Fun and Games: August 2006 Archives

My husband and I got into our usual dispute yesterday, and I need to prove once and for all that I'm right, he is wrong. There is no "grey" area in this issue. Just black and white I'm right, he's wrong.

He claims I am not a real Star Wars fan because I say Episodes I, II, and III stunk big time. According to him, if you are a true fan, even if the movies were a little cheesey (understatement), it was so great to see what happened after waiting all your life for George Lucas to make new movies. I say George Lucas should have left well alone, and as a true fan, I find the movies insulting.

They were horrendous. Why do I make such a bold claim? Here are ten good reasons to support my flawless argument:

1.Anakin cried all the time. I could not believe he was Darth Vader, but just some whiney skateboarder kid.
2.Little Anakin was equally annoying: "are you an angel?"
3.The pod races lasted too long. And for the record, little Anakin's best friend's name was "Kitster" which is a stupid, unimganinative name for a "kid".
4.Jar Jar Binks. The only good things about Episodes II, and III was less Jar Jar Binks.
5.Padme was useless. She was supposedly one of the best rulers of Naboo, and she chose this guy for his wonderful pick-up lines? And calls him "Annie" at that which means she should be thrown.
6.The whole notion that Anakin became Darth Vader because he wanted to save Padme's life, and then killed her is dumb, dumb, dumb. Does anybody buy that?
7.Bad dialogue like the "I hate sand. It's so coarse. Not like here. Everything here is smooth." pick-up line (see point #5) and overuse of the term "younglings".
8.Jar Jar Binks.
9.The fact that Mace Windu got killed in a "hey, what's that over there" move when he was powerful enough to defeat a single droid army by himself during the Clone Wars is annoying as well.
10.The big finale fighting scene at the volcano that we have been reading about for 25 years was lame!

Is that enough? Do I win, win, win?

I am sending the link to this entry to my husband, so I need to add the bonus #11 point: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy was better. :P

Nerd ABC cards: T is for transverse wave

We were making transverse waves with a Slinky and he was having a blast.

... by dear Mr Luse.

1. One book that changed your life: An old paperback I picked up for seventy-five cents at a used bookstore in Baltimore: The Man Who Was Chesterton, an old Image anthology. And before that, Poetic Meter and Poetic Form, by Paul Fussell.

2. One book that you've read more than once: Look Inside Cross-Sections: Trains, by Michael Johnstone. I've read this one way more than once.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Dear Mr Luse asks, Who would want just one book on an island? You'd want a library, wouldn't you? I would. And I think Mark Windsor has the right idea: I'd want the Aubreyad, in 21 volumes.

4. One book that made you laugh: Most recently? H.W. Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage (that "elegant variation" entry really brings the funny).

5. One book that made you cry: The Clown of God by Tomie DePaola. Gets me every time.

6. One book that you wish had been written: How to Work All Those Colors in the Needlepoint Christmas Stocking Kit You Bought Last Year and Never Finished.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: Confessions, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

8. One book you're currently reading: The Temperament God Gave You, by Art and Laraine Bennett.

9. One book you've been meaning to read: The Conservative Mind, by Russell Kirk.

10. [Not on the original list, but added by dear Mr Luse] One book you should read: The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis.

Tag: Pansy, Bob the Ape, and Miss Rosey-Posey Moss (who can post her answers in a comment box).