Batman Begins. Love the cool toys, the exploding/collapsing public infrastructure (probably all paid for by Wayne money anyway), the intro of Scarecrow -- an often underrated Batman villain, the emotiveness of the characters, and the attempt to make the Batman a swift, near-invisible predator who makes criminals quake in their boots. This Batman is a trained, disciplined, self- directed weapon against crime after overcoming his trauma and psychosis rather than just another nutjob in a costume. Under another title, he would have made a scary Sith lord, given the tutelage of a dark Qui-Gon Jinn.

Couple of things bothered me, cool as this Dark Knight tale has been. Fight sequences move too quickly, too close-up. If there was any fight choreography at all, it was lost in a blur of action quite wasting the effort. Also, the Batman mask -- way pointy ears and long pointy nose, not so much scary as it is comedic in a face-to-face encounter. Otherwise, it was a fun ride.

Got more bowling practice in the evening. I only had 1 game at the CSC because of some tournament being held there, so we adjourned to dinner then decided to go back to Plaza Bowl on Beach Road because it was convenient for Wendy to collect Anthony after our game. Amy joined us having returned from her Swiss holiday over the weekend.

It was quite a surprise to see that the old Plaza Bowl has undergone refurbishing and is now Star Bowl, a completely new bowling alley. Bright lighting, smooth polished boards and pins that go skidding around creating spectacular strikes with a well-thrown ball. Amy bowled her best game here so far: 128 I think it was. Anthony's elbow seems to be recovering, his scores climbing back to his regular game again.

Oh, and every Monday and Wednesday night is red-pin night. Occasionally, 1 red pin is placed in a random location amongst the other 9. If that red pin is the only pin standing after your first throw, you get a prize. I discovered this 'bonus' when I did inadvertently accomplish this task and the guy in the next lane informed me to approach the counter and show the counter guy what I'd done. I came back with a face cloth emblazoned with the "Star Bowl" logo. Just what I need to clean my ball with.

Now we have a new place to practice when the CSC lanes are closed for 2 weeks in July for its own servicing and maintenance.