so yes. i got to see a BATMAN movie last week! pre-show my excitement for the thursday midnight debut was a bit off the charts. it would have been tough to meet or surpass what i was expecting. and it started off great (the opening sequence was especially fantastic), and just as it was getting into full swing… a fire alarm went off.

i’m not kidding. as i turned and said to spencer as we were waiting to see what would happen: this had never happened to me before in an entire lifetime of going to see movies, and it had to happen in the movie i’d basically been waiting my whole life to see? (okay maybe that’s not entirely true; that was probably the first new star wars movie, and that went okay. but this is a close second).

so we waited a few minutes to see if someone would come tell us everything was okay. no one did. we resigned ourselves to exiting the theatre, then as people started filing out, they told us to go back, it was a false alarm, movie should be back on in five minutes. then they came back five minutes later and said ‘there was only a little bit of smoke, five more minutes,’ which really freaked out alex. but i stated plainly that as long as there weren’t open flames in the theatre i was sitting in, they better put fucking batman back on. i could see the emergency exit from my seat; i can handle myself.

it also occurred to me how amazing it would have been if it were all an elaborate setup for midnight moviegoers, in which a costumed joker came in and pulled a fake stickup in the middle of the movie, but alas, it was probably just incompetent use of the popcorn popper.

anyhow, if you care to see it, my extended dark knight review is up at under culture, featuring a nice counterpoint article from spencer. taken together i think you get a pretty well-rounded take on the movie, and no, there are no outright spoilers, if you’re worried.

also, last week i’d posted an article on john darnielle’s 33 1/3 book, his potential as a writer, and how that’s not something all musicians are capable of, in case you missed that and are interested.

i’ve been lucky that in the first month of writing i’ve had so many wonderful things come out recently to write about… it’s a lot easier when you’re so passionate about something going in. i think i have to buckle down and find some topics now that aren’t as obviously matched to my taste to practice coming at something from a non-glowing angle.