So I'm driving to the laundromat last night to do some laundry and stalk a beautiful woman and watch her underthings tumbling when I encounter this contraption moving up the road at about 7 miles an hour:



I'll admit, my flabber is a little gasted, because honestly it looks like it's missing something. The vehicle seems to be all hydraulic crane and base, controlled from an open platform by a set of joysticks, like so:



The guy operating it was taking down some branches from some tall trees next to his place, and said he could get 80 feet out of it. 80 feet on an open platform, and they're just available for rental.

Maybe everyone else has seen hundreds of these but I didn't even know it existed. It looked so odd and yet so useful and so incredibly cool.

Now I'm just trying to think of some reason I'd need to be 80-plus feet in the air.

P.S.: Someone has got to tell the "Top Gear" people on BBC America about these things.

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Go. It's worth it. It oughta be. It's two movies in one.

I'm not myself 100 percent certain that was a wise decision structurally, but I'll go into that a little more in the SPOILER ALERT! portion of this blog.

Christian Bale is magnificent if understated as Bruce Wayne continues his exploration of who the Batman is and the nature of heroism vs. vigilantism. Sharing their insights into that exploration are Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes, Morgan Freeman as CEO Lucius Fox and the brilliant Michael Caine as Alfred, all of whom play important roles in the evolution of his character and his persona.

Heath Ledger provides a genius take on the iconic Joker, giving the slightest and most respectful of nods to Jack Nicholson's groundbreaking portrayal and sailing into even darker waters.

Of course, he had a little more to work with, as Nicholson played opposite Billy Dee Williams' throwaway Harvey Dent, which even the franchise tossed aside for an over-the-top and ultimately unsatisfying Tommy Lee Jones.

Forgive me, but the rest is ...


***SPOILER***
And naturally there were some absolutely breathtaking chase scenes and special effects that will blow your freeqin' mind, and eye-popping magic tricks, as well as a little too much pop psychology -- a little dry, perhaps, but delivered perfectly imo.

Gotta say, on a scale of loved-didn't love, this movie was definitely in the "love" category.

Both of them were.

P.S. -- The 12:01 a.m. showing in Minot, N.D., was sold out, and with the overflow, it ultimately ended up being shown on multiple screens anyway.

That led to a bit of a late start and there was hubbub, but I'd already gotten several hours sleep in anticipation, and now I'm going to go get a few more before heading to work. Night all!

And hey, if you've got nothing better to do this weekend ...

... go take in a show.

P.P.S. -- There's nothing after the closing credits. You can walk out at any time.

P.P.P.S. -- POSSIBLE SPOILERS in the comments. Just ... fair warning.

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Supervillain. Musical. Singing cowboy henchmen.

Check it out here: CLICK! Also check out tv.com's "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog."

If this is what happens when Joss Whedon and his friends and family are just sitting around being bored, the writers need to go on strike more often.

w00t.

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So I was listening to Buster Poindexter the other day and just started weeping uncontrollably ...

* needle scratch * Um ... no. Actually, his version of "Hot Hot Hot" almost always makes me dance, even if I'm seated, which just looks odd.

No, my blawg title refers to the over 80 degree temps (low 30s for you Celsiites) I've been walking through recently.

Well, Saturday morning was more like 60 degrees (mid 20s C, I think) and we had an outrageous wind. I put in five miles walking through that. See, I'd dropped my car off to be serviced and decided, it being a lovely day, that I'd just walk back, which in fact was a great excuse for a walk.

Then last night it was four miles through the low 80s -- nice, but the wind had died way down. I was getting photos at an arts in the parks event so again, great excuse to walk and saved the gas.

And tonight I walked four miles getting some photos along a construction zone. Very pleasant, solid wind to keep the bugs off -- um .. sunscreen. Must get sunscreen. I usually walk in the evenings but I wanted to get some shots of some work going on, so I had to go late afternoon.

Last time I walked that route in the daytime I burned a bit, and I can feel a bit of warmth right now. Ooo ... soaked in some sun.

But actually I'm just popping in to mention that I've walked 13 miles in three days. Since I split it off by weeks I've actually just put in the eight miles since Sunday, but still .. two days into the week, I'm more than halfway to my goal of 15, which in fact I've nearly achieved in three days' walking.

So even if I were to put in a very short walk each day for the rest of the week (relatively speaking), I'd hit my base level, and with only about two miles a day for the rest of the week, I'm in good stead to clear 20 miles for the first time in months.

Forgive me, but w00t!

... And all of this accompanied by some excellent podcast material. For anyone looking for an astonishing podcast novel, Pip Ballentine at www.chasingthebard.com has put together a multi-part series called "Chasing the Bard," a fantasy novel set in the Elizabethan era, focusing on Shakespeare and the fey realm and all sorts of wonderful adventures. I'm nearing the end of it and it's just so amazing. You can download it at her site or iTunes or podiobooks.com and it's so worth your while -- that voice, that storytelling and that production, you'll be pleased and amazed and begging for more.

BIG QUESTION of the BOLLIOG:

Are you a podiophile (watch it, R. Kelly -- that's not what you think it means) -- and if so, what books would you recommend for our listening pleasure?

Happy walking, and happy listening!

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I just had one of my most profound, most consistent and least comprehensible reactions to a song that I've had for awhile.

I was driving home, singing along to my tjShuffle, and found myself getting choked up. I was intrigued, but I kept on singing. And then I couldn't sing anymore because I was crying. Actually weeping. Tears.

I don't know what that response was coming from. Like I said, it was on my Shuffle, so it's not like I haven't heard it before or even recently -- probably even earlier today. I don't know what it was about the song that struck me so especially at that moment.

But it didn't pass quickly. I got home, answered some mail, did some math, made some calls and then went to revisit what seemed like a disproportionate emotional reaction. I listened closely to the lyrics, explored the images and thoughts the artist used them to evoke, and explored my own thoughts and reactions and what images they evoked for me.

I also took a step back from the tears themselves, because I was also monitoring my emotional response to the song. I'm a method actor, so I express feelings from memories as a matter of course, and new triggers are always interesting. However, I honestly couldn't determine anything -- rage, sadness, fear or joy -- behind the tears. Maybe sadness and loss more than anything else, but that didn't really fit my perception of the song.

It didn't change the tears, however, which were as real, heady, strong and consistent as anything, second, third, fifth time through the song. End of this process, I felt drained more than anything, and not much closer to a truth.

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The Song

This song, It's Not My Time by 3 Doors Down, just freeqin' wrecked me again, because I'd never seen the video for it. Now I have, and ... wow.

IT'S NOT MY TIME by 3 Doors Down

Looking back at the beginning of this
And how life was
Just you and me and love and all of our friends
Living life like an ocean
Now the current's slowly pulling me down
It's getting harder to breathe
It won't be too long and I'll be going under
Can you save me from this

('Cause) It's not my time,
I'm not going
There's a fear in me
It's not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
Oh, I won't go

I look ahead to all the plans that we made
And the dreams that we had
I'm in a world that tries to take them away
Oh, but I'm taking them back
All this time I've just been too blind to understand
What should matter to me
My friend, this life we live
It's not what we have, it's what we believe

(And) It's not my time
I'm not going
There's a fear in me
It's not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
But, It's not my time
I'm not going
There's a fear in me
Now I know that
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
Oh, I won't go
I won't go

There might be more than you believe
(There might be more than you believe)
There might be more than you can see
But, It's not my time
I'm not going
There's a fear in me
It's not showing
This could be the end of me
And everything I know
But, It's not my time
I'm not going
There's a will in me
Now it's gonna show
This could be the end of me
And everything I know, oh
There might be more than you believe
(There might be more than you believe)
There might be more than you can see
And I won't go
No I won't go down (yeahh)

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The song at first blush sounds like the angry sadness of a jilted lover -- plans we made and lost, love like an ocean, it's pulling me under, harder to breathe, it's not my time, etc.

The video looks to explore the endless pain of losing a child's life, from the perspective of a parent, crying out for a guardian angel to save them, to give them another chance.

So legitimately, I might have just finally been paying attention to the ragged emotion in the singer's voice, because he looks like he's losing it just as bad as I ever did on the set of the video, delivering the song like a prayer.

But in watching it just now, these were the points I was choking up: 0:50, 1:02, 1:11, 1:40, 1:52, 2:03, 2:19, 2:45, 3:07, 3:14, 3:23, 3:28 and then at 3:56, watching the video for the first time, I completely lost it. Again.

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LYRICAL PURSUIT

Lyricially, I seem to get stuck mostly by "This could be the end of me," which naturally would be sad but I tend to be a little more philosophical about end-of-life stuff, which anyway is more than a bit academic, statwise, for the time being.

I thought I was responding politically as well. I mentioned I was searching for joy as well, and today, Obama was seeming more and more like a winner, and I was hitting a vibe at "I look ahead to all the plans that we made, and the dreams that we had. I'm in a world that tries to take them away, oh, but I'm takin' 'em back." As well as, "My friend, this life we live it's not what we have. It's what we believe."

I thought I might have been feeling a gash of hope for the future in that lyric, and in that moment, in that interpretation, I might have been, but I don't think that's what the singer had in mind at all.

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In the CARDS

Then I turned, as I so often do, to the possibility that this was a spiritual response. And I can see Christ singing this in Gethsemane, and certainly it explores a call of longing and distance, but something felt off about that as well. So I did a consultation, and got this:



Providing a base for the reading is the Hierophant, a figure obeisant to religious authority, a true believer in the power of faith and spiritual tradition. This forms the ground for the Magician, a practicer of craft, and a sort of showman. That is, the Hierophant trafficks in faith, while the Magician is removed a step or two from actual belief. In fact, he could conduct a service without any belief whatsoever, while the Hierophant's every move is steeped in his faith.

We resolve in the Nine of Wands in its inverse position, and frankly this puzzled me. The inverse of the Nine of Wands for this deck, "The Secrets of the Necronomicon," is delay, doubt, elusive victory and need for vigilance. Very fuzzy. My tendency is to treat inverse positions as cautionary, but that didn't really speak to the emotions engendered in me by this song.

Another approach is to just examine the opposite of the upright position, and that one struck me right between the eyes. Upright, the Nine of Wands indicates unshakable strength. And in the space between the Magician's works without faith and the Hierophant's faith without works, I feel I may have encountered a loss of resolve.

... There might be more than you believe ...

More meditation is called for, and perhaps more medication. I have been off my antidepressants for a few weeks, now, and my emotional skin could be thinner than what's good for me.

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All of that being said, however, I freeqin' love any song that can get me this intrigued and choked up. I first encountered this song a couple of weeks ago driving home from work. I was drawn in by its melancholy sound, and I tracked it down and pulled it up on iTunes. I've been listening to it ever since, but clearly not as closely as I did today.

Sure other songs have gotten emotional responses before, but the last one even close to this, I have to go back to Tori Amos' 2001 release of "Strange Little Girls," and her cover version of "Rattlesnakes," which would cause me to break down at the same place every time, even though I couldn't tell what she was singing.

I found out when she performed the song on Leno and there was closed captioning. She was singing: "It's so hard to love when love was your great disappointment."

Whoa. A Buddhist friend of mine suggested even if my head couldn't understand the lyric, that my heart could, and responded.

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* looks back, shudders *

Sorry about all that. I ... well, it interested me, anyway. Thanks for reading, and, oh yeah:

BIG QUESTION
of the BOLLIOG:

Any songs out there that hit you emotionally, whether you want them to or not?

Happy listening, and thanks for stopping by.

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