Batman: The Dark Knight (Or was it The Joker Movie)

Batman: The Dark Knight is the best Batman film released to date. The film highlighted the themes of honor and justice amidst a Gotham City plagued with cruelty and corruption. Christopher Nolan did a great job.

The film has unity and coherence. The script was well-written and well-executed. Characters and scenes gave clues to what the film is about. Alluding to Caesar, Harvey Dent said, “You either die as a hero, or live long enough to be the villain”. Ultimately, that is the fate of Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Why? Because an immoral city cannot accommodate a moral hero. While a moral man cannot save Gotham, he can be a symbol of hope for the citizens. That’s why Gotham also needs Harvey Dent (Gotham’s “White knight”). People need to see someone who still stands for honor – this can’t be Batman. The public knows Batman has blood in his hands at a nightly basis, pursuing criminals in the darkest city spores. Batman has to be an anti-hero. An anti-hero is dedicated to justice. Someone who will deliver justice by all means necessary – even if that means doing evil from time to time.

And yes, it’s true. Heath Ledger stole the movie. Simply said, his role as the Joker is Defining. His performance is a fresh take on a character that many people relegated to a “psycho clown.” But not in this movie. Although the Joker had his fair share of theatrics, he is swift and methodical in executing his crimes. The Joker, unlike Batman’s previous adversaries, doesn’t do crime for money, drugs or anything else material. The Joker does it for kicks and he does it very well.

It was strange. At times I found myself routing for the Joker, for instance the interrogation room scene. Joker and the Batman were arguing about justice and evil. Batman sounded so naïve compared to Joker’s devious quips. While the Joker has many comical lines in the movie, my favorite was “You complete me” (Note: he addressed that to Batman).

As the audience will soon see, the Batman needs the Joker and vice-versa. As Joker aptly put it, “You won’t kill me because you stand for some misguided self righteousness; I won’t kill you because you’re just … too much fun”

Bottom line: If you haven’t watched this film, you should watch it within the next 24 hours.

On a side note, rumors have been spreading that the next film’s villain will be Catwoman. There were even clues in the movie (Or so they say).

Comic Strips

I was recently browsing my friend’s multiply site, when I saw her album featuring comic strips.

I was always fond of comics. When I was a kid, I used to make 60-page comics. I gave each one to my father. I don’t know if he kept them.

Fortunately, you can do anything in the internet these days – work, chat, watch, learn, etc. Making comics is no exception. Stripcreator.com allows you to make your own three-panel comic strip. You can share your funny quirks and stupid ideas to the whole world. How irresistible.

You can select from a wide variety of characters – from 10 year old kids to wacky alien-looking creatures. Plus, you get to set them up with a background. Now all you need are the lines.

It’s a good way to cut down idle hours in the office. Try it out! Just set-up an account and you’re home free.

The strip below is my first comic. Click it to enlarge.

Rampant Crime

What’s happening to the country lately?

Crimes have been rampant. Robberies and hi-jacks have been widely televised. Just a couple of months ago, my father caught a burglar at our house. It was 3am, when he caught this stranger in the act of low-jacking my car. Good thing I locked Roxanne up.

How do we put sense to all this? Well, I believe it’s related to our economy. With the consistent increases in fuel prices life is getting more and more expensive. Fuel affects every thing in terms of price. Deliveries become more expensive, therefore pushing the prices up.

This is not relegated to the Philippines. I read in an article from the New York Times that America’s citizens are succumbing to rising fuel prices as well. Some Americans have opted for public transport. Others have chosen to cut travels – one example was this guy who could no longer afford to go to church on Sundays. The American government is coming up with new ways to neutralize the prices – suggesting car pools and renting.

Here in the Philippines, nothing is happening. The current state of things shoves people to desperation, into robbing or doing what they can to get by. It’s sad, but I think these tragedies will continue.

Empoy

Gone are the days of my youth.

Me and my friends used to get drunk at a daily basis.

This task is difficult for students. When you’re in college, it’s a given fact that you’ve no money. So how did we get drunk?

Hint: the answer is chrome-colored, available in lapad or long-neck. For those who want to test the limits of their sanity, there’s also the dalawang litro special (we drank this once and the results were... err… I woke up with a stranger)

Anyways, I can’t say much for the taste. I’ve seen grown men turn into wussies upon drinking this brandy. But if you want to get hit – and hit quickly, I add- then this is the alcoholic beverage for you.

These things are cheap (30 peso and 60 peso varieties – not sure). Our other option, as students, was to settle for beers. If we bought buckets instead of bottles, we’d have to spend a minimum of 500 bucks to get a drunken smile. So, we just endured the awful taste and waited for the buzz.

I miss those days. Click here to see "those days".

What’s 420?

Marijuana-smokers have their own language. They use words like "nugs," "dank," "permagrin," "wake 'n' bake," "blunt," "bogarting," "Rastafarian," or "Towlie," which mean absolutely nothing to the typical non-smoking man.

Now, I am no “ganja” man (My closest friends will attest to this). But I do admit that I am interested in the culture, the combination of deep conversations and stupid moments are quite intriguing.

Case and point: 420.

I was watching TV when I saw a segment about the term.

The term “420” is a code that can refer to time or act. It was started by a small group of smokers from an undisclosed location (Jamaica if I’m not mistaken, though they were Caucasians), during the 1970s. They were kids from high-school. Apparently, they smoked marijuana daily at 4:20AM, it became their tradition.

One of the members had a relative from a renowned band. And in one occasion, the group got to smoke up with the band. After which the band began referring to smoking up as “420”. Hence the 420 movement caught on.

Today, the term 420 is universally known, most especially to ganja smokers. It’s like a universal club of marijuana smokers.

For more information, click here.

What’s the Grid?

Scientists claim that the Grid will soon replace the internet.

As mentioned by Wired.com , “The Matrix may be the future of virtual reality, but researchers say the Grid is the future of collaborative problem-solving.”

IBM’s Brian Carpenter claims that, "The Grid will open up ... storage and transaction power in the same way that the Web opened up content." And just as the Internet connects various public and private networks, Cisco Systems' Bob Aiken said, "You're going to have multiple grids, multiple sets of middleware that people are going to choose from to satisfy their applications."

Just like the internet the Grid renders PC owners the power to share documents and mp3 files. The Grid promises to make downloading much quicker. Scientists say that full length movies can be downloaded in a matter of minutes. Some have even dared to say that the Grid will enable the transmission of 3-dimensional objects!

Talk about amazing. Now I can send a replica of my foot to my friends and relatives at the United States.

Hindi na siguro sila mag kakamali sa size pag ganun.

Who shot John Lennon?

It was a gloomy December night in 1980, when we were robbed of one of the greatest artists of our generation.

John, arguably the best Beatle, was found dead on a New York City street. Yoko was clutching his head. Blood kept funneling through his linen from four bullet wounds at his back. The scene exemplified a sad song.

Who did it? Mark David Chapman, who had asked for Lennon’s autograph hours before the crime.

Why he did it? Unexplainable. Some people attributed this to the “15 minutes of fame syndrome”. However, investigators quickly ruled that out when Chapman refused to talk to the media.

Insanity? There were no legal and medical evidences that supported this claim. Incidentally, the court did attribute it to insanity because there were no logical motives. But no conclusive evidences were ever produced. Chapman plead guilty. End of case.

After he shot Lennon, a security guard approached him and asked him, “Do you know what you’ve just done?”

Chapman answered in a chilling tone, “I just shot John Lennon”.

For a fact, Chapman loved John Lennon. He loved him as much as any John Lennon fan in the world. That’s what makes this tale one of the most tragic stories of the century.

Unexplainable.

Sources: JohnLennon.com