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(14-Oct-06 – Draft 0)

Batman Begins could very easily take the form of a modern reinterpretation (or retelling) of the Biblical story of the flood.

Those more familiar with the Batman comics than I might point out that Old Testament stories are not unfamiliar to the series, such as in the “Tower of Babel” storyline.

The Batman Begins narrative centers around Ra’s Al Ghul: an immortal, centuries-old mystic, alchemist and intellectual. Ra’s Al Ghul leads an esoteric organization called the League of Shadows, dedicated to the preservation of justice, by whatever means necessary.

The first ten minutes of the film finds Bruce Wayne under the tutelage of Al Ghul, who teaches Wayne martial arts, swordsmanship, and mystic self-control. He also instructs Wayne in the means and necessity of preserving justice, and informs Wayne of a plan to destroy the unjust and morally dissolute Gotham City.

The story pivots, however, during Wayne’s induction ceremony. Wayne is instructed to kill a captured despot– whose exploits against the local populace were numerous and egregious–and thereby to demonstrate his unwavering dedication to justice. Wayne, disgusted, revolts, leaving Al Ghul for dead and his mountain hideaway in flames as he flees back to civilization.

Wayne, despite is revulsion of Al Ghul’s means, is equally troubled by Gotham City’s injustice and violence. He chooses, then to fight against the injustice directly, rather than destroying everyone– the just and unjust, alike. Wayne continues his training and, through the use of advanced technology, gives himself super-human powers.

Meanwhile, Al Ghul has continued his plans for the utter and genocidal destruction of Gotham City. He has released a deadly virus(called Ebola Gulf A) into the city’s water supply. For the virus to be effective, however, it must be inhaled. This fits in Al Ghul’s plan, who has commandeered a weapon capable of instantly vaporizing the city’s entire water supply.

In the film’s climatic battle for the fate of Gotham City, Wayne, in the form of Batman, narrowly stops Al Ghul’s detonation of his water-evaporating laser, thereby saving the city’s inhabitant from being suffused in the virus-laden steam.

With Batman Begin’s narrative in mind, then, let’s consider the Biblical story of the flood.

Genesis 6:11-17 reads:

(11)The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. (12)And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

(13)And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. …

(17)And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die.

In Chaper 7, “the windows of heaven were opened (12)” and “fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered (20).” After 150 days of flood, “every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained [alive], and they that [were] with him in the ark (23).”

The similarities here are striking. Just for the sake of an intellectual exercise, substitute “Al Ghul” for “God” and “Bruce Wayne” for “Noah” in the above narrative and see how it reads.

In each narrative, we a supernatural power has passed judgement on human settlement as being irremediably unjust and corrupt. Being so, each power has decreed the complete and utter destruction of human life, with the exception of a faithful few. The means of this destruction, in each case, is water.

In the Biblical story, God informs Noah that he will destroy the earth. Unlike Wayne, however, Noah is submissive and builds his ark, in accordance with God’s wishes, and thereby saves himself and his family. One might argue that, in the Biblical narrative, Noah ultimately had no choice: Noah’s choice was either acquiescence or destruction. Refusal, for Noah, would have meant death.

By contrast, however, when Bruce Wayne discovers Al Ghul’s intention to destroy the earth, he balks.

Like Noah, Wayne, in and of himself, is no match for the centuries-old, immortal Al Ghul. Unlike Noah, however, Wayne has access to modern technology. Wayne uses technology to mold himself into something more than human– endowed with superhuman strength, the ability to fly, etc. So equipped, when Al Ghul attempts to open the “windows of heaven,” Wayne meets him and fights him one-on-one– eventually defeating him, and thereby saving humanity from Al Ghul’s destruction (although not from itself).

With this in mind, it’s possible to interpret Batman Begins as being an indictment of the Christian (or Jewish) God of the Old Testament. Whereas Al Ghul assumes the role of a villian, the Christian God is likewise villianized for his wish to serve “justice” by the utter destruction of humanity.

In this modern reinterpretation, however, God’s destruction of humanity is checked by the advance of human science and knowledge– Bruce Wayne becomes equal to “God” in knowledge and power through modern technology.

We live in a modern society– a modern society that has, to a lesser or greater extent, acknowledged the death–or defeat– of God, by the advance of modern science and thought. As a modern society, we still rustle with the questions of justice as much as any early Jewish society, but the story of Batman Begins represents the transfer of the responsibility for justice from a supernatural power to a modern, scientific human power. It’s arguable that we’re no closer to justice than ancient Jewish society, but no longer do we look to a deity for justice– that responsibility has been shifted fully and levelly to our shoulders.

Curiously, the wording of headlines concerning North Korea’s alleged nuclear detonation are exactly that– the possibility or claim of a nuclear blast.

The Western media has been very remained insistent that North Korea may have detonated a nuclear bomb– despite the adamant insistence by the Russian Military that it was, in fact, a nuclear blast.

The media’s repeated use of the “may” caveat, however, seems to be lost on most Americans (Fox News, I’m sure, is well-pleased). Most seem to have unambiguously accepted the fact that North Korea has, in fact, detonated a nuclear bomb. Although I don’t think it unlikely that North Korea has actually successfully tested a nuclear bomb, I think the question of “did they?” is worth further consideration.

I’m unsure as to how to interpret this particular bit of ambiguity. There is certainly a viable possibility that North Korea may have actually only detonated say, several thousand tons of traditional nitrogen-based explosives. Although an unlikely course for North Korea, the Halifax disaster during the First World War more than proves the potential for conventional explosives to create a blast of nuclear proportions– the 1917 disaster involving the explosion of some 2,300 tons of traditional explosives leveled the town of Halifax for a full 2km around the blast radius, and shattered windows 100km from the blast site.

But if there’s ambiguity, there’s probably a good reason. There are two, obvious, reasons: 1) it wasn’t actually a nuclear blast (or, rather, we’re just unsure) or 2) there are ulterior motives in keeping it a “claimed” detonation.

If the latter, then North Korea has called Bush’s bluff, but the Bush administration wants to soften the loss of face (shying from N. Korea’s “so what?”) coming from a lack of the immediate and heavy-handed response promised by the Bush administration. Or 2) To ward off embarrassment if, in fact, N Korea has not detonated an atomic bomb. Especially with regards to the war in Iraq, all involved parties (governments, media sources) need to be caution of making allegations of having “weapons of mass destruction”

—

But maybe it wasn’t a nuclear blast at all.

One article published on the BCC’s website suggests that America’s invasion of Iraq has caused anxiety for small nations in Bush’s “axis of evil.” N Korea, then, (from Kim Song-il’s perspective, at the very least) needs an effective deterrent against the possibility of (wanton) American invasion.

IF one accepts the proposition that N Korea’s nuclear ambitions are for deterrents, rather than for export or proliferation, THEN it’s plausible to suppose that the blast was not, necessarily, a nuclear blast.

If North Korea’s aim is simply deterrence, such an aim could be achieved by either a genuine or faked nuclear detonation. Obviously, a deterrent functions by having the (perceived) ability to retaliate against and aggressor. So long as Western nations (America, specifically) believes that an invasion could result in a nuclear launch, then the deterrent functions– regardless of North Korea’s actual ability to launch a nuclear attack.

Certainly, North Korea’s stage was well set for a “fake” nuclear detonation. North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have been clearly announced since the advent of the 6 party talks. The global sense that North Korea’s nuclear program is under full development has been heightened especially during the last year. A week prior to the detonation, North Korea made a public announcement of their intention to test a nuclear bomb– ensuring the close, watchful eye of Western nations. Two days ago, there was an underground blast that registered significantly on seismic charts, an announcement from Pyongyang of a nuclear test, and the Russian Military, at the very least, instantly made the connection.

Playing the devil’s advocate, it’s possible to conceive that North Korea hoped all Western nations would accept the blast as a nuclear detonation with the same alacrity as the Russian military. A quick survey of Western headlines, however, reveals that they haven’t succeeded.

Obviously, this ambiguity will eventually be resolved– but in the mean time, the world waits, watches, and holds its breath.

This week’s contest:

What is this an image of?

The contest runs … until I post next?

I slept outside last night. Which totally would have been a good thing, except for the fact that I slept through my alarm and, subsequently, my first class and an hour of work. Sheesh.

That’s been something of a theme the last few days (or last 20 years, depending on how you look at it), actually– not sleeping through class or work, but just sleeping. A lot. In general.

For example: I took three naps yesterday (or four, or five, depending on how you count). Like last night. I was going to clean some computers in the SUB, but since it was still relatively early (like 8:00PM) and many of the computers were still in use, I decided I’d just hang out, do some reading, and wait for about an hour. While reading in Leigh Lounge, I suddenly began to feel sleepy, and resolved on a 15 minute nap. Sadly, when I woke, it was to the announcement that it was 11:30 and the SUB was being closed for the evening.

Or the night before that. It’s like 9:00, and I’m doing homework in the longroom when, all of the sudden… I can’t keep my eyes open. So I’m like “15 minute power nap!” I grab a pillow and a nice spot on the floor… and wake up at 3:00am. Nothing’s changed, really– there are still people doing homework (Andrew was still working on the same project), but … What-ev. So, I got up, did math homework for a couple hours, then home and slept in my bed for another two hours.

I think, though, that my body is just going through caffeine withdrawal. Instead of ingesting caffeine, I’ve just been giving in to my natural impulses to sleep. Eventually, I trust, I’ll get over this period of withdrawal, and I will, once again, be able to stay away for more than five hours in succession. In the mean time, though, life’s interesting. =)

Patrick and I climbed Hylight Peak this morning (and in to the afternoon), which, of course, was fantabuloustacular.

Now I need a shower. But in the meantime, here’s some photos:

http://picasaweb.google.com/markegge/20060930HylightPeak

Enjoy. =)

Hope tells me, “do something 14 times and you’ll make it a habit.” So, I’m making habits. Like doing my math homework. Yeah, Mrs. Kassel, you get the last laugh on that one. I’m not saying I’d take back all the naps I took in your class(I mean, how do you take back a nap you took?), but you’d better believe I’m paying for them now. What goes around comes around, I guess. But basically: if I had paid attention in high school, I might understand a few of the key underlying concepts that I’m scrambling to hard to grasp now. Like … trigonometry. And logarithms. Simple things, really, but I look back at high school with a certain horror, realizing how little I managed to learn. At least I can count. I mean, if I couldn’t count at all, I’d be really in a world of hurt. Seven … eight … eight … oh, my.. GORDON…!

(aside: I’d say that “I’m making it through, by the grace of God,” but that’s not true. If I’m making it through, rather, it’s only by the grace of Gordon. If Gordon wasn’t around to answer all my stupid questions (which I have repeatedly prooved DO exist (even if I don’t know how to make a proof)), I don’t know where I’d be. But it wouldn’t be in calc 181, that’s for darn sure.)

So I’m making habits. Like getting up in the morning. I finally found an alarm set-up that works: I have two. The first is the “primer” alarm. It sits on the window frame, within easy reach of my lofted bed, and goes off some 10 minutes before the “real” alarm. And the “real” alarm? Well, that’s under my loft. Better yet, my roommate is a late sleeper, so when my “real” alarm goes off (and goodness, it’s loud!) I always feel the obligation not only to shut off my alarm, but to shut it off as quickly as possible. And once I’ve climbed down my ladder off my loft (which is tricky, even while wide awake), there’s no going back.

Consequently, I have yet to sleep through anything this year. And for me, that’s a big deal.

I kinda just want to chill out and listen to the Beatles, yeah? Well, maybe it’s just that I’ve got “Ticket to Ride” stuck in my head. But wouldn’t that be the way to spend the afternoon? Just to put on “One” and piss the afternoon away…

I’ll pick up my guitar, too. There’s one song on the album– I don’t remember which– that I want to learn. I rediscovered my guitar the other day, actually. I played a lot. The next morning, when I washed my hair in the shower, the tips of my fingers hurt as I massaged my scalp. I don’t really “massage” my scalp, as such, but what else do you call it when you use your fingers to dig in and make sure you scalp gets really clean?

My new favorite place on campus: Leigh Lounge. I’ve had several scrumptious naps there this semester already. Scrumptious is typically a culinary adjective, but believe me: these naps (today’s especially) were scruptious. The sort of nap that, if it were a cheesecake, I’d eat a slice every afternoon. Not frozen, but firm. A smooth, delicious texture, with the occassional nut or chocolate chip. Ya know?

We haven’t seen the sun for some days, here in Bozeman. I heard someone say that they read somewhere that Bozeman has the worst air quality in the nation right now, according to EPA measures. The fires blazing in Paradise Valley are still raging. Out of control. So it looks like it’s foggy and overcast, but it’s really just smoke. I look outside and it’s gloomy and grey, but there’s not a cloud in the sky.

At night, beneath the light-posts, you can see particles floating down, in their tee-pee shaped cones of light– it’s like watching snow fall, except this snow isn’t cold or wet…

The smoke does funny things, too.

Like yesterday. As I wandered, looking for my car, I noticed something curious in the sky. The sun, blood orange through the smoke, was a perfect half-circle– but the BOTTOM half rather than the top. Imagine a beach and the sun, sunk half-way below the ocean horizon.the sun, setting over the ocean– a perfect half circle. But now take that half-circle sun, turn it a hundred and eighty degrees, and hang it, red, midway in the western sky. Like an absurd shape, hung in the sky, in a play-world or Hollywood fiction. For perhaps a fleeting moment my mind entertained the idea that it actually was, and wondered what is that, unable to accept the reality that what I saw was the sun.

Gradually, as I watched, whatever it was that obscured the sun (could smoke obscure it so thoroughly? there was only a razor line between half-sun and dull-grey cloud) shifted away and, like the lifting of a stage curtain, slowly the entire sun was revealed.

Oh, I think I fail to convey to you, chere reader, the scene or even an accurate description. But I’ve preserved it for myself– certainly, we know even the most scarring of impressions fade with time.

It’s a strange world, being smoke filled. It often feels more like a Mordor sceen from Lord of the Rings than anything else I could liken it to.

Already I gain a certain presentiment that this semesester I may frequently be presented with the choice between maintaining a social life and maintaining a high GPA. As the clock ticks towards 4:00am, I realize that I’ve manged my time reasonably well today– it’s only for a lack of time in general that I’m deprived to sleep. I’ll take a two hour nap, then it’s off to the races again, so to speak.

(Spectacular) photos from this weekend’s hiking adventure can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/markegge/20060904TempestPeak

Working two (two and a half? three?) jobs this summer was a rough. But I managed. For the most part. =)

My morning routine is (and has been for years) something not unlike this: I wake up (generally a half hour later than I intended) and shower. Then,I procrastinate until the exact moment I need to be walking out the door, before panicing, collecting my wits and necessary items for the day, and flying out the door, all aflutter, as it were– typically five, ten minutes late. Often my procrastination phase is quite short– a few minutes at most– as, often, I’m stepping out of the shower at the same moment I need to be stepping out my door for a timely arrival. On the rare occasion that I do have extra time, I typically fare no better– I eat breakfast, check email, play guitar or count the hairs on my arm until, yes, the very moment that I need to leave the house. Then I panic.

Like evacuating one’s home in a fire, I always have an approximate idea of what I need to grab on my way out the door. Most items make it through the door; some items make it half-way to the door; some items are left unmoved altogether.

Most days, anyway.

I recall, with mixed fondness and embarrassment, a particular moment from last summer. I was working for a contractor, doing general landscaping. Work started at 8:00 and I, as usual, was running late. Living out where I do, it takes a while to drive to work– twenty minutes or so, on average.

I might note (at this point) that I have a certain habit of only stepping into my shoes on my way out, tying my laces later on straight roads or at red lights. If I’m especially late, I might not even step into my shoes at all– grabbing shoes and socks on my way out the door, barefoot, instead.

Well, it was one such morning. On a straight road, nearing the office, I pulled on my socks–left, then right– and then had a moment of panic. My shoes! Where are they? Are they in the back? … No. Hmm. Oh, good heavens. I left my shoes at home!

Needless to say, it was a somewhat embarrassing phone call to the office. “Hey Charlie. This is Mark. Yeah… I’m going to be twenty, thirty minutes late today. Oh.. why, you ask? Well, you see, I left in a big hurry this morning and I … mumble mumble forgot my shoes at home mumble mumble.”

—

Well, that was last summer. Old habits die hard. This summer was, again, the same morning routine. Complicating the matter, though, was multiplicity of jobs and their varying uniform requirements. Which is to say that I had two jobs. And for Papa Johns I needed a uniform: close-toed shoes, khaki pants, my Papa Johns shirt, and my Papa Johns hat. The shirt and pants were easy. It’s always the details (like shoes) that catch ya. Fortunately, there were extra hats I could borrow if and when I forgot my beloved hat at home.

Tucked away in a dorm-room drawer are no fewer than six pairs of K-Mart socks. It’s not that I prefer K-Mart socks, but rather, let me explain:

Often, I would wear jeans to B&B and throw a pair of khaki shorts in my car in the morning. Everything would be fine, until I arrived at Papa Johns, that is, and realized that, having changed into shorts, my socks quite visibly came half-way up my leg– an effect that, coupled with a poorly fitted hat and funky Papa Johns polo-shirt, could only mean poor tips.

Actually, I tried the knee-highs one night. The only tips I got were … fashion tips.

That’s a joke.

Anyhow. K-Mart, as it happens, was the closest department store (excluding Wal-Mart). So, well, now I know. Walk straight in and half-way back. Turn left. Two isles down: that’s where you find the socks. Low-profile socks, to be exact. I hate to say, but I once visited K-Mart three times in a week. For socks.

Eventually, though, I embraced my inner hippie and began wearing flip-flops to B&B. And yes, it was glorious. As long as I remembered to pack extra socks.

But man, I sure did feel ridiculous when, one afternoon, I showed up at Papa Johns, pulled on my socks, and realized my shoes were waiting for me by the door– at home.

In case you didn’t already know, I’m in Bozeman these days. Three days in, I’m mostly settled and partially unpacked. I’m living in Quad D this year, 30 feet from Quad E of freshman year. Speaking of freshman, I’m living with three–all science related majors–but they seem like good guys.

Classes start Monday. I suppose I’ll go buy books sometime. Maybe tomorrow. Is the bookstore open on Sundays? I guess we’ll find out.

My updated contact information, including my dorm phone number, is (as always) at the bottom of this page.