My vote for worst SNL news guy: Kevin Nealon. Boy did that guy suck. Don't have a favorite, but Kevin Nealon - most suckage.

On Saturday evening, I broke down and got some anti-biotics for my tooth. The side of my face was starting to swell a bit and the pain had increased.

While I was at the hospital, I noticed that my blood pressure has gotten somewhat on the high side. It's not at the medication stage yet, but it is definitely at the "time to starting thinking about it" stage. My uneducated guess is that there are three ways to address the problem (1) cut the caffeine out of my diet, (2) change my diet so it has less salt and fatty foods, and (3) get some light aerobic exercies a few times a week. I don't think I can do (1) at the moment, because I am in a bit motivation slump at work lately, and I need the caffeine to keep me going. (2) Would require a major change in my current eat one meal a day thingy. So I've decided to start with (3). Walked four miles yesterday after work. Felt good. I had gotten into the walking habit last year before the bad weather set in. Two times a week plus the weekend hike thingy should do me.

I went on another hike on Sunday. One of the people who was with me was a 76 year old woman. The hike lasted 3 hours, and she kept the pace the entire way. Oh, she was definitely more tired than I was by the end, and she had a case of elder person overbabble, but I was pretty impressed. I'd like to think of myself at her age being that physically able.

The place I went hiking is a volunteer nature preserve: a few acres of former farm land that has slowly been reclaimed by the forest. It is not all that different than millions and millions of acres of land around here that the forest has slowly been reclaiming since farming became unprofitable. What makes it nice though is the dedication and interest of the people who are the stewards of the land. They know everything about the history of the land, and they can tell so much about it. They are complete amateurs and volunteers, but they know the trees and the wildflowers, the beavers and deer, the rocks left over from the glaciers, and they've watched the slow regrowth over the decades; they can tell you not only what is there now, but what used to be there decades ago. These people do a great job of making me see the diverse history and ecology for this small stretch of land, and that helps me realize that the other millions and millions are just as interesting in their own ways.

Saturday evening, I saw the new Batman movie thingy. I thought it took itself a bit too seriously, but otherwise was pretty decent. Two bit performances stand out. Tom Wilkinson played a mob boss, and he had a great scene with Bruce Wayne where he talked about corruption in the city. He was not the main villain in the movie, but I thought he was most effective. It was only afterwards that I realized the last thing I had seen him in was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" playing the doctor who erased minds. Another good performance was Gary Oldman as Officer (someday to be Commissioner) Gordon. Oldman has played so many evil, nasty characters that at first I had trouble accepting him as a nice guy. Eventually though, I bought into the character, and I found myself admiring Oldman's versatility. (compare this performance to his role as the corrupt DA in "The Professional") Oldman immerses himself in his characters, adopting the most subtle mannerisms.

I liked Spiderman 2 better than this latest Batman. I think I said that this one takes itself a bit too seriously. Spiderman 2 had a sense of humor about it that this Batman lacks. Batman Begins seems to try tie itself into the "War on Terrorism" thing. Christain Bale has a certain strange resemblance to George Bush (I'm willing to bet the hair style was deliberate), but Liam Neeson as the Osama type character just isn't that effective (even though he is from the Himalayas they had to make him white of course to avoid allegations of racial stereotyping). In the end, it seemed pretext for watching a guy in a leather suit with neat gadgets fight stuff. I'm not saying it wasn't good, because it was good. It just didn't quite do for me what Spiderman 2 did. My daughter felt the opposite way.

One thing my daughter and I discussed on the way back was the difference between Peter Parker's love interest with Mary Jane, and Bruce Wayne's relationship with the Katie Holmes. Parker's love for Mary Jane has this very passionate, desparate teenager-in-love thing. It's very basic and plays right to the heart. Bruce Wayne and the Katie Holmes character come across as more adult and more thoughtful. Their affection for each other is obvious, but it is not all consuming, and each of them has other concerns and interests that are as important to them. Me: I get sucked in by the gushy stuff, but my daughter liked the relationship in Batman better, and I can appreciate the viewpoint.