May 22, 2005
S.W.EP.3
Well, I saw the Star Wars last night. It was a much different experience for me than the last two films. During Episode 1 I was living in Florida and I went and stood in line for 4 hours with my friend Ed to catch the first showing. During Episode 2 I was living in Springfield, Missouri and my friend Luke went and stood in line all morning so the rest of us could show up at various times to hang out. I think I was only there for the last few hours, but the lines are always fun. If it's talking about Star Wars, telling Star Wars stories, or just laughing at the other people that make you seem less the geek you always thought you were...it's always fun. I have some fond memories of the Star Wars lines, but this year I opted for a change. I booked reserved seats for the 3,000 seat theatre that London hosts most of it's film premieres. Julie and I showed up 20 minutes before the movie started, sat in the second row of the balcony, and enjoyed every second (though it did feel like cheating). I must say, like always, when the Star Wars theme blares to start the film... I teared up a bit. I know how sad that seems but I think for most Gen X people these films helped mold our childhood. We didn't solely play cowboys and Indians like the generations before. We played Star Wars. We didn't solely play with our GI Joe figures like the generations before. We played with our Star Wars figures. I know for many people of my generation and the others close to our age group that we have hundreds of memories of something Star Wars in our childhood. I personally remember letting the garden hose run all night at my grandparents house so the next day I could make my X-Wing fighter crash onto the Degabah system. I learned some very valuable lessons that day as well. Stickers peel off when wet! Oh and I also learned that over watering garden vegetables isn't such a good thing (so I'm told). I remember after Empire Strikes back I took my Han Solo figure and wrapped him in like 100 wet Kleenex to make him into some kind of sarcophagus mummy thing where I then made a raft out of twigs and sent him floating down a stream... never to see him again. All in all, I must say that all my memories of Star Wars are good ones. It was nice to have all of the new movies made. They don't hold the sentimentality of the old ones but they are still great fun. The only thing I was slightly annoyed with was the fact that while trying to connect episode 3 with episode 4 Lucas gave too many secrets away. I think the big one for me was the naming of Luke and Lea. Now for whatever generation that comes along and wants to watch the Star Wars in order they will know that Luke and Lea are brother and sister. They will know that Darth Vader is Lukes dad. These are all plot twists that helped make the older movies what they are. I for one always wanted Luke and Lea to hook up, or in my youth wanted them to get married and have babies. So with this final installment... we are the last generation to experience those twists. I think thats a bit sad. Especially when everyone that has seen episodes 4-5-6 knew Darth Vaders kids were Luke and Lea. Why spoil it for everyone else? I guess Lucas wanted to make sure that to truly make all 6 films work together you have to watch 4-5-6-1-2-3. And maybe thats how its should be after all. In conclusion I must say I really loved episode 3. It was definitely the film all true Star Wars fans always wanted. So having said that... it was the last chapter of a lifetime of Star Wars anticipation. Thanks for the memories!
May 14, 2005
Baby Tour 2005
It's been a while since I have written so I will try and catch everyone up on things. First of all we had our baby tour to the States and it all went very well. Ella did a great job on the plane and adapting to the time changes. That was truly a blessing. While in San Francisco we hit all of our favorite restaurants which is always a plus for me. Julies parents had a baby naming party for Ella the last week we were there and that went really well. For those of you who don't know what a baby naming is or wondering if we changed Ella's name the answers are simple. No we didn't change Ella's name... she was just given her Hebrew name. Since boy's get that whole briss party (Is that an oxymoron?) girls are usually party-less so this is a way for you know... a baby party and stuff. Anyhoo, Ella's Hebrew name is Ariaylah Meerah. Lot's of people came to visit and Ella was very cordial and well behaved for everyone.
While Julie was visiting family in San Francisco I took a few days for my annual trip to Vegas with the boyz. We played a lot of poker (the card game), drank a lot, ate a lot, and just played. This year we decided to stay at the Hard Rock. You know, trying to be hip and cool and all. Unfortunately the Hard Rock doesn't have a poker room so we always had to go elsewhere to gamble. We reserved a luxurious mountain view room... which turned out to be somewhat disappointing. We basically had a view of a couple of trees and a parking lot. See photo below. I would go into more detail but Matt did the play by play on his blog so I will just link to his page.
Vegas Day 1
Vegas Day 2
Vegas Day 3
There was actually a day 4 but Matt seemed to have blacked that one out? It was probably all of that drinking on day 3? Oh well, all in all, another good trip to the Vega$. Gotta love the Vega$.
After returning to San Francisco for a few additional days we headed to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Julie and Ella's first trip to the "Natural State". It had been a year and half since I last visited so it was a very welcome trip home. Julie got to meet more of my family and I got to show her the wonders that is Fort Smith. Since that only took 5 minutes we were able to catch a few movies, which since having a baby has been more difficult. We first saw Sin City which I must say rocked! I never thought one could pull off the visuals of a graphic novel, but Robert Rodriguez did it brilliantly. And as great as the film looked... the story was great as well. Very reminiscent of Pulp Fiction. I highly recommend. The other film we saw was The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Now I must say that I am a fan of the book but was never a die hard fan so my review of this film isn't as glowing as Matt's was. I thought it was very funny, but like most books crammed into a 2 hour movie all you end up with is a movie skeleton. I felt this held true for Hitchhikers as well. I would have preferred a 3 hour movie with more substance than just a lot of humorous scenes stringed together. That's just me though. I still found it very cool.
We made it back to London on Monday and as usual... I HAVE JET LAG!!!! I haven't slept through the night YET! It's really making me mad. I slept 4 hours last night and as usual I am hoping tonight is the night I actually sleep 8 straight hours! Keep your fingers crossed for me. Oh well, I'm gonna end this babble that I call today's blog. I will leave you with the only 2 photos that I took from Vegas this year. Sad huh? The first is the photo of our mountain view (the red arrow points to the mountain view) and the other is just a photo of us on the way to the airport. If you care to see other photos of our trip, I just posted some on Ella's web site. That's all I got for now.... laters!
