Now the real (spoiler free) Star Wars Post...

I don’t remember the first time I saw Star Wars… I would have been 7 when it came out, though funny enough I do remember seeing Battlestar Galactica a year later at the drive in, but this isn’t a BSG post. I do however remember seeing The Empire Strikes Back in glorious 70mm at the long demolished University Theatre and The Return of the Jedi (in 35mm) at The Runnymede. I remember everything about those two experiences.

Empire was with a friends brothers girlfriend, she thought it would be nice to take the kids to go see it and took us downtown, I was 10, pitched a fit because we were waiting in line so long and tried to run away, she came after me to get me back and a “gentlemen” of questionable motivations tried to intervene to tell her to I was old enough to make my own decisions and that he would “help me get home”. Luckily I was old enough to know that would turn out badly and went back to the line with her and was blown away by the movie we later saw.Return of the Jedi was the night of my 8th grade graduation and a friends parents took us as a graduation present. Again I was transported to a magical place that blew my mind.

It struck me this morning how odd it was, that off the (literally) hundreds of movies I’ve seen over the course of my life, those two I could still remember the details of decades later and I know I’m not the only one. I’ve listened to a several famous directors and actors who have recounted similar experiences about this series of movies and it being the catalyst for their careers. So needless to say I was really excited to see this movie today, but something excited me more, and that was the thought that this might be one of those experiences for my kids.

So how as the new Star Wars? It wasn’t that horrible prequel series George Lucas made, sorry I know that sounds like a back handed compliment and not a glowing review but let me elaborate. What George forgot when he made 1-3 was that at it’s heart the original series were kids movies that adults could enjoy. Good vs bad, keep it simple and JJ nailed that. The story was simple, and once it started, the action didn’t let up until the end. And no ewoks or Jar Jar Binks!!! The new characters are amazingly likeable (though Daisy Ridely reminds me so much of Keira Knightly and it was driving me crazy) and having the key characters back made it feel like home. But the bottom line is, it made me forget I was a 46 year old, I felt like that little kid again swept away to a magical place, and more importantly when I looked at my kids they were sitting on the edge of their seats completely absorbed in that universe as well. I know when Disney bought the rights to Star Wars a lot of fans were nervous, but in conjunction with JJ Abrahams they honoured the original franchises legacy and I can’t wait to see where they go with this. Now I gotta find me a Jedi cloak to wear

Now the real (spoiler free) Star Wars Post...

The Obligatory Star Wars Post

So I picked up my tickets for Star Wars The Force Awakens… I have to wait until tomorrow to see it, and it’s going to be torture.. That being said I’m really impressed at how the internets is respecting the no spoiler thing.. I mean I know if I go looking I’ll find it, but for the most part people aren’t throwing them out there… This makes me happy…

OK, now the uber important question… Would you still have sex with Carrie Fisher?? I know she’s batshit crazy these days.. but you’d have to right? Just because it’s Princess Leia… I’m expecting answers people.. Look at the picture and make a decision and let us know… Or else I’ll send storm troopers out to get you and throw you in the giant sand vagina from Return Of the Jedi….

The Obligatory Star Wars Post

Xena Vs Ash Vs Evil Dead

So one of the fun things from the old days was just being able to post about randomness that caught your attention during the day, and not worrying about who would get offended, blah blah blah…. Especially when it came to nudity… god try posting this on FB and you’d get banned in heartbeat….. over boobs… and a butt… What I’m talking about is Ash vs Evil Dead… I LOVED the movies so naturally I’ve been watching the show, and this weeks episode had an unexpected (very) pleasant surprise… Lucy Lawless doing a nude scene… And I just had to point out… for 47… actually never mind the 47 part, for any age she is smoking hot… and not because she just rose out of a smoldering fire.. nyuk nyuk nyuk……

Xena Vs Ash Vs Evil Dead

Memories from a social media old timer....

I’ve been having some fun firing up the old blogs, taking a look at shit I wrote what seems a lifetime ago and it’s funny how time away from those blogs and the mindset I had while writing them makes it seem like it was written by a completely different person. It’s also kind of fun/sad to think that started like 16 years ago, partly because you realize talking about it you’re going to sound like a nostalgic old coot to today’s social media addicts…. But screw them… I’m old… I get that luxury… We built the social media craze, well before Facebook/Twitter/Tumblr/etc.. Back in the days when we had to use punch cards to…. oh wait.. too far back.. When I started it, you wrote everything yourself in html, then I got my LiveJournal invite code and that changed everything. It is easy to romanticize those times because everything was so new and undefined, you were basically anonymous, you could say what you wanted to without worrying about friends/family/employers/governments/everyone frigging else analyzing your every word/action and making your life hell for doing so. Then there was the nudity, everybody wanted to play that naughty game back then because while the risk was there, you could more often than not get away with it. I guess that was a big part of the fun, we were defining the rules as we went along.

Today of course is such a different time, social media is sooooo monitored and pervasive, you can’t have the fun you used to. People just aren’t as open. I feel the old curmudgeon speech coming on so I won’t go down that path. I know there’s no way to capture the excitement, freedom or obsessiveness of the old days, that time has passed. I miss it sometimes though, just getting those thoughts/feelings out so that’s why I’m back here at the old places, because they are old and “irrelevant” to the new generation and will largely go unnoticed. Maybe they can be a safe/fun place to play again with like minded grumpy old farts… I guess time will tell… If not.. I’ll be exploring the new virtual worlds on the Oculus Rift… but we’ll leave that discussion for another day 😉

Memories from a social media old timer....