Cliches are cliches for a reason. They're true. Tonight's submissions:

NYC is that cool.
Led Zeppelin is that good.
A glass of wine/beer is that relaxing.

Occasionally, but only occasionally, the world slows down for you. It doesn't necessarily make anything easier to understand, but the slowing allows greater time for observation of everything that goes into making a day. It becomes possible to surprise oneself with oneself's productivity. When adult life sets in, satisfaction comes from the seemingly mundane in life, but the simple ability to go and to do becomes oddly fulfilling. That's why groceries are in the cupboard, clean clothes to wear and sore muscles requiring long evenings of resting.

It's been a while since a "how life is like the movies" post and obviously there isn't a lot of creativity pulsing through these veins lately, so the result of the next 15 minutes of rapid finger motion will hardly be a surprise.

Watching a movie like The Squid and the Whale can paralell The Dark Knight when properly aligned. Certainly there are some differences, but to the viewer, associations can be made and some are more innate than others. As everyone knows, the Joker is characterized both in reviews and the film as an embodiment of a certain part of all of us. Call it the "dark" part or the "real" part, but that's another argument for another time. It's hard to say everyone has that kind of streak in them, but surely some people do. Moving on.

Watching The Squid and the Whale is a little bit of a different animal. It is fairly simple in scope, has no special effects, seemingly unremarkable looking people, really nothing special. But the quality of the film doesn't lie in how spectacular it looks, but pretty much the opposite. It looks real and that's what pins the viewer down for the count. The characters might be a tad sensationalized, but it does more in 80 minutes than most films could do in twice the time.

The difficult and impressive part of it is that an individual can truly see themselves in a movie like TSatW without having to get past the face paint, fast cars and guns of TDK. Sure, at its best, TDK could be an allegory of sorts, but TSatW just goes ahead and makes the idea perfectly clear by unfolding it directly in front of the viewer on the screen.

It is a bit troubling to see pieces of yourself in characters in a movie when the initial thought was how disappointing the characters' behavior is. Usually, the viewer is led to sympathize with a character and therefore sympathize with their own plight, but not always. Of course, everyone has their flaws and all that, but to feel as though you relate to a character in a negative way is a little humbling. It's especially bad when the themes that grab your attention are pompousness, selfishness and pride (the bad kind). So yeah, sometimes watching a movie is an escape to a place like Gotham City that is based on a sensationalized version of the world we live. Other times, it only takes the overly saturated cliche of a family of writers living in Park Slope, Brooklyn to not be an escape from reality, but a one-way trip right back into it.

Olympic fever is sweeping the nation and the globe. This is only day two of competition and yet lives are being altered in order to watch qualifying rounds of such culturally-significant sports as two-man rowing and four-man rowing. It really is captivating in its own special way, though. This is probably the only time when rowing can be seen on TV, much less on a Sunday morning in the middle of August. The added element of different countries being represented by people with seemingly strange names in a location as distant and intriguing as Beijing, makes it all the more interesting.

To watch Olympic rowing on television isn't something that is likely to fall on anyone's "to-do" list, so NBC employed some strategy by placing it directly after USA men's basketball on the lineup. NBC must know, that no matter how obscure the sport, it has the potential to grab attention if it can somehow be on in front of someone. After only a few minutes of viewing, questions start to come to mind about the intricacies of a sport like rowing. Then it becomes a challenge for the commentators to answer those questions as quickly as possible. It's almost as if the viewer is thinking "I'll only watch this until I find out why there are people riding bikes in the background of the rowers." Well, that question was quickly answered. It's coaches that shout encouragement to the rowers and try to chart their pace and progress.

Back to the commentators, that must be an interesting life to lead. Surely these people aren't only qualified to broadcast international rowing? To only be of legitimate use every 4 years when the Olympics come around must be disheartening. Many people might be just as qualified to broadcast baseball as football, but it seems unlikely that a deep knowledge of rowing, or judo or steeplechase for that matter, is lurking in the deep recesses of a broadcaster's brain. This is clearly highly specialized work and just another reason why the Olympics are actually great, no matter how strange or irrelevant it seems.

In keeping with the previous entry's football theme, there is something about this whole Brett Favre situation that is being overlooked. It deserves far more attention than the zero it is currently receiving. It might really change the way people view the whole mess. Maybe if Mike McCarthy, Ted Thompson, Roger Goodell and Brett himself would all just chill out for a minute, they would find the true issue at hand:

Brett Favre's middle name is Lorenzo.

Today's lunchspot is one those places where the "flair" isn't worn by the employees, a la Office Space, but rather by the walls. The ceiling, also. There are tons of license plates, baseball caps, framed newspapers, etc. Apparently it seems as though patrons are meant to feel as though they're eating in their garage at home, amid all the junk that has been relegated there. Odd.

On a previous visit, noticed among the random signs posted on the wall is one that reads, "On this spot in 1897...nothing happened". Upon first reading, it seemed innocuous enough and completely not funny. Then again, it's just crap on the wall at a chicken finger place. It's almost meant to be ignored. Before the meal was even half gone, a young lady at an adjacent table pointed out the sign and exclaimed, "OMG, THAT'S HILARIOUS". Point taken.

Today, another adjacent table gave the sign a sliver of credence. This guy was sitting a few feet away from me, but he went unnoticed until one customer wished him "a good season". Clearly this was not a typical chicken finger fan. Most chicken finger fans are not 6'6", 320 lbs and make $7.25 million a year, though. This particular chicken finger eater has a reputation, though:



In the spirit of SEC Media Days, a jab: This type of behavior should come as no surprise, given his choice in universities.



More

Just to clarify, the previous entry was written without having seen the movie. If it's wrong, there's a reason. If it's accurate, consider it luck. Just like life in general.

Sometimes life doesn't give itself up to be a blog entry. That's when life accommodates the writer, which doesn't necessarily happen often. Sure, there's always the potential for an entry about working late, learning German by reading production and material data for an automobile plant, seeing a car skid off the interstate at high speed during a downpour, etc. While all of that sounds potentially interesting (in ascending order, no less), the decision must be made to tell it in a way appealing to the reading public. Granted, the reading public may consist of nothing more than the author at different times of day. Then again, maybe it's hardest to hold one's own attention considering the outcome is predictable. Nevermind. Call this stretching.

Back to the dull point, even when life is pretty good and there's enough going on to scrawl out a few lines, it can't fly on its own. The same way that a description of something seemingly mundane can be captivating and vice versa. Don't let blogs say too much, but don't let several days between entries indicate nothing happening. An ounce of moderation is worth a pound of effectiveness.

Here's a review of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

As many have already found out, this is a truly impressive film, full of intrigue, action and intensity. The title itself is very apt, as this film feels as if it is set completely during a "dark night", where the criminals rule and inflict terror on the innocent residents of Gotham City. Of course, despite being a "Batman movie", the star of the film is the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. If Hollywood is going to ever recognize the efforts that go into large-scale big-budget action movies, this is the time. If Ledger doesn't receive a nomination for his portrayal of the demented terrorist, the only greater tragedy would have been his untimely death earlier this year.

When Christian Bale isn't attacking (physically? verbally?) his mother, he delivers another strong performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne. His blandness as Wayne gives him lots of room to work with as the Caped Crusader. As Wayne, he appears almost asleep, but as Batman, he never sleeps. He gives the character exactly what it needs: consistency and an uncartoon-like countenance that has been missing since Michael Keaton in the first Batman.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith suggested that The Dark Knight builds on Batman Begins the same way Batman Begins built on the earlier Hollywood incarnations of Batman. That's a pretty big leap if you consider the difference between the last of the "early Batmans" and Batman Begins. It's hard to argue with Smith, though, since The Dark Knight took a good thing and made it that much better. First, there's no Katie Holmes to encourage the viewer's imagination to drift to Tom Cruise. Maggie Gyllenhaal seems a natural fit for the role, in all the ways Katie Holmes didn't. The inclusion of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent adds a new element to the movie, which unfortunately gets lost in Hurricane Heath and his creepy facepaint. There's probably an entire other movie lurking in the Dent storyline alone. Then again, at a solid two and half hours long, The Dark Knight practically is two movies. Christopher Nolan made a wise move by having Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles as not only Bruce Wayne/Batman's steadying force, but the entire film's. Without their presence, this may have come across as another "psycho does crazy stuff, but the hero wins" kind of story. They add depth and depth is good.

Predictably, the story incorporates a fair amount of societal issues, primarily in the main characters. The terror that the Joker unleashes on Gotham City and the resulting fear is akin to the fear in Gotham's inspiration, New York City, after its terror. The citizens want to continue to live their lives as normal as possible, but there are always reminders of the world they and their city live in. As this fear manifests itself into paranoia, people start to act on their paranoia and the real trouble begins. At the center of the trouble, of course, is Ledger and his Joker. It would also be impossible to look past Harvey Dent's "two-faced" political motives and actions without a reflection on the real world. Clearly, someone spent a good bit of time thinking through this movie and the effort shows.

The Dark Knight will smash box office records, as has already been demonstrated with its enormous opening weekend. This will turn into enormous first two weeks, first three weeks, first month, first quarter and so on. The question is, exactly how much money will it make and exactly how many more of these films might we expect. The twenty-first century superhero movie has finally come into its own, after a promising start of the Spiderman trilogy and the X-Men movies. With Batman Begins, Iron Man and now The Dark Knight, this could be a definite shift in movie-making for the foreseeable future.

By the way, it's important to note that I haven't seen the movie yet and really haven't gone to any great effort to read about it. Or is it really that important?

It would seem there aren't many vomitoriums left in the world these days. Thankfully, there is still one in use here in Nashville at the James K. Polk Theater. I knew I moved here for a reason.

How could such a word survive since ancient Rome? Was there ever a discussion of maybe coming up with a new word for this? Maybe it just barely missed getting a new name? Regardless, consider this public notice that the vomitorium is alive and well, at least in these parts.

In order to clear up any confusion after the previous entry, college football is still the greatest thing ever.

If one listens to the right kind of sports talk radio, this fact will be abundantly clear. Whether or not the "right" kind of sports talk radio is being listened to, a few other truths are hammered home. This is because streaming radio broadcasts on the internet creates a phenomenon that is interesting, amusing and basically irrelevant all at once. Local commercials are preempted on the internet broadcast in favor of public service announcements and the like.

The cause of choice for internet sports radio appears to by the devastating cyclone a few months ago in Myanmar. Not to make light of the situation at all, but it is funny to hear the PSAs because the basic concept is a celebrity talking about the event and imploring the listening public to aid relief efforts through charitable contributions and such. Some of the celebrities most often featured are Ben Stiller, Tea Leoni...and Nicole Richie...with Joel Madden. Apparently the Richie/Madden duo has become quite the power couple for children awareness. A little further research indicates they have founded a charity for kids and then there's this PSA. There's no reason to make fun of this, but it is odd to see how some celebrities actually stumble into a positive light, whereas most seem to find the darkness quite often. Good for them, yeah?

Among the other gems heard most often is a PSA for McGruff the Crime Dog. Always a personal favorite, it is pretty fun to hear that now. The strange part is that the refrain of the commercial is a song being sung by a little girl. Normally this isn't a big deal, but what makes it odd is that she's singing the address of where McGruff prevents crime and such. Mind you, she isn't singing a website address, a la "FreeCreditReport.com", but a physical location, complete with zip code. It's hard to understand exactly what is being said, but it has been confirmed as "Scruff McGruff, Chicago, Illinois, 60652. Just to relieve any curiosity, McGruff does have a MySpace page.

The other commercial that immediately comes to mind is for the Country Music Hall of Fame and its (Hank) Williams Family exhibit, entitled something clever like "Family Tradition". The main drawing point mentioned in the commercial is that a skateboard belonging to Hank III is part of the exhibit and, OMG, what is a skateboard doing at the Country Music Hall of Fame? Truly riveting stuff. I almost can't go spend the admission fee fast enough.