Backlash Begins

I'll concede up front that The Dark Knight contains more genuinely dark and creepy moments than any other Batman film. But it's also annoyingly constrained by all the commonalities and contrivances of the genre and, while it doesn't necessarily ask to be held to the highest of standards, its flaws are obvious. That is to say, while successful on its own terms, it falls short of artistic greatness or even very effective emotional manipulation -- which seems to be what film-goers usually want.

So I was surprised to read this morning that, not only has it already broken a bunch of box office records, the Dark Knight is now aiming for the big one. While this popular reception can probably be explained by the fortuitous intersection of fanboy flattery and tragedy-mongering celebrity obsession, the 94% Tomatometer Rating is more troubling. I've been sitting here for a couple hours conjecturing a severe case of critical groupthink...which might be overstating things a bit. Either way, let's just hope all these lock-stepping fans and critics haven't considered the film's fascist implications.

Will Ferrell Meets His Landlord

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

Not blogging is not awesome

So I think I'm putting this blog to rest for at least the next month or two. Maybe once I'm down in Georgetown, I'll be lonely and I'll feel the need to seek out more awesomeness in my life to write about. Until then, hasta luego.

May, the month of awesome

So many awesome things have happened in the last couple weeks, but my blog has just been sitting here collecting cobwebs. How sad! Oh well, it happens. I mean, since I'm writing about things that are awesome, I may as well only do it when I feel like it, right? Otherwise, it wouldn't feel very awesome. Right now I feel like blogging because it's Memorial Day. The second most awesome holiday in May after Cinco de Mayo. So get out there and grill some veggie burgers! Hooray!

Thursdays at Gleaners

What could be more awesome than calling in sick tomorrow? If you're looking for me, I'll probably be at Gleaner's for a good part of the day.

Cinco de Mayo!

I think I'm already getting skeptical about my ability to find something awesome every single day. Maybe I'll shoot for three times a week or something. Anyway, yesterday was Cinco de Mayo which is pretty high on the scale of awesomeness. I was thinking of celebrating with horchata, but that was postponed until later in the week. If you've never tried it, horchata is awesomely delicious. It's made from rice and cinnamon. There's a recipe here, or you can probably get it from your local Mexican restaurant.

Maximum Fun!

So, I haven't blogged in quite a while, but I'm feeling inspired today. Specifically, I'm inspired by The Sound of Young America. It's a radio program on NPR and it's about things that are awesome. No kidding.

The show itself I haven't listened to very much, to be honest. But the concept fascinates me, especially as it relates to the cultural and philosophical movement called New Sincerity. Here's the program's host, Jesse Thorn, as quoted in Wikipedia:

My position is irony is dead (...) but at the same time, just to return to old-fashioned sincerity, and particularly the kind of sentimentality that that draws in with it...we don't need it. So that's why we've created the New Sincerity. A perfect example of the New Sincerity is Evel Knievel. There's no way to take Evel Knievel literally. It's impossible. The man has a leather jumpsuit and he drives a rocket car. The leather jumpsuit has red, white, and blue stars and stripes on it. It's absolutely preposterous. On the other hand, there's no way to appreciate Evel Knievel ironically. He's too awesome. He has--I don't know if we've mentioned this--a leather jumpsuit with the Stars and Stripes on it and a rocket-powered car. That's why we appreciate Evel Knievel with the New Sincerity.

I decided, after thinking about that quote for the last couple of days, to dedicate this blog to things that are awesome. My goal is to find at least one thing every day that is, like Evel Knievel, truly awesome. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to keep this up on my own, so please send me your suggestions of things that are truly awesome. E-mail them to jfwinters at gmail.com or send them via good old fashioned snail-mail to Jonathon Winters, 607 Tasker St #2, Philadelphia, PA 19148