Loooong Day Yesterday

So this weekend the intention was that moonshadowed's mother come down Saturday evening from Hanover PA to stay overnight and watch the kids while I go with Tracy to the Marine Corps Marathon in DC Sunday morning, where she was going to participate in the 10k run portion of it.

Old Man Autumn had other plans, and while the snow that hit the East Coast just resulted in some rain and wet snow that didn't stick to anything in Columbia, it dumped over seven inches in Hanover, resulting in Tracy's mom staying right here she was rather than slide all over the roads. So Sunday's schedule worked out to something more like this.

Saturday 9:30pm: I go to bed.

11:30pm: Wake up for no reason I can see. Check email briefly and try to go back to bed.

Sunday 2:45am: Tom wakes up. I perforce wake up with him.

4:00am: I wake Tracy and Georgia up.

4:30am: Get on the road and drop Tracy off at the Wheaton Metro station

5:45am: Get home. Divide time between surfing on the net and half-consciously doing laundry.

11:20: Pick up Tracy from the station after she completes her run. She completed her run with a chip time of one hour and twelve minutes or so.

1 pm: Get home, eat lunch, crawl into bed for a long nap

2:30pm: Tom wakes me up.

2:31pm Remind self that murder is still a crime.

3 pm: Take Tom and Georgia for a walk while Tracy gets a nap herself.

4:45: Get home, Tom immediately rushes upstairs and wakes up Tracy (of course)

5:30pm: Make shopping list, go out to the stores.

7:15pm: Get home. Tom already asleep, Georgia is taking her bath

7:30 pm: Finish unloading and putting away groceries. Eat a quick sandwich for dinner

8:45pm: Crawl into bed.

Monday 3:15am: Here we go again...

I think I figured out why the Hulk movies don't work

Not that they're bad per se, The Incredible Hulk was plenty fun to watch. It just seemed to have some basic structural problem that niggled at the back of my brain that had nothing to do with the climax involving Edward Norton disappearing down a hole (literally) and his CGI alter ego emerging to do battle with another CGI monster while the special effects department destroyed Harlem around them.

I figured it out this afternoon. Just compare it to the other Marvelverse movies that have been made leading up to the Avengers:

Iron Man: Tony Stark, playboy billionaire, has an epiphany while held captive, engineers his own escape and works his invention to turn himself from a self-centered egotist inventor to a (slightly less) self-centered hero, using his inventions for good.

Thor: Asgard's mightiest warrior is brought down to Earth to learn humility and become a hero, using his powers for good.

Captain America: Brave at heart-weak of body Steve Rogers is willing to go to any length to help others, even volunteering for a dangerous experiment, if only it means he can keep the world from being bullied into submission by Hydra.

Hulk: Bruce Banner gets hit by a science experiment gone wrong and becomes the Hulk. Much of the movie revolves around him desperately trying not to use his powers. It's only when the situation is arguably bad enough to cross the Gozilla Threshold (ie: It's bad enough that deliberately directing Godzilla into downtown Tokyo can't possibly make thing worse) that he attempts to Hulk Out voluntarily.

In other words, being the Hulk kinda sucks. When he changes, mild mannered Bruce Banner loses the mind that made him a great man, and become only a monster that even he fears. When he changes, not matter what he's up against, he loses.

It makes for a dramatic movie. Whether it makes for a good superhero movie, I'm just not sure about.