Wow. 25 years. I can't believe it. Today has been awesome so far. Last night was my friend Janelle's birthday and we had a surprise party at Olive Garden. That was cool. Today Grace took me to have sushi for lunch. Now we're getting ready to go to Dan and Janine's for their party. It looks like Blue Moon is getting popular out here because I found some for the first time ever. Yay for that too. Thanks guys for all the birthday wishes!

Found this one with StumbleUpon: TheSneeze.com (Half zine. Half Blog. Half not good with fractions.) It's a pretty funny blog, but the best part seems to be a recurring feature called Steve, Don't Eat It. The author buys disgusting foods, ingests them, then writes about it.

This is one of the more interesting optical illusions I've seen recently.

It should come as no surprise that this is the greatest Batman movie to date. How could it not be, with a cast featuring Chistian Bale, Michael Cain, Liam Neeson, and Gary Oldman, and director Christopher Nolan? It should also come as no surprise that the film's greatest strength is its characterization, as it reestablishes the dark, disturbed, brooding nature of Batman, in contrast with the artificial public persona of playboy Bruce Wayne. In details like this, the film draws from the best of Batman's previous incarnations, from the comics to cartoons and movies. All of this is to be expected, considering the talents of the people involved.

What's really surprising, then, is not how faithful Batman Begins is to the comics. What's surprising is the ways it deviates from previous Batman stories, and how much better the film is for it. Some of the changes are subtle, but powerful. To fit with the theme of fear in the film, Bruce's parents are killed not because their mugger is malicious and cruel, but merely afraid. Also, the reason they were walking alone in the dark alley in the first place is because of Bruce's fear at the opera. This adds an element of personal guilt to his anger over the death of his parents. These things are important to Bruce's character as he struggles with desires for revenge and begins his transformation into Batman. His inner journey is manifested as a literal journey that takes him to the Far East and ends in him being trained under Ra's Al Ghul. This, of course, is the greatest of the movie's inventions, and it works very well. Batman Begins is not merely a return to the characters of the comic books--this is an original reimagining of the character that draws upon the strengths of past incarnations, but is not afraid to tread new ground.

Actually helping Africa.

Brendan, we want to wish you a happy birthday.