WHEN THE FRIEND YOU NEVER KNEW GOES AWAY

Some events in life you never expect, early death is usually one of those unexpected events. When a person facilitates their own death it just compounds the pain that much more. When I first read that Robin Williams had been found dead I simply dismissed it as a net hoax. I kept running into reputable sources that reported the same thing until I found myself accepting that he was dead.

The details behind his death were a shock to me but the fact that he was dead was the enormous shock that was impossible to reconcile. I wondered for a few hours why his death was having an effect on me. Robin Williams was human, a celebrity, but human and not necessarily immune to problems. I started really going back to when I first became aware of Robin Williams, the first thing I thought of was Popeye, his first lead role in 1980. The film Popeye was a visual feast although the story itself was not so captivating in real time. I thought some more and I arrived at Mork and Mindy. 

I was a huge fan of the show that made Robin Williams a star. I thought of Robin Williams as that alien that arrived on earth at the height of the disco craze and gave birth to a child that was in his 50's when he hatched from a giant egg. To me the show was an example of one man's sensational timing, frenetic energy, and amazing talent. Before I arrived at that trend of thought, I thought of Williams as a sort of friend.

When I was a kid I used to love watching Nick at Nite and my favorite show to watch was Mork and Mindy. Growing up I was sometimes a loner because I was shy and not originally from Florida. Mork was the kind of character that kids in that position could relate to. I understood the sensible side and celebrated that nonstop comedy. I watched the series many times over and always thought of that crazy spaceman as the friend that got me through some difficult growing pains. The spaceman is there but only in memory, we won't see him anymore.

I guess the best way to wrap this up by saying nanu nanu to our buddy. I hope that trip back to Ork is full of the wisdom, peace, laughter, patience, and lessons your brought to us. Good night friend I never knew, thanks for everything.

NO ONE CAN BEAT THE BATMAN STORY

When a story and it's main character can undergo a million transformations and still stand the test of time you know it's something special. I am speaking specifically about Batman in light of the recent announcement of DC's transformation of the Batman mythology. The fact is that if you are a true follower of Batman's then you have seen a broken Batman, a scarred Batman, a despondent Batman, and just about every emotion in the depressive spectrum. 

What makes the character special is the way that duplicitous nature of Bruce Wayne plays out.The character can trick so many people into thinking he is a vapid playboy when he is really a brooding, stubborn, untrusting, tormented soul. The way the character is written in almost every comic book and film makes him impossible to completely love and hate. Batman creates that ambivalence that does not fully lend itself to a complete devotion to the hero or complete hatred for his sometimes antagonistic behavior. What is special about the bat? 

The fact is that unlike Superman, who is a capitalist democracy boy scout, Batman believes in order at any cost. The single time that Superman subscribed to that belief was during Kingdom Come. While Superman was portrayed as a Reganite puppet in the latest DC animated feature Batman was portrayed as a hero taken to limits, putting himself in a self impose underground exile in order to continue his work as a maligned but effective protector of a city that has lost the understanding of peace and civilization.

As a rogue hero willing to kick the crap out of Superman while almost sacrificing himself and as an all out juggernaut willing to take every enemy of society to an ungodly limit one thing is for sure, Batman really kicks ass. 

YOU EVER GET THAT SHITTY FEELING?

You ever get that shitty feeling in the morning? Instead of Batman you feel like Robin. I cant quite explain it other than saying it's one of those things that makes your day almost impossible. In my case those days are few and far in between but when they happen it's like one series of events that just won't end, let's take a walk through those types of days.

You wake up and your back is screaming bloody murder. After you wake up you walk to the kitchen to realize that your orange juice is gone and then on top of that your eggs are not up to par and there is only one slice of bacon left making it impossible to have a solid breakfast. Once the breakfast is over you climb in the shower only to realize there is no warm water left and then you find out that you have 20,000 things to do that were not on the agenda.

Those days are Murphy's Law type days that seem to have a profound effect on a person's life and yet they are funny as hell when seen in hindsight. Holy blank cartridge Batman! I am literally experiencing ED. Okay maybe that's taking it too far but I think you get my point.