a yelling match with my review of Inception, because it is very much opposing that statement.  Anyway, people are crazy.

And another thing, at least when I talk to myself, I respond.  Google doesn't respond!  .... yet...
K, see ya.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Inception Review: I hate this word, but RIVETING!

Riveting.  I hate when critics over-use that word.  But it is the only word that I can think of that sums up my Inception-viewing experience.  I was completely riveted for at least 99% of the time.  The 1% was mostly just when I took an opportunity to look around and see if my friends were as completely sucked in as I was.

I honestly think that this movie could potentially cause mental issues in some people.  My brain is really tired.  On the way home just now, I stopped to fill up my gas tank, and I was struggling a bit.  This movie really does require that you stick with it though.  I could easily see some people quitting on it, and hating it.  You really need to keep your brain engaged, and, well, I felt that I was rewarded.

Ok, so I'm sure many of you have seen clips of the scene with Ellen Page and Leonardo DiCaprios' characters exploring a dream, and all sorts of things like the fruit stand start exploding... about half way through that scene, I knew I was going to love this movie.  My mouth was hanging open.  (This was one of those 1% moments when I remembered that I was watching a movie.)  The special effects were really fun.  I wondered, when I watched the trailer if I would feel like I was actually in a dream-state, or if they would capture that feeling anyway.  My dreams are a little-too random for anyone to really capture on screen.  But, that didn't matter.  The fact is that they really did make me feel like I was in someone's dream.  There were actually quality action scenes, too.

The acting was great.  Leonardo DiCaprio is just a darn good actor.  I tend to believe him as every character he plays.  At least since (and including) Catch Me If You Can, anyway.  Ellen Page didn't need to act too much, but I think she fit the cast really well.  The others were all great.  No one struck me as not fitting their character, or having distracting lack of acting skill.

I was hooked by this movie after about 10 minutes, I loved everything in the middle, and I loved the ending.  I don't think this movie is for everyone, especially people who hate "thinking" movies.  This one's a clear thinker.  If you can handle a good think, go see it.  Make sure to see it in the theater, to do justice to the awesome special effects, too.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I give it a 10 out of 10.  It definitely did not disappoint me.

Sole critical negative of the most minuscule persuasion:  They missed the opportunity to play "Take a Picture" by Filter during the credits.  I think it would have fit just right.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

In the theater waiting for inception to start. I'm really excited, but i am little afraid i've over hyped it. Full review to come.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Good ol' LeBron James and I have joined Twitter!


LeBron James
Originally uploaded by Bill Adams
My friend*, maybe you've heard of him, LeBron James and I have both joined twitter recently. (This picture is of when he and I went to watch our pal* Roger Federer in the U.S. Open in 2009.*) Anyway, I convinced* "King James" as only* his closest friends, like me*, call him, to join twitter.* Between the two of us we already have over 200,000 followers on there! Anyway, he recently has been trying to make a big decision about where he'll play basketball for the next few years. As I announced on Facebook, he told me that he was planning on going to the Jazz*, but that isn't finalized yet. He told me that because I, his close friend and occasional advisor*, live here in Utah and am such a big Jazz fan he was seriously considering playing for the Jazz.* That would be really sweet.

Anyway, I've become addicted to twitter. I post on there all the time. It's getting a bit ridiculous. LeBron has only posted 3 times thus far. Check him out on there, he's @kingjames. I came up with that name for him.*

Check me out on there. I'm fast becoming one of the most popular users, and I recently passed up celebrities like Serena Williams, Al Yankovic, and Shaquille O'neal on the most followed list.* @jeffffricks is my name.  The extra two f's are for freakin' fantastic.  LeBron came up with that.*

I'm really important.*

K, bye.*

*probably not true.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Jeff's Top 10 Songs With Good Bass or Top 10 Songs To Test Bass

And now, a time-waster post!
I really enjoy songs that can successfully implement a strong bass sound without letting it rule the song.  These are all songs that I love to listen to with Bass boosters on full blast.  With the clear exception of the Beatles' "Come Together" these are relatively new songs.  Jem's is the second oldest on the list and it was released at least since 2002.  This isn't comprehensive for all songs ever.  It's only songs in my current iTunes library.

The List Explained:
1.  "24" by Jem  I really enjoy Jem's bass sounds that she implements.  This song is the hardest rocker that I've heard from her.  I used to love blasting it in my mom's old car that had a nice sound system.  I probably like it solely for its bass-rock power.
2.  "Come Together" by The Beatles is a great example of a song with a great bass-line and well-implemented strong bass sounds.  This isn't my favorite Beatles song, but it is the best for bass.
3.  "Neckbrace" by Ratatat  Ratatat could really have multiple entries on this list, but I limited each artist to only one.  This song is one of my favorite from their Lp4 album that was just released.  It's a cool mixture of bass sounds.
4.  "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" by LCD Soundsystem I like this song solely for its ongoing strong bass-line.  It's pretty funny as well.
5.  "Animal Backwards" by Minus the Bear The first time I heard this song I was in my friend's Jeep with the volume up.  When I heard it with his sweet system, it was awesome.  Now when I listen to it compared to some of these others the bass-line is a lot less pronounced.  Blast this one.  It's a great song though.  And from a band I had previously written off.
6.  "Curse" by Imagine Dragons It's like a cardinal rule that I absolutely must include Imagine Dragons on every music list I make lately, but I really love this song and its bass.  This is still probably a top 20 favorite song of all-time for me.
7.  "Gone Daddy Gone" by Gnarls Barkley I'm not a huge fan of Gnarls Barkley, but this is a fun song.  It has a really cool sound to it.  I first heard in while watching Chuck.
8.  "Undisclosed Desires" by Muse This song isn't my favorite Muse song, especially because of its interesting lyrics, but it is a downright cool sounding song.  As with most new Muse, it's well-crafted.
9.  "Good To Sea" by Pinback I really like the bass-line of this song.  This is just an all-around cool song.
10.  "Numbers" by Great Northern Not the strongest of bass, especially on this list, but I do like the sound of this one.

Well, that's it.  Hope you found something new!

Friday, July 2, 2010

It's July now... let the panic begin!

Well, law school is a little over a month away.  I'm moving to the opposite end of the country in about 40 days or so.  And I'll stay there for 3 years.  It's finally setting in that I have a ton to take care of, and my denial that I've had for the last month or so is melting away quickly.

I really do have a LOT to do.

And I have a LOT that I want to do.

This will be an interesting month.

I'm excited for the annual "Cul-de-sac of Fire" tomorrow.  My fam is having our annual Fourth of July Shindig a day early.  We have even MORE fireworks than last year, and last year was excessive.  It should be nuts.  The kids really love it though.



Wimbledon women's final is tomorrow, and then the men's is Sunday.  I've had fun watching it.

Well, see y'all later.  Time to read like crazy!