7 Quick Takes Friday, Vol #7

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We’ve officially got a walker! Our 'almost-one-year-old' has been taking steps for nearly a month, but our daughter could crawl faster than she could walk so she didn't bother to walk much.  Then one day this week she just up and decided walk everywhere instead of crawling.  This walking phase will last two weeks... followed by the running phase.  

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Turning 30 didn't make me feel as old as my daughter turning 1. For some reason, my child reaching milestones makes me feel older than when I hit milestones.  Anyone else feel the same way?  

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The sky is falling, the sky is fal-  Oh, wait, that's rain... its been so long I forgot.  Middle Tennessee wasn't alone in the recent heat wave as we broke record after record in two solid week of (practically) triple digit heat.  However, we've also been in the midst of a pretty severe drought.  My grass turned brown, two of my maple trees were shedding leaves, my veggie garden stunted (despite two daily waterings) and even my two pine trees we're going brown (when evergreens stop being ever green, you know you have a problem).  Thankfully we caught a break in the heat and also got some much needed rain. Hope others have caught a break too.

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Cow Appreciation Day:  This major, national holiday just about snuck up on me!  For those of you may not know, Chick-fil-a celebrates Cow Appreciation Day once a year.  Dress up as a cow, go to Chick-fil-a, get free food.  Simple as that.  A full costume gets you a free value meal, a partial costume gets you a free entree.  You can check out the Chick-fil-a website for details, costume ideas and even a downloadable Cow Starter Kit... meaning there's still time to get decked out as a moo cow even if you don't have a bovine costume hanging up in your closet.

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Intermediate Batman Theory. With all of my excitement over the Avengers, I overlooked the upcoming release of The Dark Knight Rises, the last in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  But something happened this week... I got bit by the "bat bug" or something, and I'm genuinely looking forward to TDKR and plan to watch the two earlier films over the weekend.  At an online message forum I was part of a discussion with some real comic book nerds (a term of respect, not an insult) called Advanced Batman Theory, where they all talked about and guessed at some of the plot lines.  Me, not being quite so knowledgeable, I've made a few predictions myself (hence, titling this "intermediate").

• The biggest plot issue for me... Ras al Ghul.  Ghul was Liam Neeson's character in Batman Begins, leader of the League of Shadows, the man who trained Batman.  He apparently lost his life in a train crash.  
• However, in comic books and in cartoons, Ras al Ghul makes use of something called the Lazarus Pit which, basically, adds years back to his life, bringing him back from near certain death many times. 
• Liam Neeson is part of the cast for this film.
• Liam Neeson, on IMDB, Neeson is listed third.  Very often, credits are done in order of character importance and Neeson's (Ghul) is listed just behind Bale (Bruce Wayne) and Hardy (Bane), and before Hathaway (Catowman), Oldman (Commissioner Gordon) and Freeman (Lucius Fox).  
• Now that in itself means nothing as what is on IMDB is not guaranteed to be the order of the final credits.  But "not guaranteed" doest mean "it can't possibly be so."  
• It makes me think there is something important about his character, not just a short flashback.
• Ghul's daughter, Talia, is a character in this movie.

• Then there is Bane himself.  I cannot now find it, but in one of the movie interviews I read he is described as an "idealistic terrorist."  I found this to be a very interesting description for several reasons..
• After the excellent job Ledger did with the Joker in The Dark Knight, the crew for Dark Knight Rises had to come up with another excellent villain, and he couldn't be the same "style" as the Joker.
• The Joker was, for lack of a better word, a complete and total psychopath.  He was a type of terrorist, but he is the complete opposite of an idealist.  He did it purely for pleasure.
• So what better way to contrast the Joker than with someone who is a terrorist for some mistaken moral reasons.  Hence, we get Bane.
• But, when you compare Bane to Ras al Ghul... they are eerily similar.  Ras al Ghul was also an idealistic terrorist.  He tried to rip Gotham apart because of its moral decay.  Odd, that the first villain and the last villain in a trilogy should be so similar.  Which made me wonder what exactly would make Bane "different."
• There is a comic book storyline where Bane and Ras al Ghul do work together, though I don't know many of the details.
• And there is also another character in the movie who gets a lot of attention named John Blake, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  
• Some say he could be Robin (or Nightwing or Azreal or...) a young guy who takes up Batman's mantle if he dies in the film.  I think this is a good idea.
• It would seem like too many heroes to fight only Bane.  Batman, Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon... and non-combatants like Lucius Fox and Alfred.  Add one more hero to the mix and... well it would be a little crowded.
• I think he could somehow be connected to Ras al Ghul and the League of Shadows.  Perhaps the son of Ras al Ghul (his daughter Talia is already cast in the film) or perhaps a younger version of Ras al Ghul (Ghul had access to the Lazarus Pit which made him younger)
• And of course, the plot details we already have seem to favor a deep connection with Bane and the League of Shadows and/or Ras al Ghul.
• It seems that Bane knows Bruce Wayne is Batman... he could have learned it from Ghul (the only villain who knew this).  
• This film is supposed to bring the story "full circle."  What better way to tie it in with the first film?
• One thing Ghul taught Batman was to have some sort of 'theatrics' working for him, to get into the mind of his enemies.  It looks like Bane might have some element of that as well, though in a different way from Batman.  
• It seems that Batman is taken captive by Bane to watch Gotham crumble.  Of course we do expect Batman to somehow escape and eventually to save the day.  It just seems like a rather slow, predictable storyline without some connection to the League of Shadows, "Batman has Gotham pretty well cleaned up - Oh look, a new powerful villain who beats up Batman and takes him hostage - This could be the end of the caped crusader and Gotham city, folks - Look Batman escapes and then has to face this new nemesis once and for all - Batman saves the day."  It just sounds... predictable, even it if is well done (and it will surely be well done).  It sounds more like the plot of one of the old Adam West Batman TV shows!  
• So what do I make of all of this...
• Catwoman turns hero (even if she isn't too heroic... she may be).
• Bane has some connection with the League of Shadows.  I'd be very surprised if they just up and brought Ras al Ghul "back to life."  That seems to supernatural for this trilogy.  Maybe he didn't really die, maybe there is some chemical that can change him back to youngster (perhaps that has some connection to Bane's mask).  I rather doubt it.  Still, I'm banking on there being some connection between Ras al Ghul's League of Shadows and Bane.  I'll guess that Bane was perhaps trained by Ghul to be the 'replacement' Bruce Wayne after Wayne left the League.  Something like that.  As much as I'd love to see Ras al Ghul come back from seeming death, I just don't see it happening... but there is some connection.
• I'm going to call it... I think Bruce Wayne makes the ultimate sacrifice in this movie.  No other recent, blockbuster superhero movie has ever done this to their hero and I'll call it now.  
• ... I fully expect to eat crow on at least one of my guesses... maybe more.  

- 6 -

Article of the Week: Well, I got so hung up working on my Batman theories that I didn't get around to posting an article... 

- 7 -

Joke of the Week: Removed... before the picture police arrested me.

Read the original at Conversion Diary.