Bruce, Penn, Sally, and the Crazy

I was able to see The Dark Knight Rises yesterday and I must say that I liked the final installment of the Nolan Batman series.  I had to suffer some boring stretches in the middle of the film but it all picks up nicely at the end.  I liked how previous characters from the previous films were able to make an appearance in some way.  Dr. Crane/Scarecrow was especially memorable.  The film’s slight twist on the fates of the characters was even better.  It wasn’t what I was expecting and yet I wasn’t terribly surprised so I left the theater satisfied with a movie series which I haven’t done so since Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.

News of the penalties that the NCAA is going to exact on Penn State came in while I was having lunch.  The most notable of these are the post-season bans for four years, $60 million fine, and vacated victories back to 1998.  I am fine with most of it but not the vacated victories.  It seems like a smack in the face for all those past players who actually had success on the field and is a divorce from reality.  If I had my way, I would have kept the focus on punishment from this point forward so I would have traded off the vacated wins with a 1 year regular season ban and 1 year extension on the post season ban, and increase in the monetary penalty to $100 million.  But you know, that’s just me.

I also learned that Sally Ride, the first American woman to go into space, has died from pancreatic cancer.  I was a little saddened to see that she has gone so early.  Not that I knew her personally or was inspired by her story but I do recognize her importance to so many others out there especially women who saw her as a role model.  In that way, I am sad to see a significant highlight of our national history slipping off into actual history.

One of my coworkers has tried to set me up with this guy who lives in Grand Rapids.  I have been talking to him for a few days and I have come to the conclusion that this guy is a few fries short of a happy meal.  The guy is 24 years old and has to ask me what “tsk-tsk” and “SPF” mean.  He can’t spell the most basic of words, insists on using text speak, and needs to call me hun or boo.  He also has to text me at night and while I’m at work and usually to tell me something random and pointless like, “I’m tanning,” “I’m going for a walk,” “I want a taco.”  He’s a nice guy but my God, he needs to calm down and grow up a little.  Sometimes I wonder if the 24 year old is actually 14.  Like OMG dats nutz!