Tag: Star Wars

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An Elegant Weapon

If there was another moment that blew my mind when I was first saw Star Wars when I was 10 years old, it was this scene:

Actually, it challenged my brain more than blew my mind.

HOW WAS SUCH A WEAPON POSSIBLE?!?!

I didn’t recall seeing a laser sword of any kind up to that point in my limited viewing of science fiction material.

That’s probably when I realized just how advanced things were in a galaxy far, far away.

Well, and droids.  And spaceships.

But a lightsaber?

Probably one of the reasons I identified with Han instead of Luke.

Ranged combat vs. Melee combat.

Which carries over to this day, preferring a blaster to a scrapper in City of Heroes, for example.

I’m continually, subconsciously influenced by a movie from 1977.

Though nowadays I do prefer to play a paladin-type.  Not quite a Jedi, but close.

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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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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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Return of the Fanboys

I was watching the closing ceremonies of Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019, and they showed the recap video.

Over Skype I told Nelson that I wanna go back.

He did too, and said that we should go if it came back to Anaheim or to Los Angeles.

After an interesting audience participation exercise involving a large replica of the data disc containing the Death Star plans and a large lightsaber, they revealed the next location:

Hope to see you there!

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The End

I got a bit emotional when I first watched this trailer earlier today.

Because it IS the end.

Not the end of Star Wars.

It’s the end of a story that I had first been aware of when I was 10 years old, and I’ve followed for 42 years.

The end of the Saga.

The end of the Skywalker story.

The end of a huge chunk of my childhood, since Star Wars has been an integral part of my life since 1977.

At least this story has been.

I said earlier that I don’t like the title, but the more I think about it, the more I suspect that it isn’t what I think it means.

There will be plenty of fan theories, and some may even be right, but as I learned from The Last Jedi, whatever happens happens, and no amount of whining and complaining will change that.

We shall see, come December.

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I Don’t Get It

When the reimaged Hawaii Five-O premiered, I watched it for a couple seasons.  I got bored of it and stopped.

I’ve stopped watching the DC shows on CW, because I got bored of them.

I’ve drastically cut down on the number of comics I read on a monthly basis.

I don’t watch Star Trek Discovery.

I’m didn’t watch a full NFL football game once this season.

In all cases, they went on without me.

I see lots of people bemoaning Disney and their upcoming Star Wars projects, or people upset with Doctor Who because of the way the show is now.

So why can’t they simply walk away?

The whole ‘childhood ruined’ excuse is stupid for a myriad of reasons.

Hell, any excuse is stupid.  Walk away.

Being a consumer doesn’t mean that you HAVE to consume everything.

And shouting at the wind won’t make any of these corporations change their minds.

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DST and Stuff

We go through this every GDMF year, yet for some reason, even though we ‘gain’ an hour of sleep, I always struggle for consciousness on the Monday after the end of Daylight Savings Time.

*continue drinking afternoon coffee*

***

My co-worker dropped off an NFL Gameday Magazine that another co-worker picked up from the last Broncos-Raiders game, with Case Keenum on the cover.

I may not be able to say it in person, but thank you, Michael Q.

#fuckcancer

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I’m still trying to figure out what to watch during my elliptical sessions in the morning, once I finish off The Expanse Season 3.  I’m narrowing it down to the new Jack Ryan series or maybe a rewatch of Babylon 5.

In related news, I’m almost finished with last season’s DC Legends of Tomorrow.  It’s the one DC CW show that does not irritate me, which is sad.  I may give Black Lightning a shot.

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If you haven’t done so yet, don’t forget to VOTE tomorrow.  Please.

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It feels strange that for the first time in 3 years, I didn’t have to buy Star Wars movie tickets for me and my friends and family.

Meanwhile, SW Resistance has yet to really get interesting.

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Going back to The Expanse, I don’t know which faction or side (Earth, Mars, Belters, OPA) I’d want to be on, truth be told.  They’re all fucked up in one way or another.

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The Dark Side

Well, maybe not so dark.

There are some things related to Star Wars that I do not like.  Toxic fanboyism aside, I’m referring to merchandising.

Sure, I’m a sucker for anything Boba Fett/Millennium Falcon/Porg related, but the latest thing that annoys me is Fantasy Flight Games’ X-Wing Miniatures game, which recently went to version 2.0.

As part of this new version, players are expected to buy conversion kits for their existing miniatures to make them ‘2.0 compatible’.  The problem is that each of the 3 conversion kits are $50 (retail) and cover a broad range of ships within each faction (Rebel, Imperial, Mercs).

Fair enough, but for the most part, the kits either have too few or too many of ships I own, or are mostly for ships that I don’t own.  I hope they come out with individual ship conversion kits, but I’m not holding my breath.

This is the main reason I’m not getting into their Armada (capital ships) game, which I fully expect to to undergo the same 2.0 revamp.

I have a different strategy with their other miniatures offerings, however.

I’ve gotten back into playing Imperial Assault, and collecting the miniatures/expansions for this game, to prevent myself from getting into their other miniatures battle game, Legion.

I feel that skirmish level games are what my friends and I are more interested in playing anyways.