It was nice while it lasted.

Rumor has it that the next Batman movie is likely to have The Riddler and Catwoman in it. The thought of it has many people incredibly excited. And with more rumors of Angelina Jolie & Johnny Depp interested in the roles even more buzz is emminant. I see this as the start of the end. More villians means less time to explore each character. And this means lower quality movies. And you don't have to look very far to see some of the worst examples of this. Its very common in the Batman franchise. Batman (1989) was released with ONE villian. Massively amazing movie. Batman Returns (1992) had two supervillians and one normal villian. It nearly killed Michael Keaton's career.

Update: New rumors also have Phillip Seymore Hoffman as the Penguin linked to the next movie as well. PLEASE STOP NOW!!!!!!!!!

Wow

There isn't much else to say about The Dark Knight except Wow. I went in hoping for a good movie. This was no where near what I was expecting. I didn't think Hollywood made movies like this anymore. Or even if they really ever had. Not only was the storyline unexpected, but it was allowed to play out in a decent amount of time. It never felt like they were really rushing the story along, except I know they were. There was 2 movies worth of content in the 2 and a half hours or so.

Ummm yeah, Wow. If you liked Batman Begins (then you are probably already at the theater at this moment, but if you are not) take some time this weekend to see it. Its well worth it.

WALL-E and California Smoke

I know its been a while since I posted. Lets just say that my abductors were very nice, but it wouldn't hurt for them to find a new Chinese restaurant.

If you have been anywhere near California in the last week, you know that we have had a bit of smoke in the air. (Smoke so thick it blocked the sun and changed weather patterns.) It took me several days to figure out why it was pissing me off. Normally I love the smell of a good forest fire. It reminds me of my childhood. But for some reason this smoke was just annoying me. And then it hit me. Traffic. Ok, maybe it takes more than one word to explain it. If you are stuck in traffic for a while you get angry. But if you get to see some nasty carnage of the accident that caused it, you completely forget about the traffic and just keep telling everyone for the next few days about how you saw one car upside down and the other burned to a crisp. Well the same thing happens with smoke. When you get stuck in smoke its nasty. But if you see walls of flame or at least a smoldering stump, everything is great. You get to talk about it for years.

WALL-E
I'm really not sure what to say about WALL-E. Should people watch it? Yes. Its a fantastic piece of filmaking. Did I like it? Pretty much. Pixar has once again created amazing characters and sent them on an amazing adventure. I didn't care for being preached at about environmental and economic issues. I guess a lot of stories have some meaning, and this one does get the call to arms out there. It just wasn't for me.

Pixar's real win on this one though wasn't the art. It was the sound. Back in the 70's a young man was able to give a robot that was not much more than a rolling garbage can a soul. R2-D2 became a hero to a generation. Was it special effects or mechanical wizardry that did this? No, it was the sad sound of a little droid alone in the desert that pulled our heart strings. Ben Burtt has done it again. WALL-E is the next R2-D2. A nearly mute knight out to save the world. The everyman with a boring job who somehow goes on an adventure.....and gets the girl. Pixar would have had a much harder time making it all work if they didn't have Ben Burtt there to give our hero the soul that it needed to warm out hearts.

Ehh, its a day.

As I sit here trying my best to avoid work something springs to mind. People suck. Ok, now thats not quite right. Some people are just great. Fantastic even. But then there are others out there that just seem to hurt people without meaning to. I'm not going to get all weird about how someone has hurt me because in the last few days everything has been pretty good for me. But time and again I hear about someone doing someone wrong and it just pisses me off.

Oh well. Maybe the alien invasion will happen today and I'll have something better to think about.

And go see a movie. I know they are expensive now, but its still something worth doing. I might have to do that myself if I can avoid the patrolling hoards of users.

Travel....and the Weather

I have had a whirlwind couple weeks. New York City, Sacramento, Lebanon. I'm a world traveler lately. Ok, it was only Lebanon, Oregon. Its still not my desk where I spend all the rest of my time.

Ok and now for my political report. Politicians are nuts. Stay tuned for weather after this brief announcement.


POLITICIANS ARE NUTS!!!
Paid for by me. I approve this message.

Welcome back. Weather is normal. Yep you heard me. Weather is normal. We have it every day. And any politician that uses the weather to advance their personal political agenda should be burned at the stake, or at least should have to buy me a steak every time I have to hear them blather on and on.

Here is a brief description of my last 3 weeks

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And a free lunch from Microsoft. Its been a good couple weeks.

Well its been a while.........

But I just read an article I want to share with the world. Wired has a great article about marine salvage that seems like it came from a movie, or at least from the Discovery Channel. Everyone should read it.