the dark side of hollywood

A few days ago, for no reason in particular, I found myself musing about George Lucas. More specifically, I was trying to figure out how the original Star Wars series could have been so good, and the second series so god-awful. I came to the ultimate conclusion that it was in large part due to the fact that when creating Episodes IV through VI, Lucas was a filmmaker. When creating Episodes Ridiculous through Lame, he was a businessman.

I think part of what I love about the first trilogy is that despite the lasers and spaceships and alien muppets, there is a gritty, tactile realism to the whole thing. You can suspend your disbelief about the story, because the components of the story exist in the real world. With the second trilogy (a.k.a. crapfest) there is such a reliance on computer graphics that I have difficulty suspending that disbelief. It lacks that human element which I believe the story needs. I liken it to a stage magician, doing the trick where he taps two metal rings together and links them. The illusion works, assuming you believe the metal rings to be solid. If you doubt the reality of the rings, the illusion fails. Jar Jar Binks makes me doubt the reality of the rings.

Anyway, the reason that I bring all this up is that yesterday while flicking though the channels, I happened upon an A&E special on Lucas and Star Wars. It made me remember everything I loved about Star Wars, and everything I hated about Revenge of the Sith. Lucas has said that the remastered first trilogy and the second are more in keeping with his vision of the story. I find that sad, since I think the original production is the one that stands the test of time. In the interviews, Lucas himself admitted that when he made the first films, he was a staunch supporter of independent filmmaking and loathed corporate interference in the creative process. At the same time, he admitted that over the years, he has become the corporate head that he used to rally against, much like Anakin Skywalker's spectacular fall to the Dark Side, where he becomes Darth Vader (who used to be the greatest villain of all time). It's nice to know that he at least acknowledges the fact....even though he somehow seems to think the Dark Side is where it's at, these days.

I'm curious what other people think about the subject, and given Lucas' recent track record, I'm wondering if there's anyone who actually is looking forward to the new Indiana Jones film.

Also.....THIS.

that was painful

Someone please....please....PLEASE remind me not to collect 3 months worth of pictures (mostly of Alex) before deciding to upload them to Flickr. Updating was not fun. At all.

With that said, I've upgraded to a Flickr pro account, so now all the older pictures are once again accessible.....and I don't have a monthly limit.

With that done, I guess I'll have to tackle the numerous video tapes. *sigh*

And maybe...just maybe....I'll try to start blogging again.

(this doesn't count)

non-nerd

More geeky, really........

if it ain't scottish.....

I had hoped to do a bit of a more in-depth update about our activities last weekend, but seem to have run out of time since I'll be travelling for work over the next week.

In brief, last Saturday we made a trek out to Fergus, Ontario for the annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games. It was my first time going, and I was glad we did. Aside from the searing heat, it was a lot of fun. Piping competitions, heavy events, highland dancing, music, food, all kinds of Scottish merch.....lots to do. Here are a few select pictures from our little excursion.

Alex and Nessie

Concession Row

Massed Bands

In the Shade

Caber Toss

Highland Fling

Hammin' it up

Cooling Off

amusing

attention: lindsay lohan

Take the undeserved money you've earned from craptastic movies and music, and use it to hire a driver.

Dumbass.

prairie dispatch

So we're just starting into Day 4 or our 9 day Saskatchewan adventure. It was a rather hectic couple of days getting packed and prepared, including driving the pets and mother-in-law to Parry Sound and trying to arrange how we were going to get to the airport (to avoid paying the criminal parking fees). We ultimately decided to have Tam's sister drive us using our Blazer, which provided enough space for all our luggage (as depicted). It was an early departure for the airport, but it gave us just enough time to get all of our baggage checked in and us through security, etc. Fortunately, we even had a few minutes to spare to grab some breakfast and Tim Horton's coffee, which was greatly needed by that point.

Before too long, the boarding call came and we headed out to the plane. It was a bit smaller than I had hoped, with only 2 seats per aisle, rather than 3. This meant we didn't have a vacant seat to use for Alex, so we had to hold her for the duration of the 3 hour flight. Luckily, she was an angel. She fell asleep on mom as we were heading out to the runway, and slept for the first 2 1/2 hours of the flight. The last half hour she spent smiling at and charming the pants off other passengers and the flight crew. We were very fortunate. The flight itself was pretty good as well. Our Jazz flight had leather seats with televisions in the headrest. A touch screen menu allowed you to select what you wanted to watch, including the ability to pause, rewind, etc. I settled on Shooter with "Marky Mark" Wahlberg. I remember not being overly thrilled with the previews, and wasn't expecting much, but found it to actually be fairly entertaining for the most part.

Once on the ground in Regina, we were able to quickly retrieve our bags and then headed to the car rental counter. We were given a Hyundai Sonata, but had to wait while it was gassed and cleaned.

That's when we decided to kill some time by calling home. And there was some news waiting for us. Tam's sister Sheri was stranded on the side of the road with our Blazer. Apparently the alternator went and there was no power. CAA wouldn't come out for a tow as Tam and I (the cardholders) weren't present. So, I had to call CAA and use my diplomatic skills to gain a little assistance. After explaining the situation, they agreed to extend the coverage on a one-time basis and would tow the vehicle 10 kms for free. So, we had them go out to pick up our vehicle and haul it to the nearest Canadian Tire. ($400+ later, it was fixed, and the problem had been addressed).

We picked up our Sonata, installed the car seat, packed it full with our luggage, and were on our way in the Queen city. We made a quick stop in at Wal*Mart for some essentials, and then proceed to our friends Kelvin & Marie-Eve's place for a play date between Alex and their son William. William is a cute little guy and he and Alex seemed to get along well. They played, the boys had a few beers, and all was well.

Around suppertime the gang of us headed over to Scott and Amy's, the two who prompted this trip to Saskatchewan due to their upcoming wedding the following weekend. We got to see their house for the first time, which was extremely nice. I'm a little jealous, I don't mind saying. We lugged all our bags into the basement suite since they were nice enough to offer us a room for the night, sparing us a hotel. We had a nice BBQ supper and it was just nice to be able to hang out with old friends who we hadn't seen in a while.

The next morning we went out for a nice breakfast at Smitty's, then after packing up said our goodbye's and left them to their stressful week of preparations. From there it was onward to Saskatoon, a 2.5 hour trek north of Regina. It was a nice day for a drive. You forget how open everything is out on the prairie. The sky just goes on forever...as far as the eye can see. It's a pretty interesting thing to experience. The weather was nice, and the drive went well. Alex slept most of the way.

Once in Saskatoon, we proceeded to Don & Rhianon's, where we'd be staying for the next few days. We got to visit their house there for the first time, and met their newest additions, Banjo and Mercedes.....two purebred Boxers. Banjo is already a prize-winning show dog, and Mercedes is soon to follow, I'm sure.

It is now Tuesday morning, I'm sitting in Don's basement with Alex sleeping on me while the two dogs rip around the family room. We'll see what the day holds. More to come later.