It was only a matter of time...

Until the tinderbox that is Green Mountain, went up in flames. Today, I witnessed the entire north face of the beautiful Tertiary age (less than 65 million years old) Green Mountain go up in flames, smoke and ash. It was a terrible sight to see since there were such high winds and so many homes potentially in danger. I had been quipping for some time that one of these days, Green Mountain would no longer be green, but scorched black, since this summer has been so dry. It was only a matter of time, and so far, we've been lucky. Now, luck has run out. All it took was a singular bolt of lightning.

I was drawn to the maelstrom. We drove up into the thick of the smoke near Red Rocks Community College when the wind was blowing north east and it was a powerful sight. To be nearly enveloped in smoke from a fire that is less than a mile away was stupefying. "My god," was the phrase of the moment. I was compelled to capture the atmospheric fury of the event with my camera and so our adventure took us back and forth along 6th Ave to find a good spot for pictures. We found a couple of good spots. One was in the Staples parking lot off of 6th Ave and Colfax Blvd, another at the entrance to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

After taking quite a few pictures, some artsy, but most were just normal sights captured from the perspective of a spectator to natures anarchy. I've selected the best photos and created a gallery of what we saw today. Some of the photos may seem bland, some may seem striking. Look at them and create your own experience out of what I've captured. Sharing what I saw with my eyes is what I wanted to accomplish. This is what a photographer does. It's a pity that moments like these can test a photographer's nerve and ability. I feel I could have done better had I unfettered access to the area, but I did the best I could with the resources I had at my disposal.

Green Mountain Wildfire Gallery

Bred for a New Generation

Darwin attributed biological evolution to natural selection and adaptations to an environment. The latter proviso is most important though because of its social and physiological implications. A famous person may seem to change their outward personality to keep in line with what is popular and so on. A fictitious character that has existed in many incarnations for a long period of time may change dramatically in any number of ways, such as appearance, personality, origin, motivation, etc. This is the case with Batman and the characters that comprise his mythos. The Dark Knight is his latest incarnation and probably the most daring outside of his comic mythology.

The reason why The Dark Knight is Batman's ballsiest cinematic incarnation yet, is attributable to a numbers factors. Some of them include: Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart's exceptional portrayals as the prominent villains in the film, the cinematography and the production design of the film itself, the testing of morals and duties to fellow human beings and the juxtaposition of good versus evil and how blurry the line can be between the two. However, all of these reasons (and more) add up to something that may not seem immediately special or important. What The Dark Knight truly is, is an evolution of a character and his accompanying mythology that has been tuned for a very, very contemporary audience and their quick edit-tastes, like a Formula 1 race car is for a race.

This is not a Batman from the comics of the 1940's and 1950's, this is not the comical Batman of TV from the 1960's and it most certainly isn't the Batman of the 1980's and 1990's. The Dark Night is Batman on steroids. It is a conglomeration of great filmmaking that makes blatantly clear that comic book movies can be made into real movies, not just gimmicky movies. This movie felt like the look and feel of Michael Mann's Heat (which inspired the director of The Dark Knight), the action Zach Snyder's 300 and the villainy of Hannibal Lecter (with no limits, mind you) were all tossed into a blender, ground up and poured into a production that answers only to its fans. By fans, I mean the Batman fans of today, tomorrow and a few of yesterday. As I said before, this is a contemporary Batman, one that clearly demonstrates the guided evolution of a character which has been tailor-made to make current movie goers swoon.

The evolution of the modern cinematic Batman has not been, for lack of a better description, well thought out. Tim Burton's spin on the mythology of Batman was perfect for the decade it was made in. He nailed the dark aspects of the mythology and made it so interesting and so much fun, that it was comic book movie perfection. Joel Schumacher continued to make Batman fun, but had a little (or a lot, it's hard to tell) too much fun with Batman that the gimmicks became the centerpiece in his films and the mythology got left behind. The only thing the Schumacher Batman films are good for is a good romp with the perfect popcorn film. It's totally understandable why there had not been a new Batman film for so long, it was the damn nipple suits!

Christopher Nolan's vision of Batman and his universe is wholly different. The Nolan Batman is mature and conflicted and the universe he occupies is menacing, dangerous and uncertain. Nolan brought the grittiness to Batman films that the mythology required to succeed in the 21^st century. He and his fellow filmmakers nursed the evolution of the character and the mythology to the point that the mythology itself, not just the Batman character alone, became one tough sonofabitch that kicks major comic book movie ass. Nolan would not have been able to create something so rich and raw had there not been extraordinary source material to tap into from the last few decades. What began in the 1960's as an attempt to make Batman grittier and less campy, efforts which later blossomed in the mid-1980's as the pinnacle Batman character development, gave Nolan plenty of material to sculpt a Batman universe for a new millennium. It is that later mythology that could possibly rival Tolkien's Middle-Earth in sheer quantity and depth. Nolan used that vast repertoire to great effect and delivered the ideal origin of Batman in Batman Begins and now he has given us the consequences of that creation in The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight had so much hype surrounding its release that it is hard to believe that it could truly live up to it. Batman Begins gave us the true next generation of comic book films and what they should be, not just what they can be. It raised the bar very high. With The Dark Knight, the bar has been raised so high, I doubt it will be matched anytime soon. In the past few years, there has been great potential in comic book movies, but less than a handful have delivered the goods that have matched the hope and expectations of fans. V for Vendetta was one of those films for me, and it bummed me out it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. What The Dark Knight is, is what V for Vendetta should have been; a fast-paced, loud, no-holds-barred (almost) exciting event, which was and is above all, fun to experience. The Dark Knight offers one of those rare respites from reality that actually is a window into reality itself.

That last point is what great moviemaking is all about, a vacation from reality. Movies are meant take us somewhere that is not what we are used to or expecting. Movies should surprise us and make us think and analyze what is going on during the movie; and if the movie is really adept, you may leave the theatre still pondering what happened in the film. The Dark Knight has had that effect on me and this short essay is the present end result of my experience with the film. If anything truly great comes out of the Batman franchise, it is that I hope that the Nolan Batman films will be remembered as the thinking person's Batman films. The Dark Knight had enough plot twists upon its conclusion that anyone would walk out of the theater wondering any number of things. By making us think about our break from reality, we can sometimes have the opportunity to experience a clairvoyant moment that offers us a spin on our reality. That fictitious reality that movies exist in can enhance our own understanding of the reality and the world we exist in. That result is something very cool to feel and I hope that it had and will have the same effect on all those who see it.

Improving Fitness with Wii Fit

I finally managed to find and bring home one of the few Wii games (pseudo-game would be more apt) since Endless Ocean that I have to own. That game is Wii Fit. I had a great desire for this Wii title because like many people, I am unfit. I didn't work out at all before Saturday, and if I did, it was because I was walking to school because I didn't want to take the bus. As i come closer and closer to the age of 30, something my Uncle Drew said to me keeps ringing in my ears. He said something like this, "Enjoy the unhealthy food now, cause after you turn 30, it will take its toll." That thought has stuck with me, but I've not taken it to heart until the last year. My dilemma is that I absolutely hate working out. I don't find it fun, I don't find it enjoyable and I don't find it refreshing. When I heard about Wii Fit, I thought my prayers had been answered. Could it be that I could have the opportunity to work out in the privacy of my own living room and be ordered about by a virtual trainer? YES!

And so my Wii Fit tale begins at around midnight last Friday night when I was at Wal-Mart with my Mom. I was perusing the electronics section (as I always do, dangerous habit) and was lamenting the shortages of certain Wii related things like the console itself, Mario Kart Wii (which I already own) and Wii Fit. Well lo and behold, there before my lusting eyes was Wii Fit, locked in a glass case. I stood rooted until Mom came back and showed her. I was so excited. She had wanted to get one as well since she has similar feelings about "working out" so she decided to get it for me as an early birthday present. I joked with Mom that my fiancee Heather would freak out when she saw it the next morning, so I decided not to open it until she was awake.

Heather reacted just as I had hoped and imagined. She was beside herself with glee/shock/awe/happiness etc. and that made me feel good. We both took turned last Saturday morning to see how this pseudo-game worked. Our first impressions were very good. To our unfit eyes, the Wii Fit offered many ways to get in shape with training in basic Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobics and lastly Balance Games. Oddly, to me, the Aerobics activities are the most fun since they really push my stamina. I love the jogging activities, even though they wear me out almost totally after I finish them. I like the Yoga activities to get warmed up and the Strength Training to get primed to do the Aerobics. I now save the balance games for last, after I'm done accumulating enough sweat to fill a normal glass (gross I know).

Today, my 5th day atop my newly overturned leaf with Wii Fit in my life saw me pushing myself hardest in the end with a 10 minute Island Lap jog that I am still aching from. I did new Yoga poses, like the Dancer, which at my current condition is almost impossible to do since I can't keep my balance very well in that pose. I also tried some new Strength Training exercises to mix things up a bit today. So far, I am making steady progress toward my goal of losing 2.5 pounds in 2 weeks. Who knows if I will make it, but I'm trying. I'm also trying to eat better, but when you're a bit on the poor side, healthy eating is a rare occurrence. I'm trying though, and that is what matters to me. The fact that this "game" has bought me out of my workout shell is a big improvement. I was thinking today while doing a jog exercise that I can see myself doing this everyday, for at least a half an hour, until the thing breaks. I am that committed to having fun with my workout that it makes me proud to be even working out at all.

Existing as a Nuclear Family

It has been some time since I became assimilated into my own nuclear family. In that time I have accomplished quite a bit. I've finished the first part of my education; become a pseudo-stay-at-home-dad; discovered some of the many trials and tribulations that a couple (especially one with kid(s)) goes though; and determined what I want to do with my life: teach. Those are only facets of my life though. It is what lies beneath those facets that my true life exists.
Within the confines of my malleable existence, I have my family: Heather, Zoey, Princess and myself. All of us have something to contribute to our lives. All of us bring some sort of amusement to one another. All of us also bring love and share it with each member of this family. But at the same time, we all demonstrate imperfect inclusions in our lives. Zoey can be stubborn and belligerent and we may hate it, but it's who she is. Heather may do things in a completely different way than myself, and they may annoy the hell out of me, but that is her. I may be lazy at times, but all of us are, the laziest among us being our dog.
No matter what we do or what we trow onto the table, we all deal with it. Zoey may not like it when we show her who's the boss, but that's what a parent has to do. The child is not the boss. The parents are in control of the journey of the family. Granted, we, as parents, do not know everything and sometimes make erroneous decisions. We do our best, even when we are riding this bucking bronco that is our life by the seat of our pants and holding on for dear life. We hope that the chaos we deal with on a continual basis will settle down and in the end, we will have succeeded in baking a delicious and successful cookie of a child.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." as Dickens stated so eloquently. That is life. That is parenthood. That is childhood even. That is also the state of our fragile world. All we can do is do our best, right?

A Normal Life

It is incredible to me how quickly life can swing into chaos, but still seem normal. Since I finished school, I actually feel like I'm busier, which is kind of odd. I have my job (Tues-Fri), a 6 year-old daughter, a home to keep up and an always tired fiancee. These four things keep me busy and at times a very fructrating busy, but all the while, everything still feels normal. I wonder what life will feel like when I replace the job part with "My first semester at a 4-year college." Hmmm.....

I've been taking tons of pictures lately. If you head over to my Flickr, you can see my daughter in her first dance recital. It was really fun trying to shoot in a very low light situation and I'm very proud of how my camera performed.

What have you Accomplised Today?

I had a fascinating encounter with a genius today. While wandering over to my boss's office, I ran into Dr. Wardle, a brilliant and fascinating man who is an expert on child development. He was asking how I was and what I was doing. He actually asked if I was teaching, probably because it has been so long since I had class with him and I'm still here on campus or because I was walking around with my computer. Or, even better, maybe I look like a teacher already! In response, I told him I just doing my job as a TA, getting things done. It was then that he asked me what I have accomplished today, perhaps even at all. At the moment, I just replied with a sarcastic quip that we all accomplish what we can, or something like that. But later on, it I had an epiphany pertaining to his question and it caused me to think about something very profound: what have I accomplished today (or any day)?

I was floored. That simple, fundamental thought made me look back on the past couple of weeks and think hard about what I had done in that time. How I had worked, played, lived and so on. Then, even more surprising was the fact that I began to questing how I defined the word "accomplished" in the context of the question. What does it mean to accomplish something? and even then, is it an accomplishment. It was a paradigm shattering thought to my intelligent brain and it made me ponder my future plans for the day in the context of "accomplishing something" and I had the sincere hope that I could pull some kind of accomplishment off.

It is thought provoking experiences like that, that happen not often enough that make us pause and evaluate what we are doing in life. What we live for, work for, strive for, what does it all mean and what are we trying to accomplish in our endeavours? I hope to accomplish at least one very special thing in life: to leave a lasting impact on someone in a positive and enriching way, be they a student, person on the street or my daughter. I want to touch someone in a way that makes a difference in their lives, and maybe even in the world.