Bane Outtakes

~The first of the latest Batman film trilogy, Batman Begins, is one of my favorite movies.  The second film (The Dark Knight) is, as the title suggests, much darker, but Heath Ledger gave a fantastic performance as the Joker.  But I don’t much care for the final film in series, The Dark Knight Rises.  It was enough to make me wish I was watching the old Adam West Batman series from the 1960s.

Fortunately, The Dark Knight Rises can be vastly improved by substituting some of the dialogue of Bane (the main villain) with this dialogue created by youtube user Auralnauts:

^ “Not sure about the lettuce…I would have gone with the mixed greeeens.”

Here are the full lyrics to Bane’s (apparently undefeated) freestyle rap:

I'm Bane, yes, that's my name.
When you hear the name Bane, I guarantee the pain.
I'm coming after you, Bruce Wayne.
I'm stronger, smarter, and clinically insane.

I'm Bane, yes, that's my name.
Bruce Wayne and the Batman are totally the same.
I broke his back mortal comBAT smack,
then I cracked my '28 Krug champagne.

I'm Bane, yes, it's a shame.
I declare martial law, and you all complain!
I laugh when you ask why I wear the mask.
I'll explain. It's because.....

I'm Bane, yes, that's my name.
You say it too much, the name becomes inane.
Of course! Some think my plan lacks gain.
If you say it too my face, I'll crash your plane.

AHA Heart Walk – results

~I went on the heart walk today; it was a pleasant 3-mile stroll around the arena and the surrounding area:

Thanks to everyone who donated!  With your help, I was able to raise $300 for cardiovascular research and education.

Triangle Heart Walk

~I’m participating in the Triangle Heart Walk to raise money for cardiovascular research & heart disease education through the American Heart Association, as part of a team my company is sponsoring.  The walk takes place on Sunday October 7th, and you can learn more about the event and what it supports by clicking here.

We only have a few team members so far, and our goal is to raise $3,000.  I’ve set my goal to be $200, and if you’d like to donate, you can click here and click on the blue “Give Now >>” button on the right.

Business!

~How I feel when I’m at work on a long phone call with a client:

~How I feel when I’m running late to get to work:

^ Looks like this guy is inline for a promotion…

Wreck-it-Ralph

~Here is the trailer for an upcoming film from Disney called Wreck-it-Ralph.  It’s the story of an arcade game villain who’s sick of being the bad guy and wants to try his hand at being a hero…with unexpected results:

^ There are more video game cameos and references than you can shake a stick at!  I think this film will be a lot of fun.  It’s scheduled for release this November.

Transit of Venus

~On Tuesday evening (EST), the planet Venus made an extremely rare transit of the Sun.  This happens because the planets of the solar system do not orbit directly on the same plane; all of the orbits of the major planets are ever so slightly tilted from the perspective of each other, and given the immense distances of space and the diminutive size of the planets compared to the Sun, a transit is a rare event.  In fact, this only happens with Venus roughly twice every hundred years, and the last transit (in 2004) was on a day of cloudy weather here in Raleigh, so this was the only chance in my life to see it. 

And see it I did!  My mother (who teaches astronomy) brilliantly set up a viewing box on which the transit could be projected from a telescope.  The telescope, borrowed from a local amateur astronomer, also has a filter that enabled us to look safely at the Sun and observe the transit directly, but with the viewing box, everyone could see it at once.  Here are some of the pictures that I took of the event:

^ You’d think it would be easy to point the telescope at the Sun.  You’d be wrong: unlike the Moon (which, from our perspective, is only slightly smaller than the Sun), you can’t just look up to where the Sun is without special eye protection, which we lacked.  It was surprisingly difficult to align the telescope correctly on the target, but align it we eventually did.  With the solar filter removed, the bright sunlight projected out of the eyepiece and onto the cardboard box.

The small black circle at 10 o’clock is the planet Venus as it slowly made its way across the Sun.  We managed to catch the very beginning of the transit, when Venus was on the edge of the Sun, and followed it as it moved farther on.  The smaller black dots are sunspots.

^ Tuesday evening was a bit cloudy here, and we sometimes had to wait a few minutes for the Sun to emerge (which necessitated a scramble to re-align the telescope before more clouds obscured the Sun).  In the above picture, you can see clouds moving across the face of the Sun, but Venus is still visible at 10 o’clock.

^ We set up the telescope on a sidewalk at the entrance to the housing development, and we waved over people as they drove in and out.  We had quite a few people stop, and they were amazed at this twice-in-a-lifetime event.  This woman and her fiancé stopped by to see the transit.

^ The viewing box was a great idea!

If you missed the transit, I’m afraid that, barring a longevity vaccine, you’re out of luck: the next transit of Venus across the Sun won’t occur until December 10, 2117.

Paperhand Kickstarter

~Paperhand Puppet Intervention, a puppetry group based in Saxapahaw, is holding a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for their annual summer show:

I went to the show last year when it was at the North Carolina Museum of Art, and it was amazing!  I’ve also seen two other shows: Love and Robots (a science-fiction puppet rock opera with live music) and the “Big Tent Cabaret Roadshow” (a collection of short skits from previous shows).  The latter also included a performance called “Lumanity” that was one of the most impressive pieces of performance art that I’ve ever seen.

Anyway, if you’ve seen a Paperhand show before, consider donating to the Kickstarter campaign by pledging to it.  If you haven’t used Kickstarter before, it’s an online fundraising site in which you aren’t charged your pledge unless the project actually reaches its funding goal (so you never have to worry about you donation going to waste in a failed project).  Of course, you need to use your head in what you contribute to (the site offers no guarantees), but I’ve seen Paperhand’s shows before, and I know that they’re quality work.  There are also some fun & tangible rewards depending on what level you donate at.  So check out the kickstarter site, and even if you don’t donate, by all means come to see the summer show when it’s playing!  I know I’ll be there.