Now I don't know how parts of your childhood went, but I remember mine involving sitting at home weekend mornings or summer afternoons when it was too hot to play outside, turning on PBS, and watching "Bill Nye the Science Guy." It was the greatest show of my childhood and part of the reason why I became a biochemistry/molecular biology major and self-proclaimed nerd.

It has been a long time since I've seen the show (I'm sure it's currently in syndication) and I miss having Bill Nye's quirkiness showing me how the world works. I remember him being a guest judge on "America's Most Smartest Models" - don't judge me. And he's done a really nice segment for the Discovery Channel (or was it the History channel?) on the Greatest Discoveries of the scientific world. But I miss watching him. More importantly I miss being entertained and educated at the same time (as how education SHOULD be).

I was watching the History Channel with my brother and a new promo ad popped up with, who else, Bill Nye. And so imagine my glee to find out that he's coming out with a new show called "Stuff Happens." I am so geeked about this.

Edit: Bill Nye also has another show that came out in 2005 called "The Eyes of Nye". I can attune it to a more adult-version of his original show. And it is amazing!

Why this vehement, mutual loathing of the History Channel, you ask? Maybe because every time I happen to be watching it (about once every two years and usually with a man) it proceeds to tell me how the world will end in two years and we're currently in the end of days, according to the Bible. Great.

Two years ago, when I was watching it with Louis, we stumbled upon an episode discussing Revelations from the Bible, and described every painstaking detail of the fall of mankind.

Last night I was with my dad watching an episode based on Bible Codes. I missed the first half of the episode (I'm still not 100% sure what a Bible Code is other than that it predicts our future and past) and was satisfied enough when three crypotolgists said there was no relevance to this. However, they said the Codes had predicted 9/11, Columbia explosion, and (wrongfully) Al Gore's presidency. Fair enough, hind sight is 20/20. But then, it had predicted a deadly California earthquake in 1994 (OK, Hello? California is like, earthquake capital!) and there will be another in 2010. My dad, hardcore Roman Catholic, born and raised, became more interested. "We'll see," he said to either me or himself. Another expert predicted in 2002 that in "5957, the end of days comes. It's translated into 2010." Apparently it takes 7 years, when the battle for Good and Evil is at its pinochle and it will begin in the fall of 2003 when Israel finally has peace and its surrounding countries are divided up. I think that might've happened. Another theory was that the codes predicted a meteor to destroy the Eart in 2012.

Both men's reactions to my feverent panic? "If it happens, it happens. Nothing we can do." Oh, ok. Plain and simple. Well, you better have you shit squared away with God.

How can anyone be that calm faced with eminent death? I suppose it's acceptance, like the terminally ill. But not for me. It only fills me with that many more questions. I mean, these are theories and there's just as much of a chance of these things not happening as there is of them happening. Maybe I'm just not comfortable enough in my relationship with Religion.

If I have 2-4 years of my young life left, how am I supposed to spend it? Should I be more engrossed in getting into Heaven (He knows I haven't indulged nearly as much as I could've)? Or should I spend my fleeting time drinking and whoring around the Metro-East? I mean, I don't think people get laid in the Great Beyond.  The latter might run me a one-way ticket to Devil-Land.

I've never been one for Religion mongering. I don't believe in trying to get people to convert or pushing God and Jesus on my friends, let alone strangers. I think that Left Behind series is simple dispicable. I don't believe everything is that black and white.

So what's a good little Catholic girl to do? Wear my cutest outfits in 2012 and never be alone? At least when a giant meteor sends us all to our demise, I can be cute and surrounded by loved ones. If thats the case, I might as well rack up a huge ass college bill, I won't have to pay it, I'll still be in school!

Well, if I only have 2-4 years, I need to find my soulmate STAT. Going out to look <3

These fellas are probably not on their way to the Goethe convention . . .

Time reports that a debate is brewing in Germany over whether to lift the ban on Mein Kampf. Hitler’s screed enters the public domain in 2015, at which point some fear a “flood of new editions” will wash over Germany, inflaming nascent skinheads. The solution? Some “academics and officials” propose releasing an official, annotated version exposing the book’s flaws . . . as if those weren’t manifest.

The Evil finds it almost endearingly naïve—almost—that some academics think far-right, xenophobic nutheads, the kind of people at whom National Socialism was aimed in the first place, are going to dive into a “critical” edition of Hitler’s opus. Because we all know racist, filth-spewing reactionaries look forward to nothing more than reading annotations and footnotes providing the necessary historical and literary context for understanding their hate tracts. How about this line:

The "lack of comprehensive knowledge about the [National Socialist] regime" doesn't allow German youths to put the book "into context". A well-annotated edition is both "sensible and important".

Right-o. If there’s anything angry young people seek, it’s context.

Hey! Here’s a game:

1. Say the words “annotated edition” in a crowd of people. Any crowd—youth rally, plumbers’ convention, mosh pit, Ph.D. mixer.
2. Count how many people don’t shudder with revulsion.
3. See if you need more than the fingers on one hand.

Now try this in a mob of anti-Semitic teenage fucknuts. Have fun with that.

The people to whom Hitler appealed weren’t the kind of people who did a whole mess of reading. And you’d think academics and historians, of all people, would remember that.

What’s more—as is pointed out by some opponents of this plan—this here internet has made this all a bit moot. It’s not as if interested assholes in Germany have lived their entire lives in ignorance of Mein Kampf’s existence. That cat is out of the bag. And has probably been pummeled to death by these same assholes.

This debate does make the Evil wonder, though . . . how many of Hitler’s upper-echelon minions actually ever did sit down to read his sprawling clusterfuck? Evil imagines a perspiring Goering or Himmler grinning unsteadily as some Party mixer, saying, “Liked it? No, I loved it, Führer. Hmm? What was my favorite part? Gosh . . . I mean, there were so many, it’s hard to pinpoint just one . . .”

The Evil doesn't envy the Bavarian state government, in whose hands the unbanning decision lies. And while Evil doesn’t see how maintaining a ban on a book that—

(a) anyone can get their hands on electronically at this point and

(b) few of its “adherents” would ever actually read

—does any good, the Evil appreciates the seriousness with which German officials take this matter. We can probably all just agree that no good could possibly come of this regardless.

Which brings me to the History Channel. Again.  If I did not tear MB away from the tv every now and then, we would never have made it to the beach.  "Next on the History Channel:  Ice Road Truckers (cue ominous looking rig driving over ice)......only 4 episodes left and this time a trucker is sitting on a Time Bomb...yikes!"  We had to leave before this episode aired so we will not find out the gripping conclusion!! 

I am assuming they already ran an episode of Modern Marvels about antibiotics, which really are a marvel, as opposed to Modern Marvels:  Chocolate (seriously!)

On the E! channel, I caught my first glimpse of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.  And, guess what?  Some more nude pictures surfaced and the FBI needed to be called in before they appeared on TMZ.  I commented to MB that Kim was quite the drama queen and, shortly thereafter, a huge brown spider was crawling up my leg and I was screaming.  (So much for drama queen.)

On The Girls Next Door, I couldn't believe that Holly brought her family (including young brother) to Hef's mansion to visit her at her "job," where she was certain they would be very proud of her.  Yeah, who needs a degree from Harvard or a research job leading to a cure for cancer, when you can do impressive work such as this and your family is beaming with pride!

On E: True Hollywood Story, I caught the bio on Rachael Ray and was a bit bummed to learn there is a Rachael Ray Sux site that gets a lot of traffic.  I am not a RR fan per se, but this negativity seems a bit harsh.  There is always someone waiting in the wings ready to bring someone else down the minute they become successful.  I jokingly wondered aloud whether there was a Carma Sez Sucks site and then this became a running joke where MB suggested the Ice Road Truckers may have set up a site and been communicating on CB Radio:  "That Carma Sez sucks." (said in thick trucker accent)....

As I said, we are easily amused......

Oh TV...  Hopefully I get points for it mostly being the History Channel.  Learning about stuff you'll never need to know, but unlike public school, it's somehow extremely interesting and captivating - and more of the things you learn turn into things you know, than in public school.  Granted, I do switch back to Comedy Central every now and than.  I mean, Scrubs is just genius, really.  And I haven't been a couch potato the whole time.  I have this sweet little stand I put my bike on so I can ride it in front of the TV, in the safety of air conditioning, usually during Scrubs.

And right around here is where I realize, this dream of being a writer, is really my admitting to the world what a loser I really am.

I'm scared to do this.  And that is so, for lack of a better vocabulary even though I'm an English major, retarded.

I mean, let's break this down.  I didn't get a job for the summer, I don't believe in summer classes, my man moved to another country for work, I don't have pets (but I wish I had a puppy...or two...) or kids (thank goodness!!!), and I don't actually have a hobby.  I mean, I have two guitars, can tune them, even play a couple chords.  But I don't.  And, I know how to knit, I've kitted things for people before, but even that's kind of grandma-y.  Or super indie trendy...but either way, I don't even know where all my knitting needles are in this mess of a room.  And that's another thing.  I'm OCD when it comes to organizing - but not cleaning.  And yes, there is a difference.  Don't even try to disagree with me, just think about it.  But just so we don't skip the big picture, I have all the time in the world to write and I'm just not doing it to the extent I want to.

So bare with me if these posts are rare, bare, or even lame at first.  I could say something cliche about how I'm just spreading my wings to learn how to fly, but writing isn't as black or white as flying seems to be.  Writing is a process, on going.  Can be good sometimes, not as great others, and can almost always be improved on.  Not that I've ever taken enough drugs to try it, but as far as I know when it comes to flying, you're either off the ground or you're stuck on it forever.

My head may always be in the clouds, along with my motivation, but at least I'm honest about that.  My honesty to myself is the only way I can simultaneously keep myself grounded.

257,000 barrels vs 8000 barrels...is it even close?  Is there any real, honest comparison beyond the talk of oil?

On This Date In History:  This is an interesting story not so much for the event but instead of how it is reported in at least one version of history by a popular cable outlet that people depend on for facts, not for attempts to persuade.  It talks about how three vessels ran into each other in Tampa Bay on this date in 1993.  Okay fine.  The focus of the story should not be on the fact that an oil spill took place. That wasn't anything new.  But that it was contained using a new technology is what made it significant.  For the first time in history, a computer model was used that took meteorological and oceanic information and produced a forecast as to where the oil slick would go.  As it turned out, the model was right on the money for a six hour window.  That was enough to allow for the responders to the incident to react properly.  Since they knew that the slick would be moving temporarily away from the shore, they were able to react accordingly.  When the goo reached  the beaches of Pinellas County, county emergency crews that had just received training, acted quickly and promptly and most of the wildlife was protected. 

Sounds like a big winner to me...we were able to improve our reaction time to environmental hazards and also it showed that we are able to more safely transport the oil that is needed to keep the nation's economic engine humming.

Nope...the story mentioned the other part but instead in the first sentence was the following: "A rare collision of three ships in Tampa Bay, Florida, results in a spill of 336,000 gallons of fuel oil on this day in 1993."  

Now, this statement is true and was significant.  The US Coast Guard considers anything more than 2381 barrels a "major" oil spill.  The story says 336,000 gallons of oil.  Why not barrels?  What the editor would say is that "well...the average reader has no idea what a barrel is or how much it is but they know all about gallons."  Okay fine.  So, why don't we report the price of oil in gallons?  Well, they would say "that's not how it's traded."  That is true.  But, what about average readers not knowing about barrels?  How about some consistency.  Is it possible that the writers don't know that a barrel of oil is 42 US gallons?  You bet it is.  Is it possible that the writers want to make it sound more dramatic so they use 336,000 gallons instead of 8000 barrels?  You bet.  In any event, it has to be one or the other because you can't have it both ways.

Here's the real kicker...they ended the story with

"This oil spill was the first major one following the 1989 Exxon  Valdez accident in Alaska. New federal legislation that had been passed in the aftermath of the Valdez disaster assisted in the effort to recover millions of dollars from the ship owners to pay for the cleanup efforts."

First off, they compare the 8000 barrel spill in Tampa to the 257,000 barrel spill in Alaska....over 32 times more oil in Alaska than Tampa.  There was a tremendous short term environmental consequence in Alaska and almost none in Tampa. They also don't mention that in Alaska it was crude oil, which is quite different than the fuel oil in Tampa.  Then they conclude by suggesting that somehow Congressional legislation that sent the bill to the ship owners for the clean up had anything to do with anything.  It didn't prevent further spills, it didn't help further improve clean ups, it was not responsible for the great improvement in emergency response in the industry.  It did nothing except determine that those who make the mess  have to pay for the clean-up, which is not unreasonable at all and provided a poltical facade for Congress to fool the public into thinking they did anything about anything. 

The story as written is factual...the way it is written in my view is not accurate and is a subtle work of propaganda because it is pushing a point of view.  Do not be surprised if other major media outlets would choose to present "facts" in such a way as to attempt to persuade you instead of inform.  Most likely, it would be slanted in a certain political direction...you can decide in which direction that would be.

Here is the story as it appeared on the History webpage.

Tell that to the Aborigines of Australia who still believe ones soul can be captured in a meld of polyester, celluloid, gelatin and salts that we call film. Even today they refuse to have their photographs taken.

My supervisor dropped a framed photograph of her husband in her office the other day and immediately called him saying, "Are you okay? Your photo fell and I wanted to make sure you're alright."

What's with the fascination of our souls being in this fluctuated state of being that can be taken or broken at any moment?

Are we that fractured that we can't hold onto our own souls? Maybe that's a bit much, I mean, it's just a superstition. But it makes me wonder.

Did Alice have it right? What happens when we gaze through the looking glass? Do we journey through the past, take a peek at the future?

Even in the ancient cultures of the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans, mirrors were used for scrying, or looking into the future. Now, cameras are just a series of mirrors and projections of light. What does this say of photography?

Indeed, we are the light writers - the keepers of time.

I think it's a way to capture our evolution. We struggle to document the tiny flucuations over time that we, as a human race, are subjected to. So what better way than to instill it in a concrete form. From this we learn not to forget; to not become extinct. Maybe our species was supposes to come up with the camera, to preserve ourselves for some greater generation of the future.

Maybe.

It seems we're just tiny glass bottles filled with notes to be rescued from our desert islands; we are still so alone and longing to transcend our detached atolls.

Although this idea can make me feel small, I have to look at the bigger picture (please, no pun intended...really).

Recently, a special on the History Channel called Evolve, took the viewer through the evolution of the eye. It shows how dinosaurs eyes adapted over the millions of years to allow them to become great hunters. Many of our human adaptations have been left behind, making way for what helps us find food and survive. It also has some interesting points on how our society has adapted because of how we individually perceive it.

There has to be some greater purpose; what keeps us alive is our ability to see and to adapt to our immediate environment. It's not rocket science here. But maybe in a future blog I'll try and tackle rocket science in a complete dumbed down and uninvolved way.

Until then, feed your head!

For all of those light writers out there:

Read: Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll

Listen to: White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane

Watch: Evolve, The History Channel

... F-8 and be there

Not bad for the first time, isn't it? Not a real, good professional layout, but it's well made nonetheless. I wanted to go see if there's anything or anyone out there that will allow me to convert the .psd file to a good Wordpress theme. However, there are some who will do it for price of around $250, but I can't afford it. Plus, there's no software that would allow psd files to be converted to WordPress themes a this time. So what I can do is just look for anything that will help me to educate myself and lean how to convert this Jurassic Fight Club psd file to a great XHTML, CSS, and RSS compliant WordPress theme that celebrates Jurassic Fight Club on the History Channel

This second installment of Christopher Nolan's vision of Batman and his world offers a psychologically rich and multi-layered portrayal of characters struggling with all-too-real issues of responsibility, trust, betrayal, the role of physical appearance in forming impressions of people, and of psychopathy unleashed. Whereas Batman Begins explores Bruce Wayne's evolution from anxious child to the Caped Crusader, The Dark Knight brings us a matured Batman battling against a terrifying psychopath whose main motivation appears to be similar to two-year but with deadlier consequences: he does "stuff" just to see what happens.

This film is really about the Joker. We're lured in to his world, where we learn what he's capable of and what he cares about—what motivates him. Learning more about him is like watching a car accident unfold, but worse and more frightening, because it feels like you might be hit next. Nolan's incarnation of the Joker, and Batman's reactions to him, seem so real that The Dark Knight doesn't feel like a superhero movie, but like a documentary on the emergence of a terrorist-cum-serial killer. 

I was repeatedly struck by the Joker's cleverness and restraint: [spoiler alert!] He planned three simultaneous murders, Godfather style. [end of spoiler alert] That takes extraordinary planning abilities, meticulous attention to detail, and the ability to defer gratification. Sound like anyone else in the movie--like Batman? This Joker is neither impulsive nor capricious, although he may appear that way at first blush. Just as with Batman, the Joker's actions are designed to create a particular impression, an impression that puts his adversaries at a disadvantage: that he's weird and unpredictable. That you never know how far he'll push something, so take him seriously. This, too, is part of the impression that Batman tries to create. But the Joker's got Batman's number because he knows that Batman isn't entirely unpredictable—Batman lives within certain self-imposed and societally-imposed rules. Because of those rules, Batman becomes predictable…at least to the Joker. Two men with similar talents, but in the Joker's case, his talents are used to create anarchy for his own amusement. Is he a psychopath? Let's investigate.

A psychopath is someone who displays personality traits that involve more than simply engaging in criminal acts. A psychopath:

(1) can be superficially charming and manipulative. The Joker is that. Imagine him without his clown makeup—imagine him with a handsome face doing and saying what he does in the film. He'd make a compelling—versus repellant—figure to some, wouldn't he?
(2) is emotionally callous, without remorse or guilt. The Joker lies freely when it suits him (he gives two different stories for how he came to have his scars, both likely untrue). He doesn't feel badly about his dastardly deeds—the lives he taken or ruined.
(3) has a socially deviant lifestyle. Not only is the Joker a criminal, but he seeks out the excitement of his life of crime. His crimes act as a drug and he needs the regular fixes of the intense stimulation his actions bring. Unfortunately, he seems to develop tolerance to the drug, wanting ever-increasing "doses" and so planning increasingly sadistic and elaborate capers. 

Hats off to Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and the cast and crew. Heath Ledger's performance deserves an Oscar. 

For more about my take on Batman, look for me on the History Channel's Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight and an essay wrote about "What's the Matter With Bruce Wayne?" in the anthology, "Batman Unauthorized."

Here are links to riffs I've given on other superheroes:

Superheroes generally (in the Boston Phoenix) and movie reviews of the first Hellboy and Hulk movies.

The first episode of Jurassic Fight Club has just aired and already it's becoming a great show worth watching every Tuesday night on the History Channel. In this episode, paleontologists uncovered clear evidence of cannibalism among a large carnivorous dinosaur known as Majungatholus (jr. synonym of Majungasaurus) from the Island country of Madagascar where 70 million years ago, a fight took place between a male Majungatholus and a female Majungatholus who ultimately killed the male right after he killed her young to make the female susceptible to his sexual advances. All made by the magic of CGI animation that made the dinosaurs really come alive with colorful appearances in males, aggressive displays, primitive intelligence, and lots of realistic blood and gore.

In 1996, scientists discovered and unearthed fossil remains of Majungatholus with bite marks on the bone inflicted by another Majungatholus who must have attacked, killed, and ate the dinosaur-- a strong evidence for cannibalism among Majungatholuses who would go after one another if they find other types of prey they normally eat scarce. In this scene we find a male Majungatholus trying to mate with a female who is not interested because she has a young juvenille to protect, especially from a male Majungatholus who killed the young so he will have a better chance to get the female to mate with him, only to get killed and eaten himself when the female dinosaur viciously retaliates after she sees her young being killed by the male.

Such an exciting series it's going to be and yet, that's not all. Also airing tomorrow is Evolve, a series on hard core evolution and how life has changed over time based on years and years of research, study, and uncovering of evidence that tells us that Darwin is right when he said that life did change over time through Natural Selection.

SERIES PREMIERE!
EVOLVE:
EYES

Eyes are one of evolution's most useful and prevalent inventions, equipping approximately 95 percent of living species. They exist in many different forms across nature, having evolved convergently across different species. Learn how the ancestors of jellyfish may have been the first to evolve light-sensitive cells. In the pre-Cambrian era, insects, in particular the dragonfly, would take the compound eye to new heights. Find out how dinosaurs adapted their eyes to become such successful hunters of prey. And while dinosaurs remained at the top of the food chain for 150 million years, tiny early mammals developed night vision to populate the night as a survival technique. Finally, learn how primates underwent several adaptations to their eyes to better exploit their new habitat, and how the ability to see colors helped them find food.

Throughout eons of evolution, the natural world has played host to a never-ending competition. Since the dawn of time roughly 99% of all species have become extinct. In order to survive, all creatures, including man, must treat life as a battlefield and master the natural weapons and defenses that have evolved: Tyrannosaurus Rex's 13-inch canines; the gecko's Velcro-like toe pads; the bald eagle's telescopic vision that is capable of spotting a hare a mile away. What is the history of these evolutions and how did they come about? They didn't just appear arbitrarily, they evolved for a common reason - to give these animals a critical edge in interspecies warfare. To evolve is to conquer!

The new series EVOLVE traces the history of the key innovations that have driven nature's evolutionary arms race from the dawn of life to today, from the anatomical (eyes, jaws, and body armor) to the behavioral (movement, communication, and sex). This 13-part series will deftly blend spectacular live-action natural history sequences, CGI, epic docudrama, and experimental science to illustrate our and our fellow species' eternal struggle for survival on earth.

Unsurprisingly we should expect the creationists arrogantly lashing out at those shows, nic-picking and finding fault at everything the 2 series is about (while ignoring faults of their own), including scenes of bloodshed among dinosaurs and evolution of the eye, saying how "bad" it is (in their eyes), whining about how they will give children "nightmares" (Says who? Most children wouldn't care about how bloody Jurassic Fight Club really is. They'll just be enthralled and excited about the show, be drawn into all the action, and never have nightmares about them; the show will only increase their love for dinosaurs more.) and how "wrong" are the show's protrayal of science, evolution, and life in general (never mind all the wrongs creationists have) and how one must adhere to their distorted views of the Bible that claims the dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus were sickly sweet herbivores, wasting God-given features of a carnivore, choking on plant matter, including coconuts, only to become meat-eaters after the Fall of Man and go about shedding blood which prompted God to send a Flood to punish animals and people for their sins and everything else the Bible in reality speaks nothing of (The verses in the Bible that speak of death only speak of spiritual death and applies only to humans, not animals), yet creationists deliberately distort the bible by putting such notions in there about animal being sickly sweet peaceful herbivores, only to become carnivores after  Adam sinned because they can't stomach the concept of Adam, Eve, and the snake being the only ones to blame for eating the forbidden fruit, life changing over time (yet they teach such things in their drivel despite their constant denial of doing this) and prehistoric and modern animals, especially dinosaurs, constantly tearing each other apart as seen in so many science fiction and nature films, so they just have to distort the Bible and come up with the make believe, unfounded notion of a scenario where Adam and Eve walked with sickly sweet "dragons" and all other organisms, living and extinct, a few thousands of years ago in an monsterously overcrowded world, never mind the flaws and faults behind such a scenario.

But having all that "me" time, has given me time to think.  And oh - - what a dangerous thing we know that can be!!  (Last time I had time to think, I cancelled our satellite subscription.  My hubby still stares at the fuzzy screen as if the History channel is just magically going to appear)

But this time, my thoughts turned in a more blogger-ly direction, and I realized that as much as I have enjoyed being me by day, and Topsy-Techie by night (well, you get the gist), that keeping my personas separate can be exhausting!  Especially when so much of my freelance work is done online.  When I started this blog, I decided not to share any identifying info about myself because of safety issues.  But having given it some thought, I'm confident enough that even what is out there on the web about me is pretty non-specific anyway.  Makes me think of this great quote I read today...

If someone Googles me, and nothing comes up....do I really exist?????

Gotta love that!  But if you Google me - - the real me - - , truth is, you won't find out much more than you already know.  I'm a homeschooling mom, raising a couple of boys with unique needs and incredible souls.  That's usually something along the byline that I give to my freelance work.  You might find out what state I live in...but unless you live within driving distance, and have a penchant for 30-somethings with glasses and cellulite, I figure I'm safe with you.

So....today, I'm coming out of the closet.  My name is Kerry Jones.  And it is very nice to meet you!!

I am sure you have a special skill or talent that you probably use on a daily basis. But when safety fails suddenly you are forced to put that skill set to rigorous use and rise to the occasion to rock your situation. Just keep plugging away at your special abilities and one day a door will open up that puts you front and center.

z.

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With pretty much everyone's attention focused right now on whether or not Christian Bale did one of these to his mom and sister, can anyone guess which American President The Dark Knight's director, Christopher Nolan, looked to for inspiration before shooting his Bat-films?

How about our Lucky # 26 -- President Teddy Roosevelt (picture below)

The History Channel is running a program right now called Batman Unmasked - The Psychology Of The Dark Knight. In it, a producer with DC Comic reveals that before filming Batman Begins, director Chris Nolan said to him: "Bruce Wayne is Teddy Roosevelt."

So what parallels did Chris Nolan see between President Roosevelt and Bruce Wayne?

(1) Both men were born into a very wealthy, urban family

(2) Both men had strong fathers to whom they looked up and admired

(3) Both men had fathers who were considered world-class philanthropers

(Teddy Roosevelt's father was one of the great patrician benefactors of New York City in his day; Thomas Wayne was the patron Saint of Gotham.)

(4) Both men experienced tragic family loss

(Bruce Wayne lost his parents to a shooting; as a young man Teddy Roosevelt lost his father to a tumor & his wife and mother died on the same day.)

(5) Both men were deeply, psychologically affected by family loss, but later turned their pain into a motivating force for good

(Bruce Wayne's trauma caused him to fight injustice as Batman; after Roosevelt's family died he traveled to the Dakota Badlands -- where some believe he contemplated suicide -- only to re-emerge later as a rough-riding, social activist Police Commissioner and later politician.)

President Teddy Roosevelt

The Caped Crusader's historical inspiration revealed!

Related: DID BATMAN BEAT HIS MOMMA?

The most laughable?

"Could you survive life in the 49th?"

This as I'm curled onto the couch with the windows open to a nice rainy summer day and a pile of beagles to keep the chill off. A grapefruit soda and a brownie just bought at the grocer down the street completed the  obviously desperate conditions we endure every day as residents in this barren wasteland.

While part of me takes secret pleasure in the teeming masses thinking I must really be something, up here "roughing" it all on my own as I am, is it really fair to let them go on thinking that? Is it really fair to let mass media outlets such as the Discovery and History channels (in a brutal head-to-head battle to make Alaska look the most desolate and dangerous,) use small communities and isolated instances to represent existence as a whole in the state?

Ok, so perhaps the idea of having to go elsewhere to shower makes some of our otherwise quite comfortable lifestyles suddenly survivalist to many outside, I just think that the sensationalism over it all is ridiculous, I'm rather tired of it.

Wednesday night the HIstory Channel ran one of the coolest shows I have seen in a long time.  It was entitled, "Batman Unmasked:  The Psychology of the Dark Knight" 

In fascinating fashion it plumbed the depths of the psychology, philosophy, and mythology of Batman (which, did you know, debuted in 1939?). 

As I somehow stumble through work this afternoon in preparation for viewing "The Dark Knight" tonight, and as I know many of you will be going to see the movie tonight (if you didn't catch the midnight showing) here are a few intriguing thoughts from the history channel's special. 

Each of these are my own summations of some the info from the special.

• Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight says the key to understanding Batman is to understand Teddy Roosevelt.  Teddy Roosevelt's dad was a wealthy NYC philanthropist.  Teddy's mom and wife died on the same day and after this tragedy he fled to the Dakota wilderness, many think his intention was to kill himself.  He did return from the wilderness and became the NYC Police chief in a time of corruption and turned the city around and made it safe again.  Of course, we know his history as a Rough rider as well. 
• The Joker is the ultimate arch nemesis of Batman.  Batman sees the ills of society and the need to bring reform outside of social norms; but, he still sees the need and good in social norms and society as a whole.  The Joker sees presence of random injustice means there is no justice.  The fact that innocence can be destroyed means there is no innocence.  Therefore your life, pretending these things exist, are a joke.  When someone says your life is a joke, there is a challenge, a physical challenge, a moral challenge, an intellectual challenge.  Therefore the Joker isn't just threatening Batman physically, He's threatening the premise of Batman's existence.  THat's why it's such an epic discussion they are having through their physical confrontations, mental games, punches, and gunshots.  Ultimately it's a philosophical conflict, and one that's not easy to resolve. 

There is much good stuff here.  Batman and his adversaries (Two-face, Joker, Riddler, Penguin, etc) are all victims of tragedy and respond to tragedy differently.  For the villains, it fractures their phsyche and they feel the world owes them something and they are going to take it.  For Batman, his tragedy causes him to work to make sure as few as possible experience the same. 

Is Batman merely working through his childhood issues?  Is he a hero or a mere vigilante? 

There is much humanist thought in this mythology:  We are a product of our choices.  We can choose (to some degree) our destiny.  We have the freedom of response to our circumstances.  There is also much grace and redemption here as well. 

You may have no interest in all this, but thoughts like these greatly enhance my movie viewing experience. 

This special will show again Monday at 9 pm and Tuesday at 1 am.  I recommend it highly.

Let's change the channel.  Hm.  TV Guide Channel is talking about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  The idea of celebrity bugs the hell out of me.  I dunno.  You do a couple of movies/albums/books/whatevers---you could do a mediocre job, mind you---and suddenly everyone wants to know your whole story.  It'd be pressure, to be sure.  Why the hell are we so fascinated?  I understand the "if I understand them maybe I could learn to be famous" idea; if you wanted nothing but to be famous, it makes some sort of weird demented sense to look at famous people and try to nab a few pointers.  I think we just go too crazy about celebrity.  It's fine to have role models, but I think our time would be better spent developing our own personalities and talents instead of trying to know every single detail about anyone who pops up on our TV screen.    </accidental rant>

In baseball news, the home run derby is tonight 8 PM, ET.  My pick to win it?  Wolf Blitzer, making a guest appearance and fulfilling a childhood dream.

You see people who drink one brand exclusively or only drink other brands because there is no Bud, Lite, or Silver Bullet or not beer lovers they are lovers of their favorite beer.  A beer lover will always want to try something new or different.  Often true beer lovers are looked upon as snobs because they do not enjoy the American Pilsners but the inverse is actually true.  People who only consume a product because of name recognition are snobs -which means the Bud/Miller/Coors-only people are the snobs.

The irony in this situation is that this time the snobs are also the ones who are setteling for second best.  I find original Bud and Miller High Life unpalateble, their light beers are okay as are the Coors products but generally I will look to anything else because I enjoy a real intense flavor from my brew.  These American Pilsners were developed to have little taste on purpose.  There have been countless documentaries about how the German brewers had to waterdown the flavor of their recipes when they got to America so check out one of them out on Food Network or History Channel the next time one is one.

If you drink one of these three American brewers and you want to know if you are a beer lover or a lover of a specific beer then try a Yuengling, Blue Moon, or other crafted beer.  If you still prefer your Bud then hey, you are a Bud Man and there is nothing wrong with that.

So for you true Bud men (and women) out there do not fret about the recent purchase of your favorite beer purveyor by Belgian owned InBev no one on this planet makes better beer than the Belgians.  Besides, Bud Light is the top selling beer in America so I highly doubt that they are going to tamper with the recipe.

I fall under the category of beer lover and currently my favorite brews are Belgian-style Blue Moon (Coors) and the Pecan Nut Brown Ale from Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company in Kiln, MS (Brett Favre's hometown).

http://www.history.com/shows.do?episodeId=303046&action=detail

While it might have competition for being the worst thing I have ever watched, it was DEFINITELY the worst show I have ever seen to prove or disprove the existence of a bigfoot. They had a guy who makes remote control helicopters come down from Michigan to fly over the region to see if he could catch anything.   The remote control helicopter, while being just loud enough to scare off any and all wildlife in general, had a thermal camera and recorded something in the woods that looks like a dot, so you can’t tell what it is.  Inconclusive.  It could have been a deer or wolf, or one of this dude's friends for all we know.  (Plus, I have to mention that the helicopter, because it was battery operated, lasted only for a few minutes at a time.)

Then they shared some daytime footage of what looks like a person in a state park, running through the brush.  It was a regular sized creature, who appeared to be white (aren't sasquatches brown?).  The SM and I were convinced it was kids, mid-coitus, running from the ranger.  Regardless, it was shot in 1992 so the tape sucks.  Again; inconclusive.

Plus, everyone always sees it while they’re alone....except for the lone sighting of this one couple who was camping, in Ohio, in the middle of December.  If you ask me, they had to be on something pretty damn strong to be camping in December in Salt Fork State Park.  Yet again; inconclusive.

Because of all these "sightings" by high campers and cat ladies in trailers, the people from The Ohio Center for Bigfoot Research (my tax money went to this?!?!) came in to investigate.  They set up three motion-activated cameras and a dummy to lure the grassman into the cameras' range.  The dummy was a monkey mask and a black rug on a couple of two by fours.  Seriously.  And when that didn’t work, the one guy was screaming like a woman to lure it.

I have to say, there was one interesting moment in the show where a scientist did do some tests and found a legitimate non-human primate footprint in southern Ohio.  Could there be the missing link in evolution out there somewhere?  But I couldn't take him seriously because he lives in Bentonville*, Southern Ohio (almost in Kentucky, population 4600), possibly 200 miles from even the nearest zoo, and he was (too) proud of the fact that he was just not a fingerprint expert, but a primate fingerprint expert.  WHY would ANYONE in the world much less Bentonville, Ohio need to be an expert on primate fingerprints?  Was there a rash of unsolved bank robberies by the local chimp gang?  Did a grocery store get robbed of all its bananas?  Inconclusive?  CHECK.

All in all, it was just about the worst, least conclusive piece of journalism, if you want to call it that, that I have ever seen.  I'm not one to believe in a lot of bigfoot/alien abduction because 99 times out of 100, that person got abducted or saw the sasquatch by themselves.   No one else is ever around the validate the experience.   I understand that ALF isn't going to jump out and show himself in a room of people in the middle of the day to sign autographs, but come on.

Secondly - if this thing is a primate, it's an herbivore most likely.  In that case, I don't give a shit because it's not going to eat me and it's not going to eat the Punkster.  Additionally, doesn't this thing poop anywhere?  Do they die?  This would all be conclusive evidence that was never mentioned during the show that would prove that a creature like this existed.  Conclusive evidence? Fuck that!  Leave that to fancy, nancy-boy scientists who sit in lily-white labcoats in labratories all day.  Let's get drunk and speculate about a tape that was made 15 years ago and sad hillbilly testimony.

Thirdly, these experiences rarely, if ever, happen to educated individuals who I am going to believe.  I am all about learning more about potential connections between us and lesser forms of life...and if there is concrete evidence that there are beings on other planets, I want to hear about it.  But if Jim Bob is out in the woods drinkin' around the campfire with his wife-cousin, and she goes to the truck to grab another pack of menthols out of the cab, and somethingmysteriously gets lodged up his ass, I am going to most likely assume it was the moonshine talking, not an alien probe.  (After all, he ain't no fag!)  If he sees a big, burly, hairy mass with linebacker shoulders at the edge of the clearing, chances are it was just Bobbie Sue, chasing after her Camel Cash.

In conclusion (since there were no conclusions made on the show), I am not any more convinced that The Ohio Grassman exists, or that any bigfoot-like creature roams the earth.  If there WAS a link between us and other primates, why are there only handful of these creatures around?  There are billions of people on earth, and probably millions of monkeys.  How could the missing link exist in only a select few?  I guess we'll never know.

MORE INFO:

More about sightings:  http://www.bigfootencounters.com/creatures/grassman.htm

About how the show was a joke:  http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=116269

*Fun Trivia:  The median home value is a whopping $36,000.  Median household income is $26,000.  Additionally, Bentonville is the home of the Anti-Horse Thief Society monument. Like many organizations whose purpose for being established no longer exists, horse thievery is no longer a problem in Adams County. However, the Society continues to exist and hold meetings.  STFU.