More random crap

In honor of the 30th anniversary of the release of A New Hope, HBO showed all 6 StarWars episodes in a row, from crappy first one on up to Jedi. I watched the whole thing. Yeah that means all of them. Go ahead, just shoot me.

The transition from III to IV isn't smooth at all. I plan on foisting these movies on my nephews in the classic order rather than starting them from I. These are the sorts of important decisions uncles have to make.

One thing I have to mention is that the effects in the new ones are amazing, the beginning of Episode III especially. All those primitive x-wings flying around whuppin' ass? That's some good childhood relivin'!

But what bothered me was that I was paying attention to the effects. When Luke was about to be executed off Jabba's sail barge, all I thought was "Oh no! Luke's about to die!" Watching these new ones, all I can think is, "Damn, those effects are cool!" Each has its own value, but a compelling story will always win in my book.

Greatest StarWars quote of all time: "You came in that? You're braver than I thought." Let's just go ahead and avoid the stories this conjures up.


If anything warms the cockles of my black libertarian heart, it's Mr. Rogers pleading for PBS funding in front of the Senate. It almost brings a tear to your eye; Mr. Rogers, the wimpiest pushover you've ever seen, making his case under one of the most stressful conditions possible. He won, by the way (no thanks to Mr. McFeely, who was mysteriously absent). (Note to self: if I ever create a children's program, don't have a character named anything resembling "feely".) (Hey kids, let's play hide and seek in this field of old refrigerators!)


I don't like to talk about the war here, but since I broke the taboo just a few days ago, I'll slip this one in here too.

People seem to be shocked that we're planning on keeping the troops in Iraq past 2009. I don't understand this. Of course they're planning for that. I assume "they" is the Pentagon, which would be derelict in its duties if it didn't plan for all contingencies, especially the one that seems most likely to come about.

If I had to guess, we'll have troops there until we're senior citizens, unless the war really starts to go badly. Not that it's all puppies and pizza now, but Iraq is nothing like the bloodbath Vietnam was. And until it becomes one, the populace at large will remain transfixed by America's Next Top Model or some sports championship. In short, no one cares. Not enough flag draped coffins. Sad, but true.

I just find the notion that we're pulling out any day now naive. I'll go ahead and go on record: we're not pulling out in our lifetimes (assuming nothing fundamental changes, like there's a draft or the casualty rate goes way up). A new democratic president may pull out 20,000 or so to make a gesture, but that's as far as I see it going.



The world record stone skip (50 skips). Wow.


Why does a macho testost-a-movie like Rambo First Blood Part II have a lame 80's song for the credits? It just seems so out of place. Yeah it's from the 80's, but so was Predator, and it has a cool soundtrack. But Predator is, of course, the greatest action movie of all time, so comparing it to any other movie is unfair.


I don't know why this link keeps appearing below.