My Sick Mind

When does a rogue hero become a vigil ante and how does he deal with the mounting public pressure to stop? Those are the questions at the core of The Dark Knight . Because I'm afraid of being left out of conversations and because it seems to be a legitimate piece of movie history, I went to see The Dark Knight on Friday. And because I like being just this much ahead of the curve, I went to see it in IMAX which, as it turns out, is the best way to see it. If you have one of those giant theaters near your home, you know you're already forking over at least 9 bucks to see it in a regular theater, so go another 6 and make it a thrill ride. There are a few dizzying sequences and some beautiful aerial shots of cities like Hong Kong and the requisite chase and action scenes. The sound is overwhelming at times, which adds to the tension that the movie brings in spades. It toggles back and forth between the Bruce Wayne billionaire scenes and the dark Batman ones, and the filmmakers s...

ONE THING: GOIANIA, Brazil - Police on Thursday accused a Brazilian man of killing and dismembering his 17-year-old British girlfriend, taking pictures of her body parts with his cell phone and stuffing her torso in a suitcase . She wasn't really his girlfriend, was she? I don't have a girlfriend, but I can figure that if I did, I wouldn't have an overwhelming desire to dismember her and stuff her in a suitcase. Maybe "girlfriend" is the wrong term here. ANOTHER: I noticed today that Exxon-Mobil reported earnings ... Exxon's second-quarter net income rose 14 percent to $11.68 billion, or $2.22 a share, in the quarter. All the while we kept hearing the stories of how the cost of exploration and supply and demand and the value of the dollar were the chief drivers of the price of gasoline. Now we see that maybe ... just maybe ... they lied to us. Perhaps they were screwing us. Not for nothin', I'm just saying, maybe they were screwing us. Maybe. Can ...

I told some friends yesterday that I was bagging a bike ride to "contemplate the purpose of life..." among other things, one of which was examining the Zen of my sofa cushions. Now, stuck with the idea of being true to my word I am left with that task. I'm not sure I can pull it off in this forum. I've been trying to edit myself to limit these things to the old "25 words or less" deal, but sadly my editing skills aren't equal to that task either. I'd be a horrible Keynote Speaker. "When do we get to the buffet?," they would ask. I'll be done in twenty minutes. I've been told that the most valuable word in public speaking is "finally," so let's try to wrap this up so we can eat. I've been wondering (lately) what this whole thing is about. It's a tough question and I don't think I can answer it, which leads me to believe that it's not about anything. After all, if we can assign importance to such...

If you're a sports fan - and I can't imagine you're not - you've had it up to here (pointing at my throat) with the 24-hour Brett Favre Watch sponsored chiefly by TV buzz killers ESPN. They can single handedly take a story and drive it into the ground with such intensity that eventually you want your TV to explode so you don't have to look at it anymore. The nonsense surrounding Brett Favre's retirement/unretirement/reinstatement is reaching nonsense proportions. How so? The constant crawl at the bottom of the ESPN screen proclaims: NBA OLY(mpics) NASCAR and FAVRE , as though he was a league or a separate entity, and maybe he is. "What league is Favre?" I wondered to myself, and what level of importance can one achieve that his name is on the same level as actual sports organizations? I hear that the NFL is going to announce that they will be adding an extra down for the Packers. Farveth down. After fourth down, as a tribute to their hero. Milwauke...

Crisis 1. A stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, for better or for worse, is determined; turning point. 2. A condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political or international affairs, leading to a decisive change. 3. A dramatic emotional or circumstantial upheaval in a person’s life. Gasoline is four dollars a gallon. It’s a real crisis, folks. It must be, because the media tells us it is. End of the world, fire and brimstone stuff. It’s the sort of thing that they make movies and write books about. It’s so bad that we’ve decided to change our way of life and make difficult choices. Or not. Mostly, I’m seeing the “or not” option. We’re loath to change because we feel it’s tantamount to someone telling us what to do and we don’t like that. We like to complain and we’re good at it. “Do something!” we scream to whoever will listen. Generally there isn’t anyone listening, which makes us scream louder. I haven’t affected any drastic c...

If I could choose one person to sit down with and have a drink and discuss the evolution of music and its effect on society, I would choose David Bowie. I have so much more respect for him now than I did when he was popular. Maybe it's because I lived through his popularity and never really understood it until I was able to look back on it, but now I view him as an elder statesman of popular music and someone who has come to represent an era of music. He successfully changed with the times and marketed himself as a musical icon. Otherwise, it would be Peter Gabriel, but he's in a different genre than Bowie. Bowie, I'd talk to for hours about the 70s and how it changed the face of music. Gabriel, I think I would be more focused on "what were you thinking?" and how Genesis changed the art music scene. It's history versus personal perspective. Who would you choose?

Every year, rain or shine, I get my annual (that's what makes it every year) Social Security Benefits Statement from the friendly folks at our Federal government. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a warning or a message of support, but I always take it as a warning. I'm funny that way. For those of you who don't already know, I'm 50 years old, in spite of where I shop . My choice of retail clothing establishments does not figure in on the estimated value of my retirement benefits. Shame. I found at least one portion of the statement interesting. If I work until age 62 (egad), my monthly payment would be $1,332 a month, or roughly enough to qualify for free government cheese and an occasional free clinic visit. That's if I work another 12 years. If however, I should have a house fall on me or get hit by a stray asteroid particle and become "permanently disabled," I could collect $1,843 a month. So go figure. As an able-bodied [almost] s...

What did I do this weekend? Bike. 38 miles on Saturday and 48 on Sunday. I guess it's supposed to make me feel better, but I can't help but wonder if the soreness in my inner thigh is somehow lengthening my life, and what sort of life is it if it is accompanied by inner thigh soreness. MONROE TOWNSHIP - Township officials are hoping the installation of cameras at busy intersections in town will help reduce traffic violations and increase safety. The plan is part of a statewide pilot program, which was authorized early this year after the legislature made it legal for towns to snap photos of disobedient drivers and then send them tickets in the mail . I'm hoping this includes people on cell phones. Although, I suppose this is the old "camel with his nose under the tent" analogy. Once he gets his nose under the tent, it isn't long before the whole camel is in the tent with you. How long before they are using GPS systems to ticket speeders? You're sitting ...