Not So Famous…

Aside from the blatant endorsement on my blog, this is what my bulletin board at work currently looks like:

For the record, that picture next to the Gabetopia sign is of a co-worker, who died 2 years ago today.  His gesture in that picture is indicative of his attitude toward a lot of things, but he was a great guy, and we still miss him.

Embrace Gabetopia!

edit: Immediately after posting this, I noticed a spelling error on the sign.  The editorial staff of Gabetopia has been sacked.  Order has been restored.  The sign has been fixed.

I didn’t realize that it’s been a week since I last updated.  It really feels like only a couple days ago when I wrote about the dichotomy of making plans, but trusting in the Lord to work all things together for good.  A lot has happened in a week…  A lot has happened in a DAY!

On Friday afternoon, we got an e-mail from my real estate agent indicating that they claimed to have signed the contract, which means our escrow process had started.  On the other hand, the agent indicated that she had not yet received the contract with both signatures on it, which I needed to start my loan process. The e-mail I saw looked like the listing agent had merely forgotten to attach the signed contract to it.  I’ve only done that about a million times.

So this weekend was filled with some half-congratulations, and reserved exclamations of joy.  Still, I enjoyed a great deal of it.  My Great Aunt died last week, though, and she was full-on Catholic.  So Saturday, Kim and I went to the Vigil, whereat we had to endure the saying of the full Rosary.  I can’t remember the last time I sat through the Rosary, but I’m sure it seemed like a LOT longer then.  I also got to drive a golf cart for the first time on Saturday.  I quite enjoyed that.

Monday, however, it all appeared to hit the fan.  At about 10am, I got the signed contract from my real estate agent.  I called my wife to get any information she may need, and got my ducks in a row to call my realtor at lunchtime, since I was at work.  I confirmed my final home inspection for Wednesday with my real estate agent, found out that the pest inspection was scheduled for 1pm on Friday, and just generally wondered how this process would affect my sanity!

I called my loan, got the loan started, found out that the home is appraised for $60,000 more than we’re paying for it, got an estimate on taxes and home insurance, etc. and just generally did all kinds of worrying about the process until my end of things was done.  Now we just wait on the processor from my mortgage company to call me and let me know they’re on it.  Also waiting on some sort of packet of information that my mortgage company will send me to initial and send back, etc.

What I took away from the process in terms of good news are thusly:

• My lender says the November 24th closing will be no problem in the least, which helps to alleviate one of my concerns. Namely, that my lender would be a pill, and cause me to have to extend the escrow closing date, which would cost me $50 a day.  Not good.  The lender says everything is fine, and these people are also my bank and my auto/renters insurance company, and they’ve given me every reason in the past to trust them/
• My home and land have appraised at $60,000 more than I’m paying for them.  This is great all around, really, since it makes me and my lender both very comfortable about what we’re getting for the money. It’s really an instant $60,000 worth of equity in the home.  Very good. (Also, the appraisal we had done cost me $10 instead of $325.  I like saving money.)
• The seller isn’t dragging their feet with the parts of the escrow process for which they are responsible. The seller appears to be as eager to sell this house as I am to buy it.  The only question in my mind is what we’ll find when we do the home inspection on Wednesday, but that still gives us enough time to walk if the required repairs are just too darn huge.

There is still plenty to go wrong in the process, of course.  It’s not going to be all smooth sailing, I’m sure.  However, we’ve done a great deal of planning in the purchase of this home, and the smoothness of this process thus far is a testament to planning as much as possible.  Making good financial decisions for the future is far more important than catching a good deal, but I’m pretty darn comfortable with what we’ve gotten with this house.

I’ll keep you all posted with all that is going on, though.  I confess I didn’t know anything about the process before I started, but I’ve been able to keep up with everything I’m signing, and everything that has happened so far.  I’m sure those involved in this process with me are getting sick of my questions, but I need to know what is happening in order to feel comfortable with this process.  If I can help someone else understand what all happens in the escrow process, then I’m happy.  :)

I posted about a bunch of stuff on Friday, and some of it has had updates.

To begin with, I mentioned on here awhile back that I would be brewing a beer for my son, to be aged for 21 years.  The plan is that Iain would have a special beer to drink on his 21st birthday brewed for him before he was born. As I said in that original announcement and poll, certain styles of beer are suitable for aging for multiple decades.  A general rule of thumb is this: The higher the alcohol content, the greater suited the beer is to aging.  Now, this also assumes that one is not filtering the beer prior to bottling.  Yeast in suspension are part of what helps to age a beer, so unfiltered is the rule.  When homebrewing, unfiltered is the norm, so I’m not concerned about this.

Now, despite the egregious voter fraud that took place in my last poll, I have decided to allow the majority their say in what we will brew for Iain, and the winner is…..Russian Imperial Stout.  I’ve never brewed one of these, but they can be anywhere from 8%-15% abv, and should provide an interesting subject for a greatly aged brew.  The name of the beer?  IAIN-BRU.  (I’ll let you all figure it out.)  :)  Feel free to post any speculation as to why we’re calling it IAIN-BRU aside from the fact that our son’s name will be Iain.  lol.

Brew Day for IAIN-BRU will be November 8th!

In other news, we’re preparing to accept the counter-offer made by the seller of the house we’re trying to purchase, and I’ve gotta say, I’ve never signed my name so much in my LIFE!  I had to sign no less than 30 times just to make the offer, and the Seller of the home has now sent me an Addendum to the counter-offer, which is going to require me to initial approximately 16 times, and sign once.  Such a pain.

However, we’re very excited about the purchase of this house.  There’s a lot that has to be done on it, including putting in a security system, replacing a couple doors, and painting, but we’re definitely looking forward to all of it, the work included!

The Scotch Ale this weekend was amazing, as was the Irish Red, the Honey Porter (man, I wish I’d had this beer before now, as it really was tasty), the Black Lager, the Brown Ale and the Boston Lager!  (That Sam Adams Variety Pack was really quite spectacular!!!)  But yeah, that Scotch Ale was well worth waiting 2+ years for, and I can’t wait to try it again! I was afriad, with Sam Adams’ focus on the hop content of their beers, that they may have over-hopped this Scotch Ale, but I didn’t need to worry about it at all.  Those guys really make a great beer.  If you can find the Scotch Ale, (and I’ve only seen it in the Variety Pack), pick it up.  You’ll be quite pleased.

Finally, my friend went on a date with his wife, and he reports that it went well.  It went well, that is, until the very end where she stated that she wasn’t sure she was ready to put her all into reconciliation.  This does a couple things:

1. It acknowledges that every fiber of their beings is going to need to work on this.  It’s not just going to happen.  It’s going to be a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.  I’m glad she realizes the serious up-front cost that will be required of both of them.

2. It really demoralized my friend.  He has been willing to work on this (though not willing to compromise Biblical Standards) from day 1.  The statements from her, however, have not been so gung-ho.  Finally, he was getting the message that she actually wanted to work on the marriage, and then at the end of the date, she says this.  It’s gotta be really rough on him.

He told her that he was willing to work on it, but that she needed to be sure she was willing to work on it as well.  He told her to figure it out by Friday; that the papers were ready, but she needed to decide whether she wanted to sign them.  He also gave this Friday as a “drop dead” date.  This might seem overly harsh, but you have to realize that the Session has already given their consent to the divorce.  It would have been EASIER to just go ahead and file the papers, regardless of her statement of willingness to work on the deal.  He didn’t do this, because he really wants to work it out.

However, she’s dragged this out for nearly 3 years.  She claims she doesn’t want a divorce, but refuses to return (until recently.)  She claims she’s a Christian, but ignores the Word of God when it’s been shown to her, claiming that there is some other interpretation to the Word of God, though she refuses to provide us with another interpretation of “God hates divorce”, etc. She claims that the Lord is ok with divorce if the two parties aren’t both “happy” regardless of what the Word of God says.  She has refused to cut of these close friendships with guys where she texts them and goes over to their home to spend time with them alone in the evenings, but claims that she doesn’t want a divorce.  It’s been a mess, and through it all, my friend has prayed for her, asked her to return, and preached the Gospel to her.  It’s been really hard on her, and she has brought this to the last hurrah.  NOT putting an end date on her deliberation would be an invitation to drag THIS out for another however many years, and if she’s serious about working on this, then she has an entire week to let him know.  If not, well, she’s made her choice then as well.

So it’s sort of a bummer, after all of us getting our hopes up, not to mention what my friend is going though.  Against his better judgement, he got his hopes up, and she dashed them again.  It’s really hard to counsel my friend to obey the Lord sometimes, but he’s done so.

So, please be in prayer for these situations (the house, and my friend.)  Regardless of the outcome of them both, we’ll praise the Lord for His provision and mercy. We know the Lord is sovereign, and that He works all things according to the counsel of His own immutable will.  We know that these situations will work out according to His will, so we ask for prayer, mostly for ourselves.  Prayer that we would accept whatever way the Lord works these things out.

For those of you who have never been to a highland games, essentially it’s an excuse to have a giant party with Whisky (the ‘e’ does not exist in Scotch Whisky), beer, Scottish-like food, and a chance to wear the kilt.

Oh, I know…there are some weird events that happen and are peculiar to Scottish culture, like the caber-toss, highland dancing, etc.  These events are always interesting, to be sure, but having immersed myself in the Scottish culture as I have, even travelling to Scotland with my wife for 3 weeks, I feel I can safely say that it’s a party.  Another name for a Scottish Highland Games is the Gathering of the Clans, and perhaps this shows even more the focus of these great events.

With some exceptions, to be sure, the Scottish people are a social people. The Scots would see themselves as normal, but it’s all relative.  Let’s remember that the Scots fought a technologically and politically superior country for many years to preserve the Clan system. The word “clan”, itself, means “children” in Scottish Gaelic. While clans were ostensibly related, the protection of the clan chief extended over septs or related families, who were not really related by blood, but rather ties of marriage, treaties and agreements. Gatherings to the Scottish people, who were often separated from family by mountain ranges, glens, and lochs, were what made life worth living. Friends were family, and family was everything.

These events in the US are sort of niche events.  People get together to talk about their love of all things Scottish, wear the kilt, speak in bad Scottsh accents (and some good), and enjoy Celtic music. It’s a party celebrating Scottish culture, and I’m going to be near Santa Cruz this weekend indulging myself in good food, good beer, and wearing a kilt!

A band from Newfoundland called Great Big Sea wrote a song about the parties of the Celtic-influenced people.  Tell me this doesn’t sound like a blast!  It’s getting me in the mood for this weekend!!!

Well come gather all around me
There is something you should know
There is no place quite like this place
If we get it on the go

So, pile your boots up in the corner
Hang your jacket from the door
There’s thirty people in the kitchen
And there’s always room for more

Oh-oh-oh, come on now
Let’s lock the world outside
Oh-oh-oh, come on I tell you now
She’s goin’ up tonight!

Well there’ll be music all around you
You should see the way it feels
So come on off we go now
Heel and toe now
To the jigs and reels

‘Cause somebody’s got a fiddle
And someone else brought a guitar
And we got Bobby on the squeezebox
Grab a chair and raise a jar!

Oh-oh-oh, come on now
Let’s lock the world outside
Oh-oh-oh, come on I tell you now
She’s goin’ up tonight

Well there’ll be smilin’, there’ll be laughin’
Well that’s good enough for me
There’ll be dancing all around you
This is where you want to be

So, pile your boots up in the corner
Hang your jacket from the door
There’s thirty people in the kitchen
And there’s always room, yes there’s always room…

Oh-oh-oh, come on now
Let’s lock the world outside
Oh-oh-oh, come on I tell you now
She’s goin’ up tonight!” - “Goin’ Up” by Great Big Sea

Being anti-social is one thing.  Sometimes I just don’t feel like being around people, talking, smiling, etc.  And that’s ok, really…unless you’re around people.

And that’s where I am right now, which is why family is in the other room watching a comedian, and I’m in here, on the computer, as though I’ve not spent all freakin’ day on the computer already.

Maybe I’m just tired?  Who knows?

I’m going to go play Scramble.

Yup, yesterday Kim grabbed my hand, pressed it to her tummy, and we played the “can you feel that” game.  Have you ever played this game?  It’s riveting.  :)

First, she says, “DID YOU FEEL THAT???”  And when you answer no, she’s sort of incredulous.  No point in reminding her that the baby is still inside her, and thus, she’ll feel things no one else in the world can.  It won’t do you any good.  A couple seconds later, she’ll ask again.  Despite your desire to make up that you can feel something when you can’t, you should be honest, because you will be amazed when you CAN feel it, and she’ll know when you’re lying.  Plus, the only reason she’s grabbing your hand and starting this game is because SHE felt it on the OUTSIDE of her tummy already.  If you lie, she’ll totally know.

Yesterday, I felt my son kick for the first time.  It was pretty cool.  I was also informed that I will be enrolled in a birthing class soon, which is less cool.  I posited that I learned everything about childbirth that I needed to know from Bill Cosby’s Himself routine.  I was quickly informed that what I didn’t know about the childbirth process could fill books the size of the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica.  (I didn’t bother to toss out the fact that the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica can fit on a CD now, which is pretty small.  I figured it would only get me in trouble.  After 5 years, I’ve learned SOMETHING!)  (Note: The entire conversation, apart from the birthing class and my Bill Cosby comment are fictional, and should be completely ignored.)

Anyway, I’ll be sure to let you all know how the birthing class goes.  Given my ability to derail almost anyone with something important to say, I’m sure the results will be comical.  For those who are unaware of my said derailing ability, I give you the following evidence.

First, when I was getting my first glimpse of Iain on the ultrasound, the doctor said,

“Right now, the baby doesn’t look like much.  Looks sort of like a ….”

“Lima Bean,” I said.

“Uh, yeah.  You could call it Lima,” quipped the doctor.

“Or Bean…we haven’t decided yet, really.”  The doctor didn’t laugh, didn’t react except to look at me like I’d said, “What do babies taste like?”  I stopped talking after this.

The other time I derailed was far more intentional.  I was at a friend’s wedding rehearsal.  You know how wedding planners are, and this lady was going through her spiel fast….and I mean FAST.  When she finished, I was rather impressed, and would have been content to say nothing, but then she said,

“Does anyone have any questions?”  Well, of course, I can’t let that pass without some form of moronic comment.

“Yeah, I do.”  Everyone turned to look at me. “Where will the snipers be?  I was thinking that this nice little emplacement over the door would be a perfect spot for an internal sniper, given the perfect view of the entire sanctuary.  And I was thinking I could be placed outside…perhaps on the roof?”  She looked at me as though I had….well….as though I had just suggested sniper emplacements for a wedding.  Luckily, the groom to be came to my defense.

“It’s a good question, really.  Have you given any thought to it?”

Anyway, the birthing class should go well.  I bet I fail.  Good thing I’m not the pregnant one.

Those are answers I find myself having to give more and more these days.

I don’t scream when I’m excited.  I don’t jump up and down, clasping my hands at my breast. I just…think excitedly, I guess.  Sometimes I pump my fist and say (not shout) “yes….”

Funny how when I talk on a regular basis, everyone assumes that I’m just joking around, but when it comes to the grave responsibility of raising a child, everyone thinks that my child’s first words could be found in George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” routine.

So yes…I’m excited.  I’m quite a bit apprehensive, as I’ve said before. I do understand, probably more than many parents from the looks of things, just how serious of an undertaking I’ve begun, ok?  What do I mean?  When you have a child, you’re raising an immortal, regardless of your beliefs.  That child has a soul, and that soul has an eternal resting place.

I’m also talking about the father’s role in raising children, and that’s not limited to providing food and shelter, though that’s important.  I’m talking about being a true leader in the home.  Teaching your children, and not delegating it to the church.  Teaching your children, and not delegating that to the government, whether or not you’re sending them to public schools.  Educating your children in the things of the spirit, in the sciences, in music, in sports, in government and civics, in economics, in all things.  Leading your household…THAT is the role of the father.  And many fathers are far more interesting in pleasing themselves than in selflessly giving their lives for their family.  They’re more willing to delegate their responsibilities to the church, to the government, to the daycare facilities.  And serving God first and foremost as an example to your wife and children.  I know, I know….everyone’s busy.  Everyone’s got too much on their plate.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day….I know.  But that’s not an excuse.  The Lord has commanded you to be the leader of your home in these things, which means He has provided the means by which we can accomplish these things. Anything less is sin.

I’m sure there are some angry parents out there.  I’m not denigrating your child-rearing skills…I’m not thinking about anyone in particular.  I’m speaking in generalities.  If you feel I’m speaking directly to you, think about how much you’re interested in serving your own lusts, and how often you choose that above all else.  If you’re saying “I do <this> and <that> for my kids, but…” you still feel guilty?  Don’t look to me.  I’m going to be feeling the same thing here in awhile, I can tell you that right now.  Because we’re not perfect.  But many of us don’t even know what to shoot for!

THAT is important.  Because if we don’t have our standards set in the right place, we’ll answer such arguments, saying “LOOK AT ALL I DO!!!”  But what you DO isn’t the issue.  It’s what you don’t do.  It’s the things you ought to be doing and aren’t that is the issue here.  It’s the same as with sin.  If I ask most of the people I meet whether they’re Christians or not, most of them will say they are.  If I ask them how they know they’re going to heaven, this is where things will get a little muddy. “I’m basically a good person.”  “I don’t sin as much as <insert really bad person>.”  “I do some good.”  Etc.  The issue isn’t what good you’re doing, and the goal isn’t to basically do more good than bad.  The standard is absolute PERFECTION.  That is what we shoot for.  We ought not sit back, content, because we’ve never murdered anyone.  Have you ever been angry with anyone?  Called them a name, like “fool”, or “moron”?  You’re just as guilty as the murderer. We don’t weep over our sin because we think the standard is much lower than it really is.  What is the standard?  “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.”  Got it?  Perfection.

When we are looking at what to shoot for, myself included, we need to weep when we fall short.  We need to strive against our sins, but we need to continue striving, and not be content with where we are…ever.  That’s what parents are called to do.  It’s sobering, isn’t it?  It’s rough, isn’t it?  I’m there in my own life….not with my children, but with the sin in my own life.  I know what the standard is, and I’m speaking as much to myself as anyone else. I know I’m going to make as many or more mistakes than anyone reading.

In short….yes, I’m excited about having a son soon.  And yes, I want to raise my children well.  My excitement about the former is tempered by the real meaning of the latter.

But I *AM* totally looking forward to singing in public to embarrass my kids.  So much fun!!!

We found out on Tuesday of this week that we’re going to be having a little boy in mid-December.  I’m excited and apprehensive.

I could go into all kinds of emotional detail about whether I feel I’m ready to or possess the capability to be a good father, etc.  I’ve gone through it all, and all it does is bewilder Kim.  lol

I just don’t see me as a dad, to be honest. It’s weird to think I’ll be holding a baby.  I don’t know if Kim knows this, but I don’t remember if I’ve ever held a baby.  It helps that I scare most children I’m near…they don’t much want to be around *me*, so I usually get out of being forced to hold them.  In hindsight, this was perhaps not such a good thing.  lol.

We’re playing some Hackmaster tonight, which should be some fun.

I can’t think of anything going on this weekend, so I guess it’s going to be nice and calm.

I don’t know if I’ve blogged about this, but my XBOX 360 has been giving me some problems.  When I consider my problems against the vast majority of 360 problems, I suppose it’s not too bad, but it’s still annoying.

I got the 360, Rock Band, and GTA IV a couple months ago, and within a month or so, the 360’s video and audio was blanking out sporadically when I played GTA IV.  GTA is a MUCH more graphically intense game than Rock Band, so I figure it’s overloading some bad circuitry in my XBOX.  I set up a repair online and sent my XBOX in to have it repaired.  Well, they didn’t repaired it…they replaced the whole darn thing. I thought my problems were gone.

They were not.

After a couple hours of playing, the same thing happened, and it actually seemed to be worse!  So now I was faced with a problem possessing a couple different variables.

1. It could be the 360 Console, itself. - I didn’t think this was very likely, since no one else was reporting the same issue as I was, and I’d been doing a lot of searches online for people reporting the same issue.  It seemed very unlikely that I would get a new console with the same problem.
2. It could be the GTA IV Game Disc. - I didn’t think this was very likely, either, since when dsics fail, they usually can’t be read, or they freeze up, etc.  This seemed more like a hardware error.  Something was causing the output of the XBox to fail, and I didn’t think it was software.
3. It could be my TV - I don’t THINK this is likely, since my TV doesn’t really do any processing of the video signal.  In terms of the TV’s perspective, it’s all the same, whether it’s a graphically intensive game being displayed at 720p, or a pretty graphically simple game being displayed at 720p.
4. It could be the Component Cable that came with my original 360.  I didn’t like this option, since it’s rare for cables to fail.  The more I thought about it, though, the more likely it seemed for the following reasons:

• Aside from the disc, it’s the only part of my 360 that is left from the original setup.
• It gets quite warm by virtue of it being plugged into the rear of the 360.
• It’s got a switch on it to switch between Standard TV and HDTV, as well as a digital audio output.  i.e. it’s more than just a cable.  There’s some circuitry and logic built into this cable, and more complexity generally means that it’s more likely to fail.

So, given that I now believe the cable to be the most likely culprit, I’ve borrowed a cable from a friend.  The bummer thing is that this is a different type of cable.  It’s a VGA cable, which means it hooks up to a different input on the TV.  So this doesn’t eliminate my TV as the suspect entirely, even though I didn’t think it was very likely that it was my TV in the first place. The VGA cable seems to work with no problems, however, so I’m thinking I’m going to try and get a new cable from MS.  If that takes care of it, I’ll be happy, as this problem is rather maddening.

A friend of mine created a video for a scholarship, which is interesting.  :)  I especially like the portrayal of Lt. Horation Caine by David.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8AanDl4oQ8

I, and he, would appreciate it if you’d at least go check it out, as part of the grading is based on the YouTube popularity of the video.  It’s only 2 minutes long.

Those of you who know David will not be at all surprised at him campaigning for tea.  :)

Author’s Note: There WILL be spoilers.  If you’ve not seen the movie, don’t read this review, as I know I’ll spoil something for you.  Go see the movie.  It’s a truly GREAT movie.  Then come back and read, if you like.

To begin with, I’ll state my overall “rating” of the movie.  The Dark Knight is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen…period.  I won’t say it’s the best.  It’s ONE of the best movies I’ve ever seen.  It’s quite likely THE BEST comic book movie I’ve ever seen.  I’m going to try to explain why, but even after seeing it twice, I’m afraid I’m going to ramble a bit.  This is my best effort, though.

To begin with, The Dark Knight is a very different movie than Batman Begins. This may not be readily apparent, even to someone who has seen The Dark Knight.  After all, they’re both Batman movies, right?  They both have Gordon, Batman, Alfred, Fox, etc.  Why should it be any different?  The difference is first glimpsed in the title, which gives us a clue as to the vast shift in focus in this series. The name “Batman” is not found in the title.  What is found in the title is the word “dark”.  Those two differences or observations form the basis for the complete shift in this movie.

To begin with, this movie is not about Batman.  I’ll talk about what it is about later in this review, but I will state that while the title indicates the movie is about the “Dark Knight”, it’s a bit misleading.  He is in the movie, to be sure.  He is variously called “the batman”, “Batman”, “Gotham’s Dark Knight”, in the movie, hearkening to the batman’s origins where he didn’t have a proper name.  He was…the bat-man.  But, he is not the focus of this movie.

Secondly, this movie is dark, as the second act ought to be. Gotham is in a bad way in this movie, and throughout the entire movie, no one is really sure what the solution is. Nothing could be more despair-inducing, and Bruce Wayne hits bottom a couple times, variously thinking that Batman ought to turn himself in, that he ought to just throw in the towel, realizing that he can’t be as bad as he needs to be to catch some of these really nasty criminals.  By contrast, Gotham City is shown in the daylight, unlike in the first movie.  Some people didn’t like this, but I really did, and I’m hoping to explain that a little more later as well.

Themes and Characters:

The Dark Knight, as I said, is not really a movie about Batman.  The story is really Gotham’s story. The batman is an integral part of Gotham, so he’s going to be a main player in the telling of Gotham’s story, to be sure.  But it’s not showcasing Batman. If you went into the theater expecting that Batman would be front-and-center, you might have been disappointed as some friends of mine were.

Director Christopher Nolan has said that the story is Harvey Dent’s (Two Face’s) story. I think, however, if that was his goal, he didn’t do such a good job.  If, however, you see Harvey Dent as being a third of the personification of Gotham City, you’re going to understand the story that is being told far better than if you try and view Dent as a main character.

First off, Gotham City is a character in this movie.  This is why I feel it was important to show Gotham City in the daylight.  This character needs to be shown in the light, in the dark, and in between with light and dark being major themes in this movie.  While portraying a city as a character is not new, it’s fresh in this story. With Batman Begins, we needed to know who the batman was.  Why did he decide to fight crime outside the official means? What were the principles upon which he created his persona?  The answers to these questions really inform us as to the turmoil that the batman is experiencing throughout The Dark Knight.  It also created an expectation that all of the new Batman movies would delve into the psyche of Batman.  However, the batman is only a portion of the Gotham City character in The Dark Knight.  Harvey Dent is another part.

While Batman has often been referred to by the moniker, The Dark Knight, Gotham’s White Knight is equally as important in this movie.  Gotham, as a city, contains elements of both dark (mob, other criminals and supervillains) and light, (people who want to genuinely help one another, Gordon and the non-corrupted cops).  The solution to Gotham’s problems, and thus most of the personification of Gotham’s Personality, is composed of Batman, the masked vigilante who needs to operate outside the law to catch the criminals the cops can’t catch, and Gotham’s White Knight: The new District Attorney (Harvey “Two Face” Dent) who is working as tirelessly as Batman to get rid of crime in his city. Gotham’s White Knight can do from the light what Batman can only hope to accomplish in the cloak of night. Harvey Dent, with the assistance of Batman, is able to round up all of the major players of Gotham’s underworld in one fell swoop.  This, among other things, presents Batman with a new vision of the future which he had not thought possible; one in which Batman may just not be necessary.

However, things in Gotham have actually worsened to an extent that no one is sure what the solution is.  The mob continues to operate under a new boss. There are a couple other rival gangs that are working together to make miserable the lives of Gotham’s citizens, and underlying it all is this newcomer to the scene, the mysterious Joker.

The Joker has no backstory, no history at all.  He makes up stories, seemingly on the spot, to explain where he got his telltale facial scars. And he is the third and final piece of Gotham’s character. He stands for chaos and anarchy, and nothing else.  At one point, he even says to Dent, “Do I look like a guy with a plan??”  Nope, he doesn’t look like that at all.  But he IS the final piece of the personification of Gotham City. Batman and Dent represent a powerful force for good in Gotham.  While they represent the light and darkness of the forces of good in Gotham, the Joker represents a seemingly equal force for evil in Gotham. At the very least, he presents a problem for both Batman and Dent.

How far can we go to eradicate evil?:

The Joker in this movie, is shown as evil without limits.  We’re granted a peek of this when the mob banker is talking to the Joker in the first scene.  “Thieves in this City used to have honor.”  The Joker has no use for honor.  Honor places limits on the Joker.  We already understand that the police (both in real life, and in this movie) have limits. The entire need for the batman in Gotham City is created by the limits placed on the police.  Jurisdiction, reasonable force, due process…these are limits that the batman almost does not have.  However, in his exploration of the limits of society, the Joker discovers that the batman does indeed have limits.  He won’t kill indiscriminately to catch the bad guy. This is Batman’s one rule that the Joker intends to push him past.

The batman realizes this partway through the movie.  In addition, Batman copycats are starting to show up at crimes, with guns.  This is NOT what Wayne intended when he created the Batman persona, and he’s conflicted a great deal in this movie about these two things.  He knows that if he’s going to truly put an end to crime in Gotham, he’s going to have to flirt with his unbreakable rule far more than he even intended.  In addition, he’s inspiring citizens to place their lives in danger.  He doesn’t want to see citizens die, but realizes that not everyone is able to perform what he can perform.  How far is too far, and is that a different answer for Harvey Dent than it is for Batman?  That’s what Bruce Wayne has to decide here, and he’s torn.  It’s a great portrayal of a difficult moral dilemma.

So how does the Joker propose to win?

The Joker tests people; he sees how far they’ll go to accomplish their goals. He sees two nearly incorruptible people and knows that one needs to fall.  By testing them both, the Joker decides that if Batman is removed from the picture, the City will steel themselves against criminals and will rally behind Dent as the City’s public White Knight.  If Dent falls, the City will stand behind Batman as the only way to eliminate crime.  Killing either one won’t help him sow the seeds of chaos.  However, discrediting them both will rock Gotham to its very core.  By turning Dent, he knows that Batman will be forced to confront this new chaos, and either expose Dent for the criminal he has now become, thus invalidating all of Dent’s work to this point.  Or else, Batman will have to take all of Dent’s crimes upon himself, thus extricating Dent from the entire situation, but removing Batman from the pedestal of public worship.  It’s a masterful plan executed perfectly by the Joker.

Harvey “Two-Face” Dent: Tipping the balance of power:

At the beginning of The Dark Knight, Harvey Dent is a tireless public servant.  He relentlessly pursues evil, has a face made for television, and is perceived as incorruptible.  With Gotham’s three personifications, we can clearly see that while Batman and Dent represent the yin and yang of good in Gotham, there is no balance. The Joker appears to be at a distinct numerical disadvantage, and Good looks to win out in Gotham’s conflicted personality. The Joker’s strength, however, lies in chaos, which turns out to be the TRUE nemesis to Batman and Dent’s wall of justice. By subverting the rules and plans of Gotham’s knights, he is able to turn the one that both Commissioner Gordan and Batman call “the best of us” to the side of chaos.  (Not evil per se, but that’s a discussion for another time.) Harvey Dent is shaken to his core by events which unfold, and he soon sees that law and justice could not protect him and his loved ones. (Of course, the Joker gives him the nudge he needs to really become chaotic.) Dent realizes, as Two Face, that the only fair arbiter of life or death is pure chance, and by turning him thus, the Joker wins a third of Gotham’s character over to his side. This is when things are darkest for Gotham.

The reason for the true darkness is that at the time of this shift, Batman still appears to be conflicted as to what Batman is willing to do to serve Gotham. What will he do to protect Gotham when the White Knight has been corrupted?  Will Gotham survive?  Can she? This is where I’ll end my spoilers.  I think Nolan’s telling of Gotham’s story is better than my paltry explanation could ever be.  Watch and see whether Gotham really survives and how.

Comparison to real-world themes:

I’ve heard it said that Batman is a pro-Bush movie, or that it deals with American foreign policy.  There are a number of interesting parallels that can be drawn, but I think this has to do far more with the concept of archetypes and themes than it does with some manner of praising Bush for being the hero the world needs. The question of how far we can go to overcome evil is not limited to the “War on Terror”. We must look at this on a daily basis.  How much force is appropriate for a given situation?  Would it be better to just create a Judge Dredd-like force where a single group is judge-jury-executioner? It sure would save on court costs!  But isn’t due process of law one of the things denied the Founding Fathers by King George; indeed, one of the things the Founders were fighting for? You see, the question of whether we can suspend our citizens’ rights to “catch the bad guy” is not unique to America’s current moral dilemma.  In addition, the conversation between the Russian Ballerina, Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent, and Rachel Dawes is not a commentary on President Bush’s seemingly limitless power.  It’s quite appropriate for the story, and is letting you know what is going on in the hearts and minds of Gotham as the citizens are torn between a masked man who has taught them to not fear criminals and between the fact that said crusader is breaking laws to do so. The explanation by Dent that the Romans used to create a sort of absolute-power position in their government in times of trouble is showing that he knows the need for Batman in Gotham; at least until some of this cop-corruption is taken care of. Rachel’s reminder that the last dude who held that power was Caesar, who never let go is illustrating the real dilemma of putting that much power in someone.

Am I saying it’s not applicable to our present situation?  No.  A mark of a great piece of storytelling is that the concepts presented therein are applicable, whether intentional or not, to real life.  In our lives, we must ask whether or not placing absolute power in the hands of Bush is a good idea.  (It’s not.)  We must ask whether we ought to suspend the rights of the citizenry in order to catch baddies. (We ought not.) However, the similarities between The Dark Knight and reality are tenuous at best, however applicable to our current predicament the story may be.

What about the manner of the telling?

Delivery is everything in storytelling, and The Dark Knight does not fail to deliver.  The one thing that has stuck with me after all this time is Batman’s voice.  As we saw in the Dark Knight, the batman is not a happy sort of person. He is menacing.  He is a shadow.  He is fear.  He turns the fear the enemy is spreading in upon itself.  While Batman Begins was a literal struggle against fear, Batman is even more embracing the shadow persona, which is important for the character.  He needs to realize what he must become to truly defeat evil, and there is nothing quite like Batman’s voice to show the shadowy nature of the character.  It’s gravelly, menacing, and you wouldn’t want that coming at you from the night.  Really superb job, Bale, et. al.

So it’s good then?

Yes, it’s good.  It’s all a manner of opinion, of course. There are plenty of people who don’t like it, but it’s rare to have this kind of agreement on a movie from so many critics.  There’s a lot to take away from this movie, and that is the mark of a good movie. I’ve been thinking about the concepts presented in this movie for over a week now, and I can’t stop. I want to see the movie a third time.  I want to own the movie.  I want to know everything about what went into the making of this movie. I am truly nearly obsessed, and rightfully so, I think. Very few movies deal with themes, archetypes, and light vs. dark as effectively as The Dark Knight.  While it’s not entirely about Batman, I think it was quite appropriate. If they had simply continued in the vein of the previous movie, I don’t think it would have done as well.  Batman Begins told us about everything we needed to know about the batman.  Future developments with the character would happen in his interactions with Gotham, and that is the story we got here. I expect there will be a third movie, though I don’t know if it will be a traditional close to the series, a la Return of the Jedi.  I don’t know if it’s in the Batman character to end on a bright note.  I don’t know that if they plan to do that, I want to see it.  However, if Nolan is involved, I think he’ll do what we don’t expect…he’ll do what he needs to do.