The Dark Knight

If you have not seen this movie, go out and pay the $9.00 right now. You will not be sorry.

After a steady stream of movie disappointments lately (Baby Mama; 10,000 BC; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), we were long overdue for a good one. Husband and I absolutely loved “Batman Begins” a few years ago, and were anxiously awaiting this next installment. If you are interested in the movie, I know you’ve probably read many reviews, but I have to tell you that nearly everything about this movie is perfect. Hello, Christian Bale. Aside from being incredibly good-looking (the Batman suit only enhances), he continues to execute this conflicted Batman character in such a believable way. From the swanky playboy Bruce Wayne, to the behind the scenes Bruce talking to his trusted friend Alfred, to the nighttime crusader. Who is the real Batman?

Heath Ledger. Holy guacamole. His Joker is amazing. He was totally in, no holds barred. The speech patterns, facial expressions, even the way he walked…between all of that and the creepy makeup, I had to remind myself a couple of times that it was in fact a real human being playing the part. A completely dark character with no faith left in humanity, and a thirst not for money, but only for human suffering. At the same time there is vulnerability there, making you wonder how The Joker became this way, what happened to him. It was brilliantly scripted and played. Knowing that Ledger was so engrossed in this character at his time of death only made it that much more eerie.

Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman gave outstanding supporting performances, and Aaron Eckhardt grew on me when he got to his Two-Face phase. I could give or take Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel, much as I was benign about Katie Holmes in the same role in Batman Begins. A few of the supporting characters didn’t quite gel in my mind, but all were adequate and quite frankly not as important, so it didn’t affect the overall experience. Batman and The Joker simply stole the show, and the conflict between the two, and within each - was so real, so intriguing, that for the first time in a long time, I found myself being affected by the characters in a movie.

All of classic superhero movie themes are here – Good vs. Evil. The Human Condition. State of the World. Ego. Personal Life vs. Personal Responsibility. Sacrifice. All this, but no cheesy capes and neon-colored villains. This is dark, moody, surprisingly real.

To become the ultimate hero, must you first become the villain?

You decide. Go see The Dark Knight.

North Shore Adventure

We are back from 3 days on the gorgeous Minnesota North Shore. We covered a lot of ground in a short time; there is so much to see and do! We were lucky in many respects; for one, the weather was gorgeous. Although rain was predicted, we didn't see a drop until Friday afternoon on our way home. It seemed luck followed us on our daily journeys too - for example, a bald eagle hovering directly overhead as we pulled into a beach; a man offering ice cream coupons as we headed to a boat tour where we were planning to get ice cream.

Overall we had a really good time, and I think Brandon enjoyed the trip. He had never been to the North Shore before, and none of us had been as far north as we ended up going. It was an adventure and I was happy to see that Brandon was up for the challenge. He even did a little exploring on his own, around the campground and the beach in the mornings.

We definitely wore ourselves out; lots of walking and hiking. We ended up leaving a little earlier than planned on Friday due to the weather, but we had packed a lot in to the time we were there. When we arrived home we continued the "vacation" by going to see the new Batman movie (more on that later), and then I went to pick up our beloved Buddy from boarding at our vet. We missed him, and I think he missed us too...although he made quite a few new friends at the vet! All of the techs had to come and tell me what fun he was and what a pleasure it was having him there.

Today, despite the busy week we've had, we're not relaxing much. There is yard work to be done, and we're having people over for Brandon's birthday tomorrow, so there's plenty of cleaning going on too! Though tonight we are taking it easy.

Below is a summary of the things we did on our trip. Photos are also available here. Enjoy!

Wednesday
Duluth:
-Walking around Canal Park
-lunch at Hell's Kitchen
-Maritime Museum and watching the Lee A. Tregurtha go through the aerial lift bridge
-Tour of the S.S. William A. Irvin, followed by ice cream
Checked into Burlington Bay Campground in Two Harbors
Roadside stop near French River to check out the beach
Hiking and exploring the beaches and waterfalls of Gooseberry Falls State Park
Dinner in Two Harbors
Campfire time!

Thursday
Headed north on Highway 61, North Shore Scenic Drive
Split Rock Lighthouse
Hiking at Tettegouche State Park
Grand Marais - Sven and Ole's Pizza, Trading Post, explored coast/beach
Grand Portage National Monument
Canadian border
Hiking in Cascade River State Park
Silver City tunnel and trail (saw peregrine falcon)
Back to the campground, with brats over the campfire

Friday
Souvenir shopping in Two Harbors
Skyline Drive and Enger Park and Tower in Duluth
Homeward bound!

Happy 15 Years to Brandon!

Brandon,

I can hardly believe you turn 15 today! I wish the best year ever to my kind, good-hearted, funny stepson. You have grown up quite a lot the past year...(most noticeably physically...I can now call you "The Six-Footer" with confidence - it won't be long and you'll be taller than your dad). You have also been through a lot of ups and downs this year, and have come out of it still smiling. I have always admired you for that. At times you exhibit a patience that far exceeds your age. My heart is especially full when I see you with your cousin, Miss H. The two of you have such a special bond, and even as you have "grown up," you still show her the same kindness and patience you always have. The two of you have so much fun together!

This year you have been so helpful, especially in the last few months since we bought the house. You rarely complain when asked to do things, and are always willing to pitch in. You've pulled dandelions, gotten up early on weekends to feed the dog, mowed the lawn countless times, and most recently got on a ladder to clean out the gutters. We couldn't do it all without you, so you deserve my sincerest thanks.

For all of your wonderful qualities, you are definitely 100% teenager. You "forget" to pick up your dishes or put your clothes in the laundry room. There is a little more sass, and sometimes you don't know when to stop pestering...but I can't entirely blame you, because sometimes neither does your father. :) I still think you play too many computer games, but between the two of you I've learned that's a battle I can't win.

Speaking of learning, I've learned a lot from you this past year. I can only hope you are picking up a few positive things from me. You and I have been friends for over 5 years now, and I have to say my life is definitely better for it.

I wish you the happiest year to date...but I hope it goes slowly, because I don't think I'm ready for you to be driving yet!!

Love,
Jess

Will Sell For Gas Money

Today I had an impromtu garage sale. It may seem strange that we are already having a sale when we just moved 3 months ago...but a few boxes of "stuff" made it over here with us. Also, there were a few things that we discovered just don't work with our space, or that we have a few too many of. Case in point, the 6 nice Mikasa martini glasses we got for our wedding that stayed in the box, waiting for the "big move" - and the 4 Target martini glasses that were on rotation in our rental spaces. Husband does make a mean chocolate martini, but I didn't see a need to keep 10 glasses around. There were also a few smaller furniture items that just weren't working right, and I wanted them out of the way. With our 3-day North Shore vacation coming up this week, I figured it wouldn't hurt to earn some gas money.

My goal was $70, or roughly the equivalent of a tank of gas for the Envoy (gulp). Turns out the garage sale stars were not aligned today...I only got half way there. However, my advertising was limited to a sign at the end of the driveway, and a 10AM Craigslist advertisement for a 9AM-3PM sale. I also looked like rain all day, so maybe that kept the scavengers away. I did get rid of all of the furniture but one desk, so that is a very good thing. A sudden downpour came through about 2:30, but I was close to the end time anyway.

All in all it wasn't a bad day, and I guess $35 is better than nothing. I was able to enjoy my neighbors and also get a few chapters read in my book. Who knows...since everything is still on tables in the garage I may try it again tomorrow for a few hours. Wish me luck in getting that tank of gas!

Do You Hear Something?

Today we were trying to capture this funny thing Buddy does when he hears sirens...he turns his head back and forth as if he's trying really hard to listen. Maybe all dogs do this, but I think it's incredibly cute when he does it. Anyway, he added a little something new to his usual routine when we were recording him, and I thought I'd share. I should mention Buddy is not a very vocal dog...but I guess he felt the need to join the chorus!

Attitude

Lastnight we were watching TV downstairs. Husband was laying on the couch giving Buddy some attention, petting him on the head. When he felt he’d gotten enough dog hair on him (the dog is shedding like crazy right now) he gave the cue “all done.” Buddy gave him the “are you serious?” stare for a few seconds, then plopped down on the floor and gave a big sigh.

To which Husband promptly turned to me and said, “He gets that from you.”

Nice.

Conflicted

I was reading this post on UpNorthica about providing wireless internet in state parks. Apparently this is nothing new across the U.S., but the first of Minnesota's state parks is trying it out through the end of the year, to see if it draws more visitors.

I am a bit conflicted about this (but mostly opposed, as you can see by my comment on the original post). I can see that we are headed toward a wireless, always accessible culture, and it may bring some people into the parks who are otherwise are deterred by the lack of internet access. I know state parks need money, and more visitors = more money (Minnesota state parks charge an entrance fee).

However, I personally use my vacation time to TAKE A VACATION. I use the internet a lot, for work and at home (as evidenced by this blog). But there are certain times when you just need to get away and focus on something other than a screen. Really, the only way to get people to do that is to make it so the internet is not available. I agree that people enjoy campgrounds in different ways...some from the convenience of an air-conditioned camper with a DVD player, and others in back country tents with no water or electricity. I myself fall somewhere in between, and have enjoyed the convenience of my parent's camper from time to time. But do we really need people to know they can reach us all day, any day? Even when we're on vacation, or enjoying a hike with our families on a Sunday afternoon?

It's bad enough that cellular reception is becoming better in remote areas...I am conflicted about that too, as it has definitely saved some lives, but is also the most annoying thing EVER to be taking a quiet, relaxing walk on a trail and catch up with someone walking and TALKING ON THEIR CELL PHONE. What is the point?

What do you think?

Lovin' the Long Weekend

Well, it's been an uneventful week. Work just seemed to drag, and I was so glad when Thursday came and I could check out for a few days. I did get a lot done that afternoon though; there were only a few of us left in the office by about 2PM.

We didn't do a whole lot for the 4th of July. We got invited to couple of parties, but this year I just kind of felt like doing some things as a family and chilling at home. Husband made a nice lunch and then the three of us walked over to the movie theater to see WallE (cute movie which also introduced some thought-provoking ideas relative to the environment and our computer-driven culture). We did a couple of things around the house in the afternoon (I think there was some Dance, Dance Revolution in there somewhere too), and grilled steaks for supper. Later on Brandon, Buddy and I walked to a nearby hill and saw what we could of the fireworks over in St. Louis Park. It wasn't quite like being there, but it was fun nonetheless, and I always like some good fireworks!

Today is errands, laundry and yard work (which I think I'm already done with, because man it's hot outside!) I did quite a bit of work in some of the backyard flower beds on Thursday night and just did a little more today. They are a tangled mess of weeds, grass, and flowers - sometimes it's hard to tell what's what. It looks like some of the lilies are about to bloom. Got to give them some room to breathe!

It feels good to get so much done, and still have another day to go. Who knows, I might even hang some things on the walls this afternoon!