Mr. Impressive. Check him out. No, seriously, check him out.

I couldn't take the hype any longer and finally braved it to the local movie picture show house to see if I couldn't sneak me a seat to watch the summer's blockbuster.



Yes, I stole that picture, and considering it was from some random guy's blog, I'm assuming he stole it as well. I guess that makes my guilt compounded, or something like that. Anyway, just see this movie, it's worth it. I have to admit, I was never that big a fan of Heath Ledger, and all those public displays of mourning were almost enough to make me dry heave. I know, I know, I sound extremely callous, but think about this; of all the people that wail and moan when the latest darling of the spotlight passes on, how many knew him, and I mean really knew him? Not all that many, would be my guess. Imagine if all those people would be anywhere near as affected by the death of, say, a soldier overseas, or maybe even one of those nameless faces they see semi-regularly during their daily routines. Oh, that's right; those guys are nobodies.

Yeesh, I've apparently got some venom pent up that needed to get out. Sorry, Heath. To quote your last character, "Nothing personal." Hell, I even have to agree with one of my friends who said that he kicked Jack Nicholson's Joker all the way to next week and back. And he did.

So back to the flick, and the rest of this paragraph deals with subject matter from the film, not specific details. If you haven't seen it and would rather not know anything, then skip to the next paragraph now. There was some interesting content that I was watching for after talking to another friend from school who writes movie reviews. He mentioned something about how people of the Republican and/or sick in the head persuasion who think that torture and invasion of privacy are justifiable means to an end are rumbling on the Intertubes about how this movie exemplifies their viewpoint, which it does - sorta. Funny how a movie made in an age when these are extreme hot button topics is actually only using current examples of themes the Batman comics - sorry, graphic novels - have been using for quite some time. Batman has always been one of those characters with questionable morals. Keep in mind, his primary motivation was to kill someone for revenge. It must've been that damn Adam West and his hippified version of Batman from the 60's that turned everyone's memories all saccharine and made them forget that Batman could probably be more accurately defined as an anti-hero, something that isn't necessarily such a good thing to be, whether it's in reference to a person or a country. That, and Adam West makes for a kick ass mayor of Quahog.

I also had to fight the urge multiple times to run out to the snack bar and buy the largest beverage I could in order to throw it as hard as possible at someone's head. As an open letter to the general populace, please refrain from texting, or for that matter, from simply opening your damn cellphones and creating a small spotlight during the movie. I tend to like to sit towards the back, and as much as I try to stay away from people, it never fails that some dirthead is so important that communication with the outside world cannot be put on hold for the two hours of the film that they voluntarily paid to see. How, oh how did humanity suffer through a movie before all these miraculous advances in communications technology? Some days, I think I'd just giggle my ass off to see something that would take it all away, if only for a day or two. All the poor, poor people. I guess it's easy for me to say, sitting here in front of my computer, but at least I'm confident that I'd take the opportunity to tear into this stack of books I've been wanting to read that almost seems to grow faster than I can get through them.

That's it for now. I have no idea why I'm in such a sour mood today, but maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and not feel like snapping at everything. Wish me luck.

He had a cop mustache.

I'm sure strange things happen on a daily basis to plenty of people, but it just seems sometimes like the simplest things just put a spin on my day and won't get out of my mind. This just happened today. I ran into someone that I haven't talked to in at least 2-3 years. I have to admit, I've seen this person since then, but sometimes I can call upon my ninja talents and blend into the crowd with a puff of smoke, disappearing from view. Unfortunately there was no crowd today, so I was caught in the open and forced to access my conversation files and scan them for categories of chit chat that were polite yet gave the impression that I was pressed for time. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy at heart, but also one of those people that can trap you forever once he gets going, much like some of my blog entries. I assume that just about anyone can relate to this type of situation, so take a moment to imagine a person in your life that fits this bill while I construct the setting.

I was in one my favorite haunts, the local coffee shop, listening to music and staring at my laptop as I tried to pry the current story idea from the murky haze in my brain and hoping that caffeine would be the catalyst I needed to make it happen. When I gave up and started packing everything into my man purse to retreat home, I heard someone say, "Erik?" from somewhere close behind me. I was caught. I won't go into the details of the entire conversation, because it was basically just small talk and catching up, but there was one thing at the beginning that just keeps rattling around in my memory, and I had to write it down. One of the first things he said to me as I was shutting down my laptop was, "I didn't know you could type."

For people that know me, this is obviously an absurd observation, as I practically live at my computer desk with (usually) no less than two, sometimes three computers running random processes simultaneously. That, and I'm currently an English grad student in creative writing. But to have someone, especially this day in age, be surprised that someone can type and feel they need to comment on it just spiked my strange-o-meter into the red zone.

I'm currently self-medicating with a cold beer and some metal music, and I think I'll pull through. Please, no donations or gifts.