Friday Thoughts

1. In light of John McCain's constant complaining for the past 2 weeks, Mrs. Bartender wisely commented, "well, we are a nation of whiners."

2. Saw The Dark Knight last week. Perhaps the biggest complaint I have is that either I'm going deaf or there is something kooky with the acoustics at the Uptown Theatre. Both Mrs. Bartender and I had trouble hearing a good chunk of dialogue because of the music in the film. The same thing happened with Iron-Man. My parents, who also saw the movie last week (at a different theater) had no such problem. I am thinking of popping in to watch a few minutes of The Dark Knight when we next hit the movies at a different cinema to confirm that the problem is with the Uptown. Or else I better get a hearing aid.

As you probably know, the movie is very good and Heath Ledger is amazing. But don't miss the underrated Aaron Eckhardt--he is terrific although I wish much of what happened to his character was saved for Batman III. (Am I right that the Michael Keaton/Val Kilmer/George Clooney Batmans never happened when we count what number film we are up to in the Christian Bale Batman's? Actually, the Clooney Batman never happened. Period. I think Clooney had all copies destroyed.)

3. We also went to see the Eagles on Saturday night--a very good concert. The band--all now around 60--still sound great. They interestingly wore black suits and ties (it ain't the 70s any more) and played a little too much new stuff. However, there was about 3 hours of music (not counting a 15 minute intermission), so you got your money's worth.

Glen Frey is the emcee while Don Henley sticks more to the music (and Joe Walsh is the jester). I have a connection with Glen and have met him and had heard for years that he referred to his first wife as "Plaintiff." Nonetheless, I didn't realize that he always dedicated Lyin' Eyes to her. That get a particularly loud chuckle from me. (He dedicated Take It to the Limit to his current wife and her credit cards.) I was also surprised by the amount of solo material Don and Joe performed (including some James Gang stuff from Joe). They wrote a lot of really good music, and Joe Walsh is one hell of a guitar player.

4. Had dinner at Proof before the show, which was excellent. The servers were fantastic and very friendly, the food (we stuck to the charcuterie, cheeses, and small plates) was very, very good, and when the bottle of Pinot Noir we ordered was unavailable and I asked for "something similar," not only did we get a great bottle of Pinot, it was actually a few dollars cheaper.

5. Mrs. Bartender and I finally started to watch Heroes. We've seen the first 15 episodes and definitely enjoy it. It's certainly not Lost, but it is quite obvious why Hiro and Claire are the break out characters (along with Claire's "dad"). Looking forward to the climax of season 1, and while we realize that season 2 is not going to be close to as good, luckily it's short!

Have a great weekend. Mrs. Bartender and I are dining with Red Fraggle and Gobo tomorrow night, so perhaps will have some new stuff for next week.