Author: Chris S.

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Growth

As much as I pan the Prequel Trilogy, the one thing that was good (for me) was Obi-Wan Kenobi, and by extension, Qui-Gon Jinn.  Those two were my favorite characters from those movies, period.  I’m looking forward to the Ewan McGregor ‘Kenobi’ series on Disney+.

“We’ll handle this.”

As a 10 year old, I seemed to identify more with Han Solo, and this went on throughout the Original Trilogy, from Episodes IV to VI.  I like to think that my personality during my teen and young adult years was influenced by Han Solo, Indiana Jones, and Mr. Spock.

But watching The Phantom Menace, I realized that at that point in my life I was identifying more with the Jedi, particularly Qui-Gon.  I wasn’t as reckless and cocky (heh) as I was when I was younger, I was growing more patient and understanding as my career as a sysadmin went on.

“ID-10-T error…”

As far as the Sequel Trilogy, I seem to have gone back to identifying with Solo, mainly because, like him, I’ve seen shit over the past 30+ years that’s changed my world view.  Seeing him admit that he had been wrong about the Force was oddly satisfying.

What brought this on?  Discussion with a co-worker when she brought her Batuu lightsaber around to my cubicle, and talking about the impact of a 42 year old movie on a person, or people like us.

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Arrow S08E02

RE: that ending

If you’ve read Crisis on Infinite Earths, then you should know who Lyla Michaels really is.

Heck, I knew who she was and would possible become when they introduced her in season 1.

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Moments

The quote that stuck with me the most from the trailer?

“Confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi.”

Because I’ve faced my greatest fear, finding my Dad’s lifeless body at home.

The image that made me gasp?

Similar to the first image of a Star Destroyer in the original film, which had the same effect, more or less, on 10-year old me.

The bit of music that hit me in the feels?

Tie between Yoda’s theme during Threepio’s line:

“Taking one last look sir… at my friends.”

And the overly-triumphant Star Wars main theme during the latter half of the trailer.

A friend said that I have 2 months to get ready for this film, after I stated that I wasn’t ready.

After watching the trailer more than a dozen times, sleeping on it, letting it permeate my dreams, and waking up on Dad’s birthday, I think I may actually be ready for this.

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The Rise of Skywalker

I’m not ready.

I’m just not.  Because this is a saga that I’ve followed since childhood and through my teen and adult life.  And ending it seems to tell me that I have to be an adult now.

And I’m not ready.  I never will be.

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Arrow Season 8 Premiere

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much.  I had stopped watching about a season or two ago, I think.  When was Michael Emerson first introduced?

Anyways, the episode was pretty nuts, with Oliver on a parallel world posing as himself, and all the slight changes on that world due to his absence.

I couldn’t follow the flash forward stuff because I don’t know the background behind these characters.  I guess I can either read up or watch a few episodes from last season.

But what really got me was the ending, and the red skies and the antimatter cloud annihilating everything it touches, just like in the comics.

I’m really looking forward to the crossover.

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Lemme ‘splain

  1. Superman was, is, and will always be my favorite super hero of all time.
  2. Kingdom Come is one of my all time favorite comic book stories.
  3. Superman Returns is one of my favorite Superman films.

So this image:

fills me with more happiness than humans should be allowed.

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1977

1977 was not just the year I turned 10.

Or the year Star Wars first premiered.

Or even the year I got Baron Karza for my birthday (he was in his box on the kitchen table when I came downstairs for breakfast).

1977 was the first year that I seriously started to pay attention to baseball.

I considered myself a baseball fan since I was 4-5 years old, because on weekends we seemed to live at the ballpark, especially if there was a Sunday doubleheader.  I never paid attention to the games as much as my parents and my brother did back then.  I was more interested in when the next time the food vendors would come by our section (General Admission 28).

But two things happened in 1977 that changed the way I saw baseball.

The first was the premiere of “This Week In Baseball”.

Aside from the occasional Giants game, and that day in 1974 when we saw Hank Aaron break the all time-home run record, I’d never seen anything like TWiB, a weekly recap show of baseball, much like the older “NFL Game of the Week” show that would come on in the afternoon on Saturday, after cartoons.

TWiB introduced stars of the game who I was not familiar with, since we only ever saw the Giants on TV.  And the dulcet tones of Mel Allen’s voice made the recaps somewhat exciting.

How about that?

The other thing that happened in 1977 was Chris Speier being traded away from the Giants to the Expos.

Speier was my favorite player on the Giants since my first exposure to baseball, which started my ‘root for the Giants player with your first name and last initial’ thing.

I don’t know if I ever rooted for Tim Foli.  I simply couldn’t, because he took the place of my boyhood idol.

I think I ended up picking either Johnnie Lemaster (another shortstop) or Jack Clark or Bill Madlock or John Montefusco as my new favorite Giants player, mostly because they had cool sounding names.

Years later Speier came back to the Giants, just in time to watch them become a contender in the late 1980s.  By then my ongoing love for baseball had become a permanent thing.

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Figures

I have a great idea for a custom figure that I should have made years ago.

Mission-class freighter captain.

I have to wait until Cotswold restocks their basic figure assortment.  Hopefully they’ll restock this month.

Or I could make a HeroForge miniature of him.

The custom action figure won’t come with a leather jacket.  Or whip.  Or laser rifle.

Maybe a miniature would be a better option.  It’s certainly cheaper.