Ahhh! And Other Random Things

So. I went up to a tiny town north of Amarillo on Monday morning and got back on Wednesday. Now it appears I will turn around and go back (but driving this time) tomorrow or Sunday to help paint my grandmother's house. This is an 8 or 9 hour drive. My crazy life. At least it'll keep me from being deadly bored.

As promised, the scoop on the story below: This is (sadly) based heavily on real life. The dialogue is not exact, and some of the names have been changed. Last week I went to a Christian worldview camp. Part of it entailed reading Plato's Phaedrus and discussing it in small groups. I enjoyed it most of the time - all logical thinking and discussing with other smart people. However, we did this for at least two hours a day, most days three, but with a couple breaks. The last day we discussed issues for three hours straight. This was after a 2 am bedtime the night (morning, I guess) before. That's the fourth or fifth time I've stayed up past midnight. And I did it playing HORSE on a pool table. (SO much fun, and we really did rename the game PLATO).

The main difference: we were exhausted. Both mentors left the room for a couple minutes. Bethany (real name) suggested the minute they step in, we begin discussing Hungry Hippos, just as an example of our exhaustion and how silly it is to overanalyze things, as some people did.

The sneaking out to buy a frappuccino is also, sadly, true. Don't tell on me! I have to get an appalling amount of sleep to be fully functional - eight hours minimum. The most I got on a given night was seven, and that was the best night. But seeing WALLE for the second time was worth it. Is it not Pixar's crowning gem? I believe it is the best ever, and the song in the credits ('Down to Earth') is great.

Speaking of movies...I haven't heard a lot of buzz about The Dark Knight in the blogger community. I think this may be due to the fact that it's not a 'girl' movie, stereotypically, and percentage-wise, a lot of bloggers are girls. If you are a writer, see it. Christopher Nolan (director) does a fabulous job of keeping the suspense high. The twists and character developments are the best I've seen in an action/adventure movie. Bruce Wayne drives this awesome thing called a Batmobile, but I have to prefer the Lamborghini (the sound makes me dreamy).

And the Joker. Oh my. Heath Ledger WILL get an Oscar nomination at the least. He deserves the award. There are times when I read a sentence in a book, or hear someone sing, or see someone act, and know instinctively, he's good. I mean incredible. Ledger = The Joker. It wasn't that he acted the part; he was the Joker. That moment of clarity came several times in the movie, one being when The Joker, wearing a nurse's outfit, red wig, and full ghastly makeup, limps out of a deserted hospital which is gushing smoke. He's grinning (no, really, not just from scars), wearing a skirt, and looks completely natural doing it.

I'd call that good. From an artistic standpoint alone, it is a tragedy he's dead so young.

My personal theory is that Heath Ledger was already having some personal issues, and playing that role sent him over the edge. Don't get me wrong, he is (to borrow Ron Weasley's favorite phrase), bloody brilliant. All I've heard is that he threw himself into becoming the Joker. I think if you pretend to be something long enough and hard enough, you can wind up being it. Just my thoughts.

Warning: It is dark. Like midnight out-in-the-country-cloud-night-dark. Human-heart dark. But so, so good. There aren't any supernaturally freaky parts as in Batman Begins (not how I want to describe it, but you know what I mean? Nothing demonic?) There is some blood and violence (although much much less than there might have been, kudos to the Nolans). The darkness is all psychological. The movie does an amazing job at showing how people will respond when pushed to their barest nature: some have anchoring in their lives and make the right choices. Others (if you've seen the movie you know who I'm referring to) go off the deep end. It also makes you think about how you'd respond, and what right and wrong really mean.

Anyway. I'll work up another short at some point. I've been turning over The Dark Knight in my mind since opening day and had to get those thoughts out.