Family Reunion Vacation

Unfortunately, for my millions-upon-millions (read: three) of devoted readers, I am off to the great state of North Carolina and the Outer Banks for a full week of fun in the sun.

Every two years my grandmother rents a huge house in the Outer Banks for my entire family to get together for a family reunion-type vacation. This week will be the third time we have traveled to OBX.

The first trip happened in 2004, I had just graduated college and was working in Plattsburgh, but Erika had to stay in Pittsburgh for her final semester. So, my travel arrangements were to fly into Norfolk, Va and my parents were picking me up for the rest of the car ride to our rented house. It was a fun week, despite having to sleep in bunk beds.

The second journey to North Carolina was a much longer one - Erika, my sister and I traveled the 14-plus hours via car. The longest part being stuck in New Jersey during rush hour. Being from such a small town - traffic and I do not get along too well. But, we made it and had another exciting time - and we even got our own room. Kasey was just a few months away from being born.

This year will be Kasey's first experience (outside the womb) of Outer Banks. I am looking forward to seeing how enjoys such a big house, the beach, swimming for a week, etc. He is so fun when he is experiencing new and exciting things - so the week should be a fun time with him - I expect to be even more tired after vacation than before. The trip down, starting tomorrow, I hope works out - we are traveling 10 hours tomorrow to Virgina, then the final four on Sunday. Hopefully, we won't have any hiccups along the way - I am hoping he behaves himself for the trip. He'll have toys, books and movies - but for 14 hours, it'll be tough to keep him satisfied.

So until August 4th (unless I sneak onto a computer during the vacation, which is doubtful) you must survive with out the ramblings of one Kano.

Here is a countdown to help you through this difficult time:

Fair Time

The Fair has come to town again. I remember a time when I used to love going to the fair, but I can't really remember why.

The rides were always so terrible, and it costs an arm and a leg to get into the place, let alone eating something, enjoying the rides or playing any games.

I hadn't been in a few years, but last night we took our son to the fair for the first time. It still isn't the best time in the world - but it was nice to see him enjoy himself.

We started off with a little hot dog dinner before heading over to the 4-H building to see the various animals. Kasey enjoyed the cow the best. We went back to view the horses (which there didn't seem to be any) and actually found some elephants and a few camels instead. Kasey really enjoyed the elephants.

We stopped off for some fried bread dough, Erika and Kasey had some, and we got some cotton candy and candy apples for later.

It was nice to get out of the house and walk around a little. And I believe Kasey enjoyed himself, so it was worth it.

The problem is, the fair brings out the worst in people. I have to assume that most of these people don't actually wear the kind of outfits they wear to fairs during regular business days. Is there a sign at the front of the fair that won't allow people in unless they are wearing skin tight pants and a tank top?

I am sure now that we are having children that we will be going back year-after-year, but I wish they would get a few more attractions that sensible adults would enjoy. A man can only take so many cows. Even if they were kinda cute.

Top 10: Movie Villains

This is a difficult subject to get into, but I figured I would do my best to honor Heath Ledger's terrific performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight film.

I had to do some carving - so I didn't include serial killer-types like Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger, Mike Myers or Ghostface - although each and every one of them were terrific villains.

Also, for the bottom two on this list - I went with possibilities instead of actual screen time, but I will explain that in a minute.

Here are my Top 10: Movie Villains (in reverse order as always):

10) Darth Maul - Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Reasoning: I thought that the idea of Darth Maul was amazing. Ray Park also did a great job at creating the character - he just looked vicious from the first time you get to see him. He is highly skilled, quick and strong with The Force. I was disappointed with the quick demise of Darth Maul, as his character was one of the best in the Star Wars universe - killing him off in one episode was a serious mistake.

9) Venom - Spiderman 3
Reasoning: Again, this character could have done so much more. Apparently, Venom was an afterthought in the movie, and put in for fan approval. But, the way he was used could have been so much better in my opinion. I actually thought Topher Grace was great in the role - but it was too minor for such a great character. Hopefully, we haven't seen the last of Venom.

8) Wicked Witch of the West - The Wizard of Oz
Reasoning: Is the Wicked Witch of the West truly a villain? Apparently she was always as ruthless and sinister before Dorothy arrived in Oz, at least according to the Munchkins. But, her hatred towards Dorothy might have been merited - she did drop a house on her sister's head. But still - her vengeance towards the four yellow-brick road followers was truly wicked.

7) Magneto - X-Men Trilogy
Reasoning: The mutants in the X-Men universe were clearly given a choice - either use their powers for the good, or for evil. Magneto was originally an ally of Dr. Xavier, but the prejudice towards mutants from the humans forced his hand - and he became the face of evil throughout the X-Men Trilogy.

6) Dr. Octopus - Spiderman 2
Reasoning: Talk about a guy who takes his work seriously. After killing his wife and his mechanical arms are fused into his body, Dr. Otto Octavius becomes Dr. Octopus and will stop at nothing to finish his experiment. In order to complete his experiment, he needs tritium, which Harry Osborne possesses - to obtain it he must kill Spiderman.

5) Hannibal Lecter - Silence of the Lambs
Reasoning: Despite not really being the villain in the film - that belongs to Jame Gumb 'Buffalo Bill' - but it was Lecter who was the most frightening, even behind that glass cage he was housed in. Despite helping Clarice Starling track down the infamous Buffalo Bill, Lecter always appeared to have a hidden agenda. And it was his mind games that made him a true force.

4) Khan - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Reasoning: Khan's story is one of revenge. Kirk had exiled Khan to the planet Ceti Alpha V in the episode 'Space Seed' of the original Star Trek television series. Back for his revenge in the second of the Star Trek films, Khan commandeers the USS Reliant and goes into all-out war against Kirk and the Enterprise in search of 'Project Genesis' - a quick process of transforming a planet into a livable one.

3) Lord Voldemort - Harry Potter Franchise
Reasoning: He Who Must Not Be Named, has been the enemy of Harry Potter from birth. Killing Harry's parents, and scarring him with a lightning bolt scar on his fore-head, Voldemort was 'killed', but is slowly returning to finish what he started. I have not read the books, so I only know what I have seen - but it appears Harry is the only hope to send Voldemort back where he belongs.

2) The Joker - The Dark Knight
Reasoning: The Joker has been around for ages, but in all forms (despite some animation) he still didn't seem all too terrifying. But, enter Heath Ledger, and The Joker was transformed into a true mass-murdering psychopath. His only real reason for committing these crimes was to prove that anyone could turn evil in the right situation.

1) Darth Vader - Star Wars Original Trilogy
Reasoning: In my mind no one is as villainous as Darth Vader. Despite taking orders from Emperor Palpatine, he was the true bad ass who carried them all out. He was masterful with a light saber, had one of the best understandings of The Force - and despite being bulky, was surprisingly nimble. But it wasn't just his fighting skills - he also had a knack for getting under your skin with his brain.

The Dark Knight

I went into this movie expecting greatness. I had read the early reviews. I had read the reviews of some of my fellow bloggers who were lucky enough to see the movie right away. Each and every one of them had nothing but good things to say about this movie.

Well, I am here to tell you something.

They were absolutely right.

My lone negative of the film is I was left wondering, but those questions could be answered in the absolutely has to happen sequel, or in another one down the line.

I found myself looking at my watch, not because I was bored and the movie was too long - but because I was hoping the film would last longer.

Right from the start, the introduction of The Joker, I was immediately into the movie. Heath Ledger does have another film on his resume that will be released after The Dark Knight, but this is a movie that if you have to go out - you want to go out with a performance like this.

I didn't even know he had it in him. Sure, he was an amazing actor - but this shot him into the likes of Tom Hanks in my book. Amazing performance, he truly made The Joker his own - and it was spectacular.


I wasn't sure how they were going to handle the villain aspect of the movie - I had heard rumors about the inclusion of Harvey 'Two-Face' Dent, but was under the impression that it would be a quick cameo in order to setup the next film (sort of like the joker card at the end of Batman Begins). The older Batman films got a little out of hand with so many different villains on the scene at once, much like Spiderman 3 sort of got a little too jumbled.

*SPOILER* Director Christopher Nolan did a tremendous job including two villains in the same movie, without really going over the top. This movie, as it should be, was devoted mostly to The Joker, but the introduction of Two-Face was done very well, and it worked with the film's overall premise.*SPOILER OVER*

Before heading to the theater, I re-watched Batman Begins and I have to say the flack that Katie Holmes received for portraying Rachel Dawes was a little unjustified. I felt she gave a pretty good performance, but nevertheless, she wasn't totally missed in the sequel as Maggie Gyllenhaall did a marvelous job picking up where Holmes had left off.

Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox wasn't a central piece in this film, but his performance was, as almost always, very top notch. Michael Caine's Alfred was very well done - and I enjoyed the little back-and-forth that his character shared with Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne.

Finally, I have always been a Michael Keaton as Batman guy. I was not too happy when he was replaced by Val Kilmer, then again by George Clooney. But, Bale has done a stellar job portraying the Dark Knight. As others have pointed out, I am not a huge fan of the deep, throat-like voice that he uses when in the Batman suit - but that is not that big of an issue for me.

This film was easily the best superhero movie I have ever seen. I do hope they continue to make Batman films, but I hope they continue at this current depth - the original films sort of lost their place after the second film, I would hate for history to repeat itself.

Grade:

Dark Knight Hits Theaters

As millions upon millions of people head to the movie theaters this weekend to gaze upon The Dark Knight, just remember that the action you are seeing is nothing compared to this:

I am hoping to check out The Dark Knight on Sunday, so if I have a chance (and a working computer) I could have my thoughts on it up on Sunday. If not, I will share my opinion on Monday. With all I am hearing though, it definitely should be a great movie.

Have a good weekend.