...in both odd and inappropriate places.

Connie and I headed out with the daunting mission of seeing Batman Begins this afternoon. And by "daunting" I mean getting the closest parking space to the elevators on the roof of The Grove because all the idiots in this town refuse to park above level three! BOOYAH!

Anyway, I had pretty low expectations for Batman going into it. I never really read anything about it, knew a little about the characters via my nerdy life history, and all I had seen was a couple trailers here and there.

For those of you who have seen the movie, go through this with me.

First of all, how much explosive powder did a bunch of secluded ninjas need? I mean, I get the whole used-for-distraction thing, but holy crap. I think they REALLY just wanted to take down Gotham City so they could get rid of some of it. It was in the kitchen, the garage, and the front closet must have been a mess.

I think casting was strong all around. I think Bale played an awesome Bruce Wayne, and a decent Batman. Oldman played a great, soft Gordon and Liam Neison was Liam Neison. Holmes however, was Holmes. Same bag of expressions she's been using since the Creek.

The character and villain choice was pretty solid too. Scarecrow is a great fiend, but I would have liked to see more of his dark side. The "fear" effects were pretty incredible also, and entertaining when the glow-faced Batman flew over The Narrows. And I'm glad they picked Al Ghul as a bad guy for this, I'm curious to see if they'll bring him back down the road.

I laughed a few times when I probably shouldn't have. When Holmes was freaking out in the Batmobile, it was pretty funny. Don't really know why, but it was. Oh, and then when the Batmobile chase hit Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago, suddenly "I Can't Turn You Loose" by Otis Redding was in my head and I couldn't help laugh as Batman and Rachel raced to the Cook County assessor's office to save the orpahnage.

BATMAN BEGINS: B+

Just posting some gateway photos that I've been meaning to post. I know most of you don't have Flickr open all day like I do (and you should), so feel free to dig around.

My parents were in town this weekend, we headed toured the Queen Mary. It was certainly something that was good to do once. MORE


Spent Memorial Day with the Ford clan and friends up at Griffith Park. Weather was great, food was great, Stewart's rage-face was great. MORE


Had the work camera for the weekend so we stopped off in Malibu and took a few photos. MORE


This hummingbird lived in nest just off our porch for about a month and half. She's gone now, the egg is still in the nest. MORE

Heard this morning on TV about The Sisterhood of Traveling Pants

"It's like The Beatles, with jeans!"

Thank you Carrie Rickey.

What the crappy cameraphone image above DOESN'T tell you, is that last night Connie and I headed over the hill last night (yuck) to North Hollywood (yuck) to be part of a night with the producers and cast of Gilmore Girls.

Take a moment to yak it up, but then take a moment and realize you're probably missing one of the best written shows on television. I'll stick to my guns on that one seeing as though I've seen 90% of what's on television (cable included).

The cast line-up included producers and creators Daniel Palladino and the brilliant Amy Sherman-Palladino. Representing the actors were Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Melissa McCarthy, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Matt Czuchry, and Sally Struthers.

Sally Struthers.

Sally Struthers.

I love Amy Sherman-Palladino. Flat out. She's crazy, but the good crazy. She loves her show, loves working on the show and knows that good writing is what makes a show. Being where I come from, I can never agree more. Sherman-Palladino fought to keep her show out of the studios hands and away from bland executive notes and their usual fatal comments. I love fighting studios.

The host of the event, some editor from the Hollywood Reporter, left MUCH to be desired (sloooooow talker, bad interviewer, no energy, bad clothes), but the panel had some entertaining moments. Afterward most of the cast mingled among the attending guests, and that's ALWAYS a carwreck you HAVE to watch. Fans get so hilariously shy or stupid around celebs. Just be polite, ask for your photo, and move on.

Props to Matt Czuchry (Logan Huntzberger) who was the last face to leave after saying hello to many endoring female fans and then proudly jumping into his beat-up, early 1990 Saturn. And Lauren Graham strongly secured the number two spot in my "Which Celebrities Would You..." list after looking amazing from head-to-toe.

Mmm...white pants...