…to go see this movie!

 So I finally got to see “The Dark Knight”. Sold out at midnight on Thursday. Sold out last night for the 10:30 and 11:15 showing. So I went to the matinee today. Gotta tell you, I am not going to say anything about it because I don’t want to spoil any of it for anyone wanting to see it. But I do plan on seeing it again and this much is true…it’s as good as they say. Every moment is tense and exciting. ALL of the performances are top notch. The Joker IS as evil and psychotic as they say. It’s got everything any fan of action or psychological drama would want to see and it has raised the bar on what comic book movies can be. Fantastic film! I will review it after I see it again and after you’ve seen it. It’s the right thing to do. Let me know what you think! 

My wife and I were talking last night. It was one of those really deep talks where you get into every possible issue. Religion. Money. The economy. Our world today. I’m unhappy with the state our world is in right now. Nothing new there. I tend to think everyone has a gripe with something, right? But as we chatted, my mind got wandering and I have a question…why is it that we live on this tiny rock and we can’t get along? I mean, think of it in this way…the Earth is but one small planet in a universe so large than we can’t even fathom it. If there is a God (and that is up to you to decide how you feel about such things), do you honestly believe that he/she/it has time to concentrate solely on us? What about the other gazillion planets that are out there? God has to be watching and caring for them as well, right? So God leaves us to our own devices and says “Here ya go! Make good out of it!” and what do we do? We screw it up. I’m not one to brow beat humanity, but it seems like we’ve missed the point somewhere.

Seeing stories like the one from Minneapolis or the one from the New York hospital or any of the news stories about the wars happening all over the world…it’s all so petty. Stripped bare, aren’t we all just skin and bones? If we are all made of the same thing, what is it in our brains that makes us think that we are so much better than the other? I used ants as an example last night. Seriously, if we were smart, we would consider the ant a little more because ants know what their place is. Ants work together as a unit to get things done. Granted, there’s not much free will in the ant community. Probably not a whole lot of creative thought. No Michealangelo’s in the group. However, the way they go about their business should be commended. Could we, humanity as a whole, ever get to the point where we just worked in unison to better our ant hill known as Earth? When you think of it in that perspective, doesn’t it get a little bit clearer?

We only have this ONE planet. We only have this ONE life. As much as scientists would like us to think that we could go inhabit another world, I have to imagine that will not happen anytime within my lifetime…or probably my kids’ lifetime. We are stuck here with no where to go. So why do we hate one another so much? Is it money? Because that is all useless once you’re gone. Is it power? Because all the power you have is useless once you are gone. Is it anger? Because all your anger is going to do is destroy your spirit…and that will be gone as well. Nothing is forever, so why do we spend so much time fighting and arguing and bickering and tearing each other down. I don’t understand. Can anyone answer these questions?

Anyway, my wife introduced me to a guy who likes to dance. She’s actually never met him, but he has a website on ye ol’ world wide web and it’s a place you should definately visit. His name is Matt. He likes to dance. And he likes to dance in every continent, every state, every uncharted territory in the world. It really is amazing watching this video. Usually I am not smitten by this sort of thing, but something about it made me smile. And it was a big smile…not one of those half-assed, “sorta smiling because my wife thinks this is cool but it’s really not” sort of things. This is really cool. Check it out! And be nice to one another. Life is too short and the world is too small for us to be hating one another. And now…let’s watch Matt dance…

Bulgari hand lotion. You can get it at any Ritz hotel near you. And it stinks.

First off…I want it to be known that I have to work very close to this man. He is a good friend who is a really nice guy…but this stuff really stinks! Is it baby poop stinky? Nope. Is it sewage pipe busted stinky? Nah. But it smells kinda girlie…and a guy wearing girlie, perfumy smelling hand lotion is a little strange…and it smells weird and it makes my eyes water…

Not that there is anything wrong with that…I guess.

Oh…and his wife makes me cookies. So I have to put up with him or else I don’t get the cookies. Damn…

But it is stinky…

Mmmmmm…looks tasty…costs more…

Everyone is FAT! America is UNHEALTHY! We are OVERWEIGHT and can’t control our habit of going to Burger King and ordering Whoppers (on sale! 2 for 1 today!), a large fry and a shake! What is wrong with us?!?!?!

Well…have ya been to the grocery store lately? Oh sure…I would LOVE to eat healthy (and have been!), but have you done the whole “comparing of prices” thing? I would love to march into my local Kroger store, skip down the aisles humming the theme to “Bonanza” and buy everything that is not only good for my body, but also good for the environment. However what stops me from doing that is the fact that everything that is healthy or good for the environment costs DOUBLE what all the other crap does!

A box of “healthy” cereal can run you 5 bucks compared to the sugar-coated stuff that is $2.50. A bag of nuts is $6! And the health juices that everyone is sucking down are anywhere from $1.50 to $2! Hell…a bottled water costs $1.25! Why not just get it out of the tap? It’s free! Well…not really…but you get the idea.

And those healthy environment products like recycled paper towels and what not? Oh…those are nice and pricey also. Love the eco-friendly laundry detergent…if only I didn’t have to take out a 2nd loan to buy it. Nice try Mr. Marketer…but I’m kinda broke right now. The environment will have to suffer a little while longer apparently.

Seriously…isn’t the selling point of all the healthy stuff is that it has LESS stuff in it? So why does it cost more? Is it the processing? The shipping? Is this stuff heavier than the sugar-coated crap my kids want to eat? WTF??? C’mon! Gimme a break!

You want America to eat better? Lower the freakin’ prices on this stuff and maybe we will! But for now…little Johnny will probably keep on eating the Big Macs and the Sugar Poofs ’cause ya know why? It’s all cheaper. And right now…cheaper is better.

‘Nuff said.

Another day, another 50 cents. I don’t have a specific blog tonight. I thought about going to the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight” after work (it’s 12:20am now), but I figured tomorrow it will be on in every theater starting every 15 minutes…so I got time. Here are a few things that I have bouncing around in my brain…

• What am I gonna blog about after tomorrow? The few Batman stories I wrote got me a crazy amount of hits here in the last week or so. Today I broke over 1,000 views in a single day! I would never have believed that would ever happen. Strange stuff…
• Over 20,000 have visited my little site here. I know my family checks in quite a bit…but not THAT much! Thanks for visiting everyone!
• Is it just me or is Dan over at “Dad Gone Mad” just the best freakin’ writer on this here internet thing? I consistently laugh my butt off reading his stuff. He posted a picture with this story. Feel free to visit him and enjoy!
• What do I do if I totally hate the new Batman flick? Do I not write about it? Just keep my trap shut? I can’t believe I’m actually concerned about this…
• My summer is officially over today. Looking ahead at my schedule, I have a little over a month before football season starts, I have a lot of baseball and football prep work to get done and then it just gets crazy. Amazing how time flies…
• I wonder who will win the music prize over at Twenty-Four At Heart’s site. I think I might be in the running…but you never know who might win!
• My Mom called me yesterday. She was concerned for me after the Minneapolis beating story and my reaction to it. I am fine. But she didn’t know what “WTF” stands for. My sister told her. She thought it was the World Trade Federation or something. Why was I putting it in my blogs? HAHAHAHAHA! Love you Mom, but you knew I couldn’t go without telling THAT story! 
• I had something else rattling around in there…but I forgot what it was…

Oh well…it’s just something to write. I’m not feeling all that creative right now and I’m sore from my workout today. Between the swimming and golfing and playing with my kids and then spinning Tuesday and Thursday, my body has had enough! Feels good to know my body is still willing to work a little bit though. So I plan on seeing the movie tomorrow night after work. I’ll write a very short review of it. The way I see it, everyone is gonna be writing reviews, so I’ll just make it quick. Hell…you’re gonna go see it anyways! LOL

My sister sent me these little nuggets of wisdom. I’m gonna sign off with these tonight. You may take them and use them at your leisure!

1. Don’t take life too seriously because no one gets out alive.
2. I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it!
3. I used to have a handle on life…but it broke.
4. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
5. God must love stupid people. He made so many!
6. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
7. Stupidity is not a handicap! So park somewhere else…
8. Out of my mind. Back in 5 minutes!.

And my personal favorite and the one that fits me best…”I smile because I don’t know what the hell is going on!” Ain’t THAT the truth!  Goodnight! 

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a lollipop?

Remember the good old days of rap? Back when it was either fun to listen too (like Slick Rick) or important to listen too (like Public Enemy)? Well those days aren’t over! For every Lil Wayne (can anybody really understand a word of what he is saying?), there is a Kanye West. For every David Banner, there is a Ludacris. Rap ain’t dead…you just have to look for the good stuff (such as Nas’ new album which came out this week!)…

Me being the whitest guy on the planet, I figured it was time for me to throw out a rap mix. It consists of some older rap artists and some new rap artists. These artists have made a contribution to the genre and made it better every time they lay a track down. Here’s 8 great rap tracks…Enjoy!

1. Jurassic 5 - “What’s Golden”

2. Public Enemy - “Who Stole The Soul”

3. Tupac - “Death Around The Corner”

4. Nas - “Sly Fox”

5. Jay Z - “99 Problems”

6. EPMD - “You Gots To Chill”

7. Missy Elliott - “Sock It To Me”

8. Slick Rick - “Children’s Story”

Thank God “The Dark Knight” is coming out tomorrow! I’ve written 4 blogs that involve the movie and as of today, I’ve gotten more hits than I can count on the darn things. Over 1,100 for this one, and a little fewer than 900 for this one, and a little over 300 for this one. The other one has caused minimal damage, but still…it’s gonna be somewhat disappointing when everyone disappears!

I think I’m going to see the film Friday night after work. I can imagine I will be all hopped up and will come home and give an extensive review that night! I hope I’m not too excited. I hope I’m not let down. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend, and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.

Heath Ledger…I hope your last performance is worthy of an Oscar! 

Like most of the internet…I hope it’s the biggest hit of the summer and the coolest comic book movie ever!

Addition: There is an obvious movie quote in here. Anyone know from whence it came?

So you want to promote your new movie called “The Dark Knight”, right? What do you think…send some Bat masks to your favorite entertainment magazine? Maybe stick Batman and The Joker on some cereal boxes? Maybe mass produce some action figures and make sure they are stocked in every store from Maine to California? Maybe make a cake, stick some wires in it, jot down a phone number on top of it and then drop it off at a nearby television station?

Uh…maybe scratch that last one. But that’s what happened Tuesday morning at KENS-TV when the station’s front desk received a cake just like that one! The building was evacuated (apparently they weren’t on the air!) and the police were brought in for a slice or two.

After a top notch investigation, it was discovered that the cake was actually a joke promoting the new movie.

I don’t know about you, but I think its HYSTERICAL when someone threatens to blow me up at work! Seriously…FUNNY stuff! I can’t think of anything more funny than to be running a camera or filing papers or eating a doughnut or sipping water at the water fountain and an alarm goes off and I have to run to the exits, not knowing that there might be a funny joke happening and I’m missing out on it!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Damn! Now THAT’S funny stuff!

Oh…apparently someone missed the email about it showing up. Hmmm…well…sucks for everyone else, huh?

Unbelievable.