2001: A Space Odyssey... A summary by me...

I recently got this book from the library and loved it quite a bit. I kept thinking I'd watched the movie at some point, but apparently not... Or perhaps I'd attempted to watch it and got bored and abandoned it. I've just now watched the whole movie after reading the book. Of course, I like the book better. Someone with no familiarity asked me to explain what the story is about. So, I'll summarize the book, because the movie... does not explain itself well. Here there be spoilers.

300,000 years ago, the man-ape ancestors of humans were on the brink of extinction; not doing well, not great at hunting or fending off predators, not great at community, etc. Then one day, in the middle of the African savannah, one small pack of these ancestors awoke to find a perfectly rectangular MONOLITH of some strange material just sitting there near their cave homes. They were wary of it at first, but it seemed harmless and eventually they ignored it, as they had other problems; food scarcity, nearby predators, territory dispute with a neighboring pack.

Unbeknownst to them, it was... watching them and while they slept it was minutely modifying their brains. One day, the leader of this pack looked at some blades of grass and realized he had an idea to "tie" them together. And the first knot was born. Then he later saw a discarded animal thigh bone sitting there and picked it up and realized it could be an extension of his arm. And the first weapon was born. And there were other things he was realizing (learning), like cooperation. His pack used his knowledge to hunt, defend themselves and drive off competition. The MONOLITH disappeared some time later, but they barely noticed. Humanity was on it's way...

Fast forward to the year 2001. There are several moon bases for various space agencies. One of the science groups discovers evidence of extraterrestrials, buried deep in the lunar soil. It was a MONOLITH of clearly extraterrestrial origin. It was buried on the moon purposefully at least 300,000 years ago. While studying it, the MONOLITH sort of activates, sending a radio signal outwards, apparently towards Saturn.

Fast forward 18 months. A manned mission was sent for the first time to Saturn, with a secret plan to search for and find MORE evidence. On the way, due to the secret nature of the mission and it's importance, the onboard AI computer (named HAL 9000) sort of goes crazy, because it knows the real mission and the two humans don't. It tries to cut off communication with Earth, one of the astronauts goes outside to fix the antenna and the HAL kills him remotely with a space pod. Then the other human onboard, David fights the machine, attempts to awaken other crewmembers that were in hibernation this whole time. HAL vents all oxygen into space and kills the hibernating crew, and attempts to kill Dave. Our hero manages to get his helmet on and not get blown out the airlock. He fights his way through the ship and destroys HAL's processors and hard drives.

David then restores communication with Earth. They apologetically tell him about the real secret mission. They tell him about the MONOLITH found on the moon, it's age and that he needs to get to one of Saturn's moons, Japetus where they think another MONOLITH (or something) will be. He manually flies the ship there with help from computers on Earth, then gets in orbit around Japetus. He gets in a space pod and flies down to the surface where he finds a MONOLITH and attempts to land on it... Except...

He is instead sucked into a wormhole transit system, and travels some ridiculously humongous distance to an unknown galaxy. There he witnesses stellar wonders, dual star systems, gets pulled into an unimaginably old but alien space building of some kind and then... is put into a weird simulation of a nondescript hotel room. It's sort of real, but simulated for his comfort. Then, he gets tired, has a weird meal on his own, and then goes to sleep. After he falls asleep, his room disappears and a MONOLITH is there hovering near his bed. Then David, while sort of sleeping, is regressed backwards from his adult self, through all his memories of life back to being a baby. This STARCHILD awakens and realizes it has special powers, like the ability to travel anywhere in the galaxy and do wondrous things. And it has a new mission to guide humanity. So it travels almost instantly back home to Earth, where humanity freaks out about this GIANT space baby that suddenly appeared and fires nukes at it. The STARCHILD is apparently not bothered, detonates them harmlessly without being hurt and then descends upon the Earth, where the real work will now begin.

THE END.

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Addendum: I wanted to add the following based on feedback.

Q: ... is dave the starchild?

Yes (and no... He's not Dave anymore.)

Just to be clear, the book is great. The movie seems like it would be confusing to someone on first watch. I don't understand how it was a popular or cult hit.

Upon reflection, there are really two plots to this story...

• Astronauts are on a space mission with an AI. It goes crazy and tries to kill them all and one guy survives.
• An unknown alien entity has been guiding human evolution since the beginning. And right as we step out into space, there is a system (of MONOLITHS) in place that helps (makes) us take the next step.

In pop cultural references, it seems that everyone focuses on the "HAL 9000 tries to kill Dave" ideas in the plot, completely ignoring the much bigger "MONOLITH" plot concepts. But it's not as easy to quote or meme so there you go.

And also... Trying to recall if I'd seen this movie before, I realized there was a sequel to this movie that I appparently HAVE seen. 2010: The Year We Make Contact which didn't have as much popularity as the first. What I recalled from the plot was that the characters travel to Jupiter and somehow activate a different MONOLITH which begins a process by which Jupiter becomes a second sun in our solar system. The plot is "Jupiter becomes a star and our solar system has a binary star system," and this neat idea stuck with me when I was younger. Obviously, this would have huge consequences for every planet in the solar system were it to really happen, but still neat.

Alphabetical List of My Most-Visited Websites

Here's a stereotypical apology blog post, referencing the lack of recent blog posts, which only further highlights the lack of blog postings. At the moment, there are only three live posts for the last year. That's current, but it might change. A peak under the hood shows that there are often blog drafts that get saved but not published. You can see that over the life of this site, I've got 974 posts saved but just slightly more than half actually published. I often have a seed of an idea to share so I save a quick one- or two-line note on the idea.

Let's pad things up a bit. Here's a fun experiment. Over the last year, I've been thinking about the detritus of my Internet history and found it might tell you a lot about what I browse through in my spare time. I use Google Chrome right now and my browser will bring up a suggested domain with the entry of just one letter. So here with no particular apology or emphasis are the alphabetical list of what comes up first for each letter. Some of these sites I like very much and would recommend. Some of them are just practical. None of these are work-related, as I use a different browser profile for work. Note that some of these may not be safe for work, so you've been warned.

1. Amazon.com - We have a prime account, watch prime video and do quite a bit of online shopping here. We bought nearly all of our Christmas gifts this year online. That being said, as a company Amazon is lead by a rich oligarch I'd personally toss into the sea given the chance. I could rant about this for a while, but the recent trend of wealthy assholes playing astronaut while the world suffers makes me ill. There's some hypocritical actions here, buying from a company that I am so uncomfortable with. But I'm fully in support of government action against the company. Me personally boycotting any one company won't make that much of a difference.

   Second to Amazon, the most-frequently visited sites that start with "A" include some I own:

   • Arconati.us - A wiki for our family tree
   • Arconati.net - A 'news' blog about our family
   • Arconati.name - under construction
2. So... pretty early here we run into a webcomic that I follow for it's story and artwork, but the content is very much pornographic in nature 99% of the time. Not too worried to admit that, but I won't link it here. Instead, I'll link the second runner-up, Blogger.com. Obviously that's the blog software I use to publish this site and quite a number of others. I'm kind of on the fence about recommending it as a platform, as Wordpress seems much more likely to receive consistent development. Perhaps someday I'll migrate permanently, especially if Google ever drops the platform. I'm still bitter about Google Music.

   Here's a few of my other blogger blogs, besides this one.

   • Quotes Archive
   • Arconati Comedy Awards
   • Arconati Kid Korner

   Some runners-up for the "B" category...

   • Build-A-Bear Workshop, Inc - Where I work currently.
   • BibSonomy - A nerdy social bookmarking tool that I've been playing with for a while as a del.icio.us replacement.
3. Google Calendar - For a while now, in our family, we have been using a shared calendar to organize events and work schedules. Did I mention that both my older kids have jobs now? So keeping track of who is going to be where has been much easier with a shared digital calendar.
   • A runner-up for this list is CNN.com, which is one of a few trusted news sources I turn to when called for.
4. d20MONKEY by Brian Patterson - Here is another webcomic I followed very closely for a long time. This comic was largely about Dungeons & Dragons, and a gaming group of friends and their various interactions both in and out of game. The final post in the story was published late in 2020, but I have still returned here to catch up with the story from the beginning, read about some of Brian's homebrewed material and to await the next story called Innsmouth Garden Society.

   There are a number of other Dungeons & Dragons related domains that come up in the list for "D" here that I should mention.

   • D&D Beyond - a great site for D&D 5e players to create characters, campaigns, and encounters. I've been using this for all the games I've been running lately and it's just great.
   • donjon; RPG Tools - another great site with a bunch of D&D tools for game masters to help randomly generate character names, monster encounters, maps, and treasure.
   • 5etools - This one is a secret treasure trove.
   • The Hypertext d20 SRD - and one more great RPG site, although this one has fallen down the list a bit with some of the others I frequent more often.

   Also coming up for "D"...

   • Google Drive
5. Example Domain - This is an example site, but I use it more often than you might think to test just about anything from my browser to my network connection.
6. Fantasy Name Generators is another site I use often for Dungeons & Dragons, to come up with a quick list of character names very quickly. And there are generators for different species and different themes. Do you need ten Ewok Names from Star Wars? How about Legendary Creatures based on the names of real-world legends? Or how about Maiar Names from Lord of the Rings?
7. Gmail tops this list, but coming in a close second is another webcomic I've followed for the longest time. It's also based on D&D and it's called Order of the Stick, hosted on Giant in the Playground Games. It follows the adventures of a stick figure band of adventurers out to save the world.
8. How Many Days Until Star Wars? was a website I visited often to see the latest countdown to whatever was going to be the next Star Wars movie in the saga. I first learned about it back before Episode VII, then watched it closely for Rogue One, Solo and Episodes VIII and XI (not necessarily in that order). It appears the domain is no longer serving a countdown timer anymore, replaced with a generic "coming soon" message. That may be because there are no current plans for a full-length Star Wars film, only short-form shows and shorts on Disney+ for the moment. There ARE rumors of upcoming projects that will be developed, but no release dates yet.
9. Imgur - Here's one of the few social media sites I still enjoy. Kind of an anonymous image/gif/video sharing site, very much started as a quick way to share images on Reddit. It's just a fun place to see new images every day, funny and irreverant.
10. JustWatch - The Streaming Guide - This is a great site if you have multiple streaming sites and would like to watch a particular film that occurs to you, but you aren't sure what streaming site it might be available on. If you create an account and set your preferences for the streaming services you do have, you can get immediate search results specific to you.
11. Google Keep - My favorite note keeping app, connected with my Google account. You can make shopping lists, idea lists, long form notes, capture photos, draw doodles, all kids of stuff. It connects with your email, calendar, Google appliances, and so on.
12. LinkedIn - Another social media site. LinkedIn is a professional profile site and for the most part avoids a lot of the issues of other sites. I visit infrequently enough that I'm surprised to see it come up first. Since I've been off of Facebook for so long, this is the only way I keep in touch with former coworkers. I've also been doing a bit of networking with other musicians more recently so that's fun.
13. Twitter - And one more social media site, which comes up next for it's mobile.twitter.com subdomain. I dumped the Twitter app off my phone but kept browsing to the mobile site. It turns out the mobile version was also "better" at the time in desktop browser so I stuck with it. Nowadays I can't tell the difference visibily, but I keep typing 'M' when I want to check out Twitter.

    Any more 'M' sites?

    • Musescore.com - A sheet music repository as well as a great composition/arranging tool. I've use Musescore for a while now, but I've been using it lately for arranging band music.
14. NPR - One of my favorite news sites these days. Back when I was commuting to work and Reese was driving me, so she could have the car, we would often listen to and discuss the topics on the 1A show. I now listen to the show occasionally through the podcast app in Spotify.
15. Reddit - What can I say? I like Reddit despite the toxic reputation it sometimes has. This one comes up for the old.reddit.com subdomain, which I prefer on desktop. I used to have an account that I used, but now I just browse the frontpage as a guest.
16. Pinterest is a surprise, since I don't think that I visit this site very often. I save inspirational ideas for gaming, fantasy maps and music reference stuff.
17. Questionable Content is another webcomic I follow regularly. It's about a bunch of 30-somethings living in New England. It's modern day, except there are robots everywhere and there are a few other subtle differences because of that.
18. Reddit comes up next, and I browse the front page on my phone. On desktop I prefer the old.reddit.com as it's more my speed. Again, I stopped using my actual account years ago, but still browse as a guest. Pretty sure it's not a place I'd recommend to a lot of people, as it can be a shithole. Perhaps I should take my own advice? A second "R" site is another adult-rated webcomic, which I won't be linking to.
19. I use Craigslist sometimes (which comes up for "S" because of stlouis.craigslist.org), searching for a good deal on a used trombone or marvelling at the free stuff people attempt to give away.
    • Additionally, Spotify comes in second for "S" in my browser.
20. Tumblr was the first social network my kids wanted to join. Strike that, Reese wanted a MySpace page from a very young age, but we said 'no' for so long that she eventually gave up. When she was old enough for an online account, we suggested Facebook but she wanted Tumblr. Which I had no experience with. So I signed up for Tumblr just to have a way to monitor what the kids were doing. After a while, I started to really like it so it's become something I check daily.
21. Utopia Studios, a rehearsal hall and recording studio here in St. Louis. I first learned about this place back in my Bullseye Womprats days, but I've been there a few times since then and it's nice. I don't really have much else that comes up for "U"...
22. Google Voice comes up for "V" and that's how I have my personalized cell number.
23. Woot is an online deals site that I've been a fan of since before it was a subsidiary of Amazon. I first learned of this site back in 2003 or so, and they specialized in having one special one-of-a-kind product deal for 24 hours (or until they sold out) and then they'd never have it again. Honestly, not as much of a fan since they joined the parent company. Their deals just don't seem as great.
24. xkcd is another important web-comic that I've followed for a good long time. I know I've mentioned them a number of times before. Very simple, usually one panel, stick figures, usually science related, often quirky and obscure.
25. YouTube is always good for some entertainment.
26. Zyi Li Music and Entertainment! I've recently mentioned my band MO ECHO, and of course our website comes up first for "Z". I check the site's calendar and other resources to see where I need to be, but also to keep up with the other lineups.

And that's the alphabetical list of everything that comes up in my browser suggestion box when I type in a single character. I sort of skipped numbers and special characters because most of them bring up nonsense results. Except I did include 5etools above with the "D" and other Dungeon & Dragons sites. Otherwise, these are the ones that I browse first and fastest alphabetically. I hope that was interesting.

MOVIE REVIEW: Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter

A while back I reviewed and gushed about the book Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter. And seriously it's a really great book. But shortly thereafter I meant to review the movie they made from the book. I was excited to learn they'd made a movie, but was a little perplexed as the book covered a lot of ground quickly, straddling the line between a historically accurate biography coupled seamlessly with a gothic-horror historic fiction story. And whereas Lisa and I missed the film in the theaters, we did rent it hoping that it would be a good rendition of the story.

Let me say this right away. This movie is terrible. Truly terrible.

It's angsty, over-the-top, campy and treats the subject matter with some sort of ignorant disdain. Don't ever watch it. I watched it and I hated it right away. My wife left the room within the first 20 minutes and refused to consume even one more frame. I powered through, hoping beyond hope that it might get better at some point and redeem itself or at least apologize for besmirching a book that resonated with me.

It did not. It could not. The only way for me to even remotely pretend to enjoy the film is to try to forget the book I love existed and mentally separate the two stories. AND that is a ridiculously hard mental exercise. Don't ever see this movie if you can avoid it.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

It's good. It's really good.

There has been some backlash among some fans, some anger that has divided the fan base. But it's better to throw all that to the side and just talk about the movie in and of itself. It may not be my favorite all-time film in the franchise, but it is close to the top of the pile.

It's funny that I liked it so much considering that the experience of enjoying it in the theater was so crazy and ruinous. Lisa ordered 6 tickets online, and we should have all been in the same row C of theater 14. When we got to the theater and printed the tickets, we found we were in three different rows of theater 13. Something with Fandango didn't sell enough tickets so they shuffled everyone into the next theater. And by shuffled, that meant we were all separate rows; A, E and C. I sat by myself, next to a total stranger who fell asleep four times and snored loudly. We got refunded for all the tickets and new passes for another show, but I still never want to go back to that theater.

Despite all that, the movie was a great ride. Two and a half hours of Star Wars action and story. It was wonderful. I can't wait to see it again.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

A Day Long Remembered...

In 24 hours from this very moment, I'll be sitting in a theater with my wife settling in and watching the next installment in the Star Wars saga. It goes without saying that I'm very excited.

It's been over three years since it was announced that George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Walt Disney. And it was obvious from the beginning there were going to be new movies. And I have been thinking about this day quite often, perhaps every day. Looking back over this time though, I've rarely written about it which is surprising even to me. I think because I juggle a plethora of emotions about it... some of them good anticipatory ones, and some of them fearful trepidatious ones. What is going to happen?

Will the movie be great? Impressive, unforgettable, revolutionary, spectacular, endearing?

Will it be horrible? Disappointing, lackluster, boring, predictable?

Of course, I have high hopes and everything looks like it will be amazing. Darn right it will be amazing. But... then I just don't know.

---

Really, though. Why haven't I been writing about these thoughts and feelings for the past several months? I could have written a few blog posts a week all this time and not covered everything I could likely say. Even at this late hour, I still have about ten different things to say all at once. Prioritizing...

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The first thing I want to mention is the lead up to Episode I. And also the reception afterwards. During 1999, I was very busy as I think I've mentioned before. News there would be a new Star Wars and news I would be a dad for the first time came almost simultaneously. And the due date and release date were the same week. "I hope they aren't the same day," I jokingly quipped. "Because I'd hate to miss the birth!" Of course, The Phantom Menace came out on the 19^th and firstborn emerged on the 20^th so all worked out well there. Worldwide expectations for how awesome the movie would be were high, perhaps too high. But I'll admit that despite everyone's hatred of Jar Jar, I left the theater that evening happy and only a little confused. I liked it, but not as much as I thought I would. For me personally, the days following were filled with baby planning and being a nervous new dad. We were very busy and I had little to no Internet access. What I'm trying to make clear is that it took me a few weeks or months to catch up to the fact that there was a strong bit of backlash against Jar Jar Binks and the whole saga of Star Wars. My own step-brother, whom I considered to be very nearly as big a Star Wars fan as I was, vehemently hated it and vowed not to watch the following prequels. That seemed way harsh to me then and still does. Come to think of it, I don't know that he ever backed down from that. It's possible he'll be avoiding The Force Awakens as well.

I think of that moment in time and I want to say something to fellow fans who might leave the theater tomorrow disappointed. I'm not sure what I'd say. Squelch it? Sit on your disappointment for a bit, or at least keep it out of earshot of little kids or anyone else who might have liked it? I don't know. Maybe all of those things.

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The other thing I want to say I think is the most important of all. At the release of this movie, I'll have a bit of a moment of mourning. As these new movies about the further adventures of Luke, Han, Leia and all become canon in the minds and hearts of everyone including me, it means that the final bell will toll for a completely different set of stories that was supposed to be the canonical versions of what happened to our heroes. If you didn't know, starting in 1991, there were a series of books published as part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. As a ramp up to the prequels that Lucas was working on and potentially to test the waters of fan reception, they hired writers to craft new stories set in the Star Wars universe to share what happened to everyone after the end of Return of the Jedi. Timothy Zahn's initial trilogy was an especially good example, and it was set 5 years later. Han and Leia are married and expecting twins. Luke is planning to rebuild the Jedi Academy. The last few dregs of the once great Galactic Empire are still there, but diminished in power. New enemies emerge --like Grand Admiral Thrawn.

From 1991 on, there were many books and under the careful supervision of Lucasarts and George himself, they were all kept as part of the same continuity. And from a canonical point of view, given the full blessing. This was what was officially happening to these characters in the years after the film ended. And chronologically, they filled up quite a few "years" of fictional time in that universe. Some stories went so far as to follow Luke all the way up into his own marriage, birth of a son and becoming a grand 60 year old Jedi Master.

When it was first announced that they'd be making new movies, many fans like myself wondered where in this set of stories --when in the canonical chronology-- would these new movies take place? Would they make the much loved Timothy Zahn trilogy into movies? Would they pick a different book? Would the movies be new stories that fit BETWEEN the book stories?

Or, as I feared, would Disney take a giant axe to the entire swath of the published --and previously canonical-- Expanded Universe and declare it to be null and void? In the end, that is exactly what they decided to do.

In order to give maximum creative freedom to the filmmakers and also preserve an element of surprise and discovery for the audience, Star Wars Episodes VII-IX will not tell the same story told in the post-Return of the Jedi Expanded Universe. While the universe that readers knew is changing, it is not being discarded. Creators of new Star Wars entertainment have full access to the rich content of the Expanded Universe. For example, elements of the EU are included in Star Wars Rebels. The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems are story elements in the new animated series, and all these ideas find their origins in roleplaying game material published in the 1980s.

I loved those books and treasured them close to my heart. And for this reason, I'm sad. These engaging stories that I've spent many hours and days reading and enjoying have been demoted to fanciful, non-official, non-canon, alternate universe stuff. To be fair, I completely understand the decision and admit that if I were in charge at Disney (and I needed to recoup the money that was paid out for the rights to Star Wars) I can't think of any way to make the movies inclusive of the stories in the books. I hate to present an uncomfortable problem I'm unhappy about when I don't have a better solution in mind.

There it is anyway. When the next movie becomes a reality for me, it will mean that the "Legends" stories I read in high school will be less of a reality in some way. Don't get me wrong, I'll ecstatically adore the new film (as I already do), but there's just a tiny bit of sadness to go along with it.

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And... That's all I've got time for tonight. Tomorrow night at this point, the whole world will have seen the next Star Wars movie. Here's hoping it will great. May the Force be with you.

For Everyone That Saw... Men In Black

There's a scene I will always remember... The scene where the police officer rolls the gurney with the dead body into the morgue... and the Dr. signs for it...

The deceased had a pet cat with them when they died... and it's still sitting with them. The doctor asked What's up with the cat?

Oh him? Yeah, there's a problem with the cat. Sign here please. Cop hands a clipboard over.

As the doctor signs, she asks What's the problem with the cat?

Taking the clipboard back and exiting quickly the cop answers: He's now your problem.

The Clone Wars on Netflix

I know what I'm doing this weekend.

Liam Neeson returns to ‘Star Wars’ in this trailer for the final season of ‘The Clone Wars’ | The Verge

In the wake of Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm, many current Star Wars projects were cancelled, including the animated series The Clone Wars. The 13 final episodes will be debuting on Netflix instead, and in this new trailer we get a sense of what's in store. In the final season — dubbed “The Lost Missions” — actor Liam Neeson returns to the franchise to reprise his role as the slain Jedi Qui-Gon Jinn, where he directs Yoda to visit Dagobah, the same swampy planet that Luke Skywalker visits in The Empire Strikes Back.

In case you're not familiar with The Clone Wars, the animated series takes place in between the second and third Star Wars prequels, allowing it to feature characters like Anakin Skywalker and Mace Windu. Overseen by Dave Filoni, the show originally aired on the Cartoon Network and spawned several video game spinoffs before production was brought to a halt. Filoni has now moved on to another animated show, Star Wars Rebels, which will chronicle the era between the prequels and the classic trilogy. The final season of The Clone Wars, along with every other episode of the series, will be available on Netflix on March 7th.

I had previously read that the final season of the show was coming to Netflix streaming, but I was not sure if all the earlier seasons would be available as well. And as if that wasn't enough of a pleasant surprise, I found out that I am not the only one in the house excited to see these. As mentioned in a previous post, I'm happy to be introducing my son to Star Wars. Since I may have overdone things with exposing my daughters to Star Wars, I'd assumed neither of them would be interested. But Olivia actually jumped excitedly when she learned this show would be available for us to binge on. Sammy recognizes some of the characters because in addition to the previous animated series, he's also been playing Star Wars Lego quite a bit lately. In fact, I got a second Wii controller for my birthday (to replace a broken one) and the two of us have played together for many evenings in a row. But right now we are about to watch the show. And -here -we -go...

First there is a full length movie to kick off the series. In 2008, this played in the theaters when it was originally released. I went to see it, but probably could have waited for it to be broadcast. Don't get me wrong, it's actually very good. But it's just not an epic like the films. This probably could have been a two-part pilot for the series instead and I'd bet that was the original intent. The film opens quickly without much preamble and no opening credits. There is an immediate voice-over narrator urgently introducing the action and getting you in the right frame of mind. This method harkens back to old style serial films, purposely evoking the Flash Gordon stuff that George Lucas loved so much. You almost expect him to say... "When last we left our heroes..."

The clone wars are galaxy wide now after the Battle of Geonosis. The droid armies of the Separatists, led by Count Dooku and General Grievous are striking and gaining a foothold against the Republic's clone troopers led by the Jedi. Obi-Wan and Anakin are in the middle of a battle facing hard odds when a new Padawan is introduced. Ahsoka Tano is a new Jedi apprentice who has been assigned to Anakin Skywalker as his first trainee. And perhaps he's not ready for one, or simply doesn't want one. But there's a battle going on, another wave of droids is on their way and there's no time to discuss the matter. By the time the smoke clears and our heroes prevail, Skywalker has decided to keep her around. He sees some spark in her, or something that reminds him of himself.

A question that I've always wondered about Ahsoka. This series takes place between Episode II and Episode III. She is introduced here and is Anakin's apprentice. But she's not mentioned or referenced in Episode III. Did she survive the clone wars? Does she ever complete her training? What happens to her? What affect could her fate have on Anakin? I haven't read any spoilers anywhere on this yet... but I may weaken before we get to the other side of this show.

Sammy recognizes some of the more distinctive characters from both the animated series AND from the Lego game. Notables here include R2D2 (of course), C3PO and some other similar protocol droids, General Grievous, Jabba the Hutt, Yoda and possibly a few more.

So far tonight, we've watched the first movie and one more episode. Sammy started to tire of it and it's getting pretty late, but this is going to be fun.

[REVIEW] Batman: Under the Red Hood

Full Cast of Batman: Under The Red Hood Actors/Actresses

Tonight I'm going to try my hand at reviewing / watching Batman: Under the Red Hood. I've seen this one before, but haven't written about it. I'm a big fan of Batman's stories and this one fits well with the mythos. It caught my daughter Reese's and my attention because one of the voice actors is Jensen Ackles, whom we've watched for many years on Supernatural. I'd stopped watching that series past Season 5 or 6 as they'd admittedly jumped many sharks by then. But Reese has been watching it and catching up with old seasons on Netflix.

Also voice acting in Red Hood is Neil Patrick Harris (yay for Doogie Howser, M.D.) as Nightwing. As many of the Batman stories do, one of the subplots here is the dark knight's complicated relationship with Robin --or in certain derivations the many different characters who apprentice temporarily as Robin. Nightwing is a grown-up now, but he started out as the original Robin. When he moved on and became Nightwing, Batman groomed a new apprentice. And unfortunately, just as we are being introduced to that young man within the first few minutes of this movie, he ...

--Spoilers--

...He meets his tragic end. Fast forward several years and Batman is on his own working a new case in a Gotham that is relatively low on crime. There's a mob boss called the Black Mask that is amassing power and Batman is foiling him whenever possible. But now there enters a new player on the scene.

The Red Hood

Many different criminals have worn a red hood and gone by that moniker in the history of Gotham. Apparently, even the Joker once worked with that alias. But this new Red Hood is an unknown entity. He has an AK-47, a motorcycle, a matching black leather jacket. He talks threateningly, backs it up with surprising force and has some impressive gadgets. When he first goes toe-to-toe with Batman, it's clear immediately that he is also highly prepared and trained.

He escapes from our heroes and even temporarily disables Nightwing. Which is too bad because I would have enjoyed hearing more from NPH in this flick.

Through flashbacks and a good detective story, we start to learn there is much more going on with hoodie. He keeps dropping hints to bait the bat. And it's his developing arc and the reveal of his genesis that make this a deep story. There's action in abundance, good art and the voice work from all players is amazing. Besides Jensen, there's a high visibility list of other actors; Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike from Star Trek), John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter) and huge list of others you might recognize. If you like Batman, if you like dark stories, if you like these actors, ... and even if you don't, check this one out.

Which is Better, Star Wars or Star Trek?

The question was posed once again today. I've written about this on my blog previously and would have hoped the debate was forever settled. Haha. But of course this one will forever be debated and it's an admittedly fun question.

Which is better; Star Wars or Star Trek, or are they equal?

Being the Star Wars fan (and Star Trek fan) that I am, I felt compelled to weigh in. Here's what I said.

---

Alrighty kids, sit down and be prepared to listen because Old Man Arconati has something important to say and you best listen up and listen well.

First off, like I said earlier, they are totally and completely different and can't be compared; apples to oranges. It's like asking... Who is better at sports, Tiger Woods or Sam Bradford? Sure you could sit there and come up with weird ways of measuring overall sport skills like strength, endurance and such, but that doesn't change the fact that comparing the two is weird and pointless. The only reason you are even comparing the two franchises (and ignoring other sci-fi stuff like Firefly, Doctor Who, and War of the Worlds) is because they both have "Star-" in the title.

Star Trek is a great serial sci-fi drama series. There is technology and space travel and aliens, but the main point of all of that backdrop is as a metaphorical vehicle for drama. The interpersonal relationships of the crew are explored at length, their development arc, their growth and so on. There are moral lessons in each episode, but at the end of each 44 minute span, everything is put right once more and the crew travel on.

Star Wars is an epic saga and whereas there is also tech, space travel and aliens... there's also "magic" e.g. The Force. And there are elements of westerns as well, with gunfights and shootouts. It's also classical swashbuckling, with the sword-fighting and the swinging over caverns and the rescuing of maidens. It is also a classic "Heroes Journey" which is a constantly used trope in a lot of literature. Luke is the reluctant farm-boy hero, dragged into a galactic conflict he is not prepared for, but through which he eventually triumphs.

They are both great. I like Star Wars more personally, but it was a bigger deal to me in my childhood. My point is that you can't compare them in any empirical way that really matters. That's it, I'm done.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Last Airbender

Hey, I just posted a movie review over at Arconati Kid Korner for The Last Airbender. Go check it out and let me know what you think.

I've mentioned writing book reviews before but I also want to write about movies sometimes, so this is what you get today. I started writing the review shortly after seeing the movie over the holiday weekend in Chicago with my in-laws. I was writing it on their new computer with Windows 7, something else I could review (harshly)... but not right now.

Update (2010-07-11): There is a rather scathingly funny review of The Last Airbender on Cracked.com that you should check out. They place the blame pretty squarely on the director, M. Night Shyamalan. Perhaps they are correct, but my thought is that to err is human but to really screw things up requires an entire film crew.

Remaking "Star Wars" Like They Remade "Star Trek"

On the one hand, the article I'm linking to here made me want to stand up and scream in denial. In fact, I urge you to do the same with me now:

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *gasp* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ... Sweet powers of all that is sacred from my childhood, NO NO NO NO NO NO!

Okay, that's almost out of my system. That being said ... and on the other hand...

Now that both Batman and Star Trek have enjoyed cinematic reinventions, it's only a matter of time before Hollywood reboots the franchise that rebooted entertainment itself. Here's how the inevitable Star Wars reinvention could be fantastic instead of embarrassing.

Star Wars Script
Originally uploaded by Richard Moross

Here's the point where I want to be the advocate for both sides of a discussion and give this idea a fair shot. Here is where I want to point out that the article is actually good on a few points. I'll do that, but it's very difficult. IF you assume that a reboot / remake / reinvention of the saga that is Star Wars will inevitably happen in our life time, there are a lot of ways it could go very wrong. The article makes it's best point about the fact this remake idea is very likely given the way Hollywood works. And if it is going have any chance whatsoever of being decent enough to prevent riots, the suggested rules in the article are definitely good. In fact, it's kind of exciting to imagine the cool 'what-if's that could happen.

But.... please? Don't make this happen, okay? Just one favor for me from the entire movie industry. I promise I won't ever ask for anything else as long as I live. I mean, I love Star Wars and since Episode III has come and gone from the public's excitement, I've certainly daydreamed what it would be like to go back and have the whole franchise start over from film "one" (Episode IV? Episode I?) and do it with modern actors and modern film making. If I were in charge, what would I change? Certainly I've thought of some of the same details mentioned in the article, as well as many others. For instance, how would the series be different if R2 had those jet pack things all the way through? And if Grievous' body suit is supposed to be the precursor to Vader's body suit, why is it that Grievous can do so many... Wait, what am I saying?! Oh, crud, I'm getting sucked into the idea.

The worst possible thing this article has done is possibly put the idea into someone's head who (a) hadn't thought of it before and (b) might have the power to make it happen. Perhaps that's the point. We were all thinking about it. Let's at least agree on some ground rules about how it SHOULD be done. Let's remind everyone what was so cool about the series the first time around and make sure we keep that core. Perhaps that's the point.

I'm still very conflicted about the article as well as the whole idea. Go read How To Reboot Star Wars and decide for yourself.

Best Movies Seen in 2007

I've seen only three of these, all of which I recommend -

• 300
• Happy Feet
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

UnSpun by Amazon: Best Movies Seen in 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I've previous mentioned Harry Potter. Lisa did finish the newest and final book over the last weekend. Truth be told, I've not read any of the books, but I'm starting now on the first. I know that it seems odd considering that I've seen the movie already, but it's important to me. Although I know some details of the two books not yet made into films, there are still some details and surprises left in store that I look forward to.

Thank you to anyone who respects this and is careful not to reveal the surprises right now.

Harry Potter

I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix over the weekend. I thought it was a wonderful movie, although I thought perhaps that the movie prior to this one, Goblet of Fire was a better story overall.

Now all Harry Potter fans (like my wife and I) can concentrate their efforts on the countdown to the new book coming out this weekend.

Want a counter like this one? Visit MuggleNet and get your own for your desktop or website.

300 - The Movie

I saw "300" over the weekend. Very good film. I recommend anyone and everyone (okay, mostly just the guys) to go see this movie right now. Find out where it's available at Movie Showtimes - Google Search. Find out more about 300 - The Movie.

Seen it already? What did you think?

Which Is Your Favorite Star Wars Movie?

Pick which is your favorite Star Wars movie:

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Please view the Poll Results when you are finished.

Can We Talk About Fight Club?

Tyler Durden said:

Listen up maggots. You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

But is this true? Scientifically, there is nothing different about the carbon and other molecules that make up my body from the carbon molecules in all the plants and animals that have ever lived.

Yet, Tyler Durden is wrong. Or at least, what he says doesn't match well with Yoda:

Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter!

That is one of my favorite lines. I quoted this one day a long time ago in my college Biology 101 class at Quincy University. Dr. Natalini was talking about the chemicals that the body and brain were made up of and that they were relatively common and unimportant. Without being quite so shocking, he was basically stating exactly what Tyler would later say in the movie.

But I knew that Natalini was a Star Wars fan. I also knew that the university was a Christian institution and there were devout students in the room who were my friends. So I raised my hand and asked him what that meant in light of what Yoda said. If he'd had a comeback for that, I would have thought up something about the Bible and God, though I wasn't what I consider a Christian at the time.

He looked at me like I was crazy, paused silently for a moment and continued on as if I hadn't said anything. But then again, he did that a lot. Thanks Dr. J.

As a reminder, you have been warned not to talk about FightClub. But you can still buy the DVD.

Bible Quote From Pulp Fiction

My journey as a christian began late in life, after marriage and kids. I was also raised a Catholic and apparently, the learning of Bible verses was not an effective part of my religious education, both formal (PSR class) and informal (sitting in church).

Therefore, it is not surprising that the first verse from the Bible that I memorized was from a movie that came out while I was in college called Pulp Fiction. I imagine that I am like a lot of the group from my generation in that respect. The quote is used fully twice in the film and is spoken by a hitman named Jules, played by one of my favorite actors, Samuel L. Jackson. It goes like this..

Ezekiel 25:17

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.

In truth, the film is a classic, though violent in the extreme --a surprise for Quentin Tarantino, to be sure-- and certainly treats the bible quote irreverantly.

FoxTrot recently lampooned the quote for their newspaper and online edition. Since the link I found it on will likely be dead in 205.3592 seconds, I will post a thumbnail below.

Do you want to know the truth behind this Bible verse? It is misquoted.

It's not that this should have been a surprise, least of all to me when I looked it up more recently. I expected it to be a little off obviously, but not by this much.

The 25^th chapter of Ezekiel is --in my limited understanding-- a warning and a list of lands and peoples that had turned away from God and to whom His anger would soon be shown. Noted are Ammonites, Moab, Edom, and Philistines. The last section of which, A Prophecy Against Philistia, is the closest in relation to what was said in the movie.

Ezekiel 25:15-17

¹⁵ This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah, ¹⁶ therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am about to stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Kerethites and destroy those remaining along the coast. ¹⁷ I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I take vengeance on them.

The effect is not quite as chilling as the movie upon first reading, but when you consider the implications to those living in these lands about to be punished by a living God, it sounds very dire. Check these out for yourself.

• BibleGateway.com - Ezekiel 25:1-17
• Ezek. 25
• Book of Ezekiel information

The final thought? Not really sure. I'd say that the film-maker should have read the Bible more carefully, but that's not important. Perhaps what I came to realize is that I should read the Bible more and watch movies less, but I didn't need Pulp Fiction to tell me that, now did I?

Okay, what do I really feel? Shame on me. There is still a long way to go. Lord, walk with me.

More Information

Updated 2010-04-12

• Secrets Of "Pulp Fiction"(5/95) by Roger Ebert
• Wikipedia: Pulp Fiction: Jules' Bible Passage
• Pulp Fiction Movie Blooper

Apparently, this misquote was done on purpose to (a) heighten the dramatic effect and (b) to pay an homage to other films of which Tarantino was a big fan. Now you know!

"Revenge of the Sith" hits DVD

My collection will be complete on November 1^st. Read more on MSNBC Home » Entertainment » Movies » DVDs.

Update: It's available on Amazon.com: Star Wars - Episode III, Revenge of the Sith (Widescreen Edition).

Star Wars III Again!

I'm going tomorrow night to see Revenge of the Sith again.