In the present moment

I went walking today. This is nothing unusual, especially for someone who is medically required to exercise if he doesn't want nasty things to happen to him. Again. I have a favorite walking trail two miles from my workplace, and it makes a nice break in the day to get away from work, and put myself in the midst of trees, water and sky. I liked to do this before my forced vacation, so, again, nothing unusual there.

What made today different is I noticed noticing things. The past two days, I stepped down onto the gravel track, and been met with the warm, moist smells of the vegetation; no doubt pounded into the air by the sun. I have been struck by plants I have walked by hundreds of times, yet am only now seeing. And I was very surprised today to learn just how much I enjoy tramping through the heat. It is, in a way, cathartic to feel the way my body responds to what are, frankly, dangerous levels of sun and humidity. I find myself responding to it the same way I do a hot bath, or a sauna. It was tiring, and a little draining. But I find I am beginning to enjoy exercise. Just a little.

On my commutes back and forth to work, I find myself seeing trees and plants that I have gone past before — in this case thousands of times — only now, I see them. Now, I care that they're there. The other day at choir, I had to take a moment, leave my seat, and walk down to a place where I could see the light playing through the stained glass windows. Just a minute ago, I finished off a long day at work by coming home and winding up on my knees in front of my trailer, helping my wife plant purple Iris bulbs. We were frantically digging in hard clay, trying to beat the storm clouds before they drenched us. It was hard work, more than a little tiring, and I loved every moment of it. Well, maybe not the part where the dogs kept trying to lay in the holes on top of the Irises so we'd pet them, but it didn't matter — I was gardening. I was finally unleashing my inner hobbit. Or, at least, a part of him I didn't give vent to in college.

The point of all this is that I seem to find myself alive these days. The Buddhists, who I admire a great deal, might call this condition awake. Mind you, I don't think I'm truly awake, by Buddhist standards. After all, I just powered through three southwest chicken tornados, seven cheese pizza roles and a grape popsicle I barely noticed — not a very mindful way of eating. But I suppose it's a start.

New loves, and old

I am in the midst of enjoying my Father's Day weekend, but wanted to take a break from being spoiled royally rotten to update my loyal readers on a couple of budding interests of mine (pun at least partially intended — see next paragraph).

As the prospect of returning to work loomed large on my horizon, I was suddenly struck with an appreciation of growing things. I have always loved nature, and find trees both comforting and fascinating — when I take the time to notice them, that is. And I have always regretted that I wasn't one of those people who spent their weekends canoeing, hiking or climbing things.

One morning, a couple of weeks ago, I was enjoying my wife's flower boxes on my front porch and the slight valley that is my privilege to view every day, when I was suddenly struck with the notion that this — the plants thriving under the morning sun and the birds wheeling in the sky in the valley — was what was real. The day-to-day things that we humans put importance on are often little more than complicated games compared to the world that God has put around us. If we were all to disappear tomorrow, the myriad of green, growing things, and the multitude of life moving and breathing amongst them, would continue with barely a blink. I actually found it to be a comforting notion, and I was reminded of Matthew 6: 26-34, most strongly the "consider the lilies of the field..." passage (although, as I re-read the passage while I'm typing this, I would been very moved by the part about the "fowls of the air," as I distinctly remember watching the birds soaring across the fields before me. It was a very strong lesson in the true place of anxiety and our often-misguided priorities in the face of God's kingdom, and I hope, a lasting one.

Since that moment, I have been cultivating an interest in things that grow (another pun — sorry 'bout that). I have started paying attention to the species of trees that surround me every day, thanks to a field guide loaned by my father, and I am slowly learning the types of flowers my wife has planted on the porch (and how to care for them). Not only that, but I have actually purchased two house plants, and am trying my best not to kill them. So far, they are cooperating by continuing to live.

In short, I think I might be in the nascent stages of becoming a gardener, but it's too soon to tell.

The other interest is in Le Mans Circuit racing. Briefly put, this is a type of racing in which four different classes of modified or purpose-built sports cars race at the same time. In two of the classes, GT1 and GT2, the cars are recognizable as coming from street-model cars like Corvettes and Porches. The other two (and my favorites) are "Le Mans prototypes," which feature cutting-edge engineering, new automotive technologies, and high top speeds. The circuit is based in Europe, and its jewel is the Le Mans 24 Hours, a venerable 24-hour road race held at the famous 8-½ mile Circuit de la Sarthe track in France. The race is made of about 55 teams of three drivers sharing one car, aided by a small army of mechanics and engineers, each trying to drive as far as possible in 24 hours.

I got hooked on the concept when I was on my back, after I watched a film called "Truth in 24." Available as a free download on iTunes, the film tells the story of last year's race. Something about the whole thing grabbed me, and I was fortunate enough to be able to watch about 10 hours of this year's race in between celebrating my daughter's birthday. Many people would find this tedious (including, apparently, the bulk of my countrymen, since it was virtually ignored outside of the Speed network). Not me. I was enchanted by the drama and flow of the race, and I am looking forward to following the rest of the season. I even have a favorite driver (Allan McNish of Scotland) and team (Audi Sport).

The discovery of Le Mans reminds me very much of the sort of excitement I felt many years ago, when I was a growing figure skating fan. I eventually fell away from that sport when it became clear that it would never shake itself free of the politics it was mired in — politics that often impacted the final results more than the quality of the skating. But the general emotions I'm feeling are the same — mostly excitement at just how much there is to learn about this new sport, and wonder at how much I'm enjoying it.

Finally, for the old. I have been pleasantly reminded of my past this week. My wife stumbled across a PBS showing of Chess in Concert. Chess is a musical — nearly an opera, really — about two world chess champions from the US and Soviet Union in the late 70s and early 80s. I became a fan after I was introduced to it by a friend (who also did a fair job of turning me into a fan of the game), and I subsequently introduced my fiancee to it. When we were on our honeymoon in England, we were fortunate enough to see it performed at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End. In retrospect, having seen it at all is something of an accomplishment, since the show only lasted three years there, and a retooled version for Broadway audiences closed after only eight weeks.

Suffice it to say, the musical is a dear favorite of ours, both from a shared artistic fondness as well as a sentimental attachment. Our copy of the Chess CD seems to have taken a walk sometime in the past 21 years, and it was a delight to hear the songs again in such capable hands as Idina Mendez, Josh Groban and Adam Pascal — the latter of whom is in my opinion the best actor to play the American champion since Murray Head, who created the role. He may even be a little better, but don't tell Murray that.

Anyway, my wife and I are resolved that we have lived without the Chess soundtrack for far too long, and we intend to replace it this weekend. The only question we have to debate is whether we want the original, or this newer version. Decisions, decisions …

Always in motion is the future

I've spent a bit of time wandering the Internet this morning, and I've picked up a couple of useful tidbits about the future of Star Wars. This is an important topic to me, since for Star Wars to live as a product, there always has to be something real and tangible to look forward to. And by real and tangible, I mean screen product; video games and EU novels aren't going to do it. The Clone Wars is an acceptable stop-gap for now. There are a lot of stories to be told about the two-and-a-half years between Geonosis and Mustafar, and although we saw some nice battle sequences from this period in Clones and Sith, there is a lot more to tell. Granted, I would have preferred a live action, and one that was a little less kid-friendly, but since the current show is helping my daughter become a more enthusiastic fan of the Saga, I officially have no complaints.

The scuttlebutt I read today had to do with the coming live-action series, which is set in the much more promising time of the years between the Clone Wars and Episode IV. There are a lot of characters here that I want to see more of, like every rebel general and leader shown in the movies, as well as some Imperials. Ackbar, Piett, Tarkin — there's a lot of ground to cover here, and I'm much more interested in the stories that will be told here than I am in the Clone Wars saga. 

Beware: Mild Spoilers Ahead

So the news is that production for the new series is starting to ramp up, which means that pretty soon the Lucasfilm PR machine will start posting tidbits on the website about what is to come. As I alluded in my previous post, the folks at Lucasfilm are masters at building up anticipation for new screen product. Far from faulting them for it, I'm actually counting on it. So I am officially beginning to follow posts about where they might be filming (current rumors include Czechoslovakia and the old Mos Espa set in Tunisia, but nothing has been confirmed), and which actors will be cast. Again, the current news here is the actor who played Captain Typho may have a role. I'm just fine with this as long as it doesn't involve his uncle, Captain Downer…er, Tanaka. I didn't like his character, and from what little I heard in interviews, liked the actor playing him even less.

The other rumor I encountered was that production was beginning on Episodes VII-IX of the Star Wars Saga. Now, while the post I read quoted "very reliable" (but safely anonymous) sources, I have to chalk this one up to fan boy wishful thinking. George has said he will not make any more films, and wants to devote himself to other projects. So far, this means Red Tails, the story of the Tuskegee airmen, which is long overdue for a big-screen treatment. I really think that George is content to let others mine the gold of the Star Wars universe for a time, both literally and figuratively, and concentrate on other projects, albeit at a leisurely pace.

But this got me thinking: if it were true, would we even want to see Episodes VII-IX? Granted, I have always wanted to see what Master Skywalker, General Solo and Premier Organa-Solo (or would it be Master Organa-Solo?) would look like. Of these, I am most intrigued by what Han would have become in the years after the fall of the Empire. Although originally not a fan of the character, I have lately been very intrigued by the journey that Han Solo undergoes in the original trilogy as originally released. I am very interested in what would become of him in later years. In my mind, I see a distinguished but still somewhat cynical figure with a greying goatee, but that's just me.

Next would be Leia; I have always wanted to see what she would look like as a Jedi, and have always wanted to know how her own Jedi education progressed. Oddly, the EU canon never got around to exploring that except in the most intangible, peripheral way (at least in the books that I read), which is another reason I don't like the EU. They are much more interested in portraying Leia as a galactic soccer mom who runs the New Republic on the side, which is decidedly not the direction Lucas intended for the character as laid out in Return of the Jedi. Of course, given the whole Jedi non-attachment doctrine he laid out in Clones, neither she nor Luke could ever have families anyway.

Finally, Luke, one of my favorite characters. I really don't need to see Mark Hamill as a wizened Yoda figure, since I can already see it in my head so clearly. It would be fun, but for me, actually a little redundant.

Which brings us to the main reason for this post: do we really need any more Star Wars films? The rabid fan boy in me is screaming "YES! OF COURSE!  WHAT, ARE YOU KIDDING!" But given the Saga as a whole, are there any more stories that need to be told? We have seen the fall of Anakin Skywalker, and we have seen his redemption. Anything further would mean that one of the classic trilogy characters falls to the Dark Side in one way or another — a possibility I am vehemently against, dramatically  — or the drama would have to come from offspring. I do not need to see a movie about Jacen and Jaina Solo — I'm not even sure that they exist, outside of Timothy Zahn's imagination. I do not need to see the characters that made Star Wars work to begin with relegated to sidekick status in someone else's story; although seeing Luke in the New Hope Obi-Wan Kenobi role would be fun. And most especially, I do not need to see the characters become caricatures of their former selves, a la William Shatner's Kirk. 

So if there are to be new films, which I very much doubt, they need to be done for the right reasons, dramatically. They need to fit in with the existing movie canon. There needs to be a real reason to make them, and a real story to tell. If so, I'll be the happiest man on the planet. But I do not think these films need to be made, save for the fact that they would add to George's already abysmally deep pockets. 

I will be returning to work tomorrow, so this may be my last post for a time. I have enjoyed writing these posts immensely, and I very much hope I'm wrong, and that I will continue to be able to dabble in this world. But my time is about to come under normal, human constraints, rather than the extended vacation hours I've been enjoying, and I don't know what the fallout will be yet. Hopefully, I'll see you soon.

A long time ago…

In my recent Internet wanderings, I have noticed a few articles pointing out that this summer is the 10th anniversary of The Phantom Menace being released. Just now, I stumbled across an article on Popcorn Monster by Dan Geer, listing his Top 10 Memories of Anticipating The Phantom Menace. Go check it out — I'll wait.

While I absolutely love the memories I have of waiting for the release of new Star Wars movies, particularly Revenge of the Sith and The Empire Strikes Back, I don't think anything can possibly match the buildup and excitement I felt at the prospect of seeing Phantom the first time. Think of it — the first new Star Wars movie in nearly two decades! Many people, me included, had given up on the idea of another movie. Then, one day, the announcement came, and the waiting began.

The hype around the new film was everywhere — you couldn't get away from it if you wanted to, which I definitely did not. In many ways, the anticipation leading up to the movie was more enjoyable than the film itself. I don't mean to detract from the film: unlike a lot of people, I love Phantom, warts and all. It has some great characters, despite the fact that George keeps them on a leash through most of the film. Qui Gon is one of the best Jedi knights I've ever seen, and who doesn't love seeing Obi-Wan as a student instead of a teacher? Plus, it has two undeniably great Star Wars action sequences: the pod race, and one of the best lightsaber duels ever put to film. What's not to like?

But what I remember most of that long-ago summer is not seeing the film, but the build-up surrounding it. To that end, then, I have decided to post my own list of favorite memories, both before and after the release of Phantom, in no particular order.

• The games — During the long wait for Phantom to be released on VHS tape, one of the best ways to feed your Star Wars addition if you had a PC was with several Phantom titles that were released immediately after the film. Without question, my favorite was Star Wars Racer, otherwise known as "podracer." It did a fabulous job of putting you into the cockpit of each of the podracers shown in the film, plus a few new ones. Set at locations across the universe, the courses gave entertaining glimpses into their respective worlds, and it was often fun to play just to look at the scenery of the course you were running. I miss it to this day. Another staple was the Insider's Guide to The Phantom Menace. In the days before the Internet (and believe me, this was), resources like The Official Site were limited in the content they could deliver over dialup lines. The guide gave us enough SW content to keep busy for hours, including a host of database-style entries about the film and enough Quicktime clips of the film to hold us until the movie came out on video. All of this for only $25 — worth every penny in my book.
• The trailers — One of my favorite memories is waiting anxiously in front of my VCR, hand poised on the "record + play" buttons, for the end of the TV show Entertainment Tonight, and its promised debut of the trailer for the new Star Wars film. From the first moment that the Gungan Army came out of the mist to the backdrop of "Obi-Wan's theme," I was hooked. An even fonder memory is dubbing a copy onto a spare tape, labeling it "Watch Me," and putting it in the hands of my father moments before he left for the Virginia home of my nephews. They had renewed my own interest in the Saga years before; this was my chance to repay them in kind. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had been able to sneak myself to Virginia in the bargain so I could watch it with them. Later, I spent nearly five hours downloading a copy over my dialup line, then watched it over and over again who knows how many times. I could write a whole post on how much mileage I got out this trailer: My excitement at hearing the voice of Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan for the first time; the way I enjoyed seeing the moment Anakin and Obi-Wan met; hearing Yoda's voice again. I still get excited about the film when I watch the trailer to this day.
• The magazines — A matter of hours after my daughter had been born in 1997, I was in line at Wal Mart. After the birth, I had gone home to nap and get roses for my two girls, and was getting some last minute sundries before rejoining my newly-minted family. And there, in the "impulse buy" rack, was an Entertainment Weekly dated with my daughter's birthday, adorned with Ewan McGregor's face, and labeled "Inside the new Star Wars." Naturally, I snatched it up on site, and I was able to read it at my leisure during the next two days at the hospital. I have always gotten a kick out of the fact that God gave me a new daughter and the knowledge of a new Star Wars trilogy on the same day. I still have the magazine hidden away in a closet with some other SW memorabilia, where it remains a priceless relic. Near it is an "Official Guide" to the film, which I bought in Virginia after seeing the film. What makes that special is that I wore the cover off of a similar "official guide" that I bought for the original Star Wars back in the day. In retrospect, I didn't get nearly as much out of the newer version, and it was quickly tucked away in a safe place. But it still gave me a nice sense of continuity with the original film.
• The toys — Star Wars toys were everywhere, and I couldn't go into a Wal Mart before the release of the film without getting massive spoilers. I literally would avert my eyes anytime I saw a display, and consequently, nearly walked into more than a few people in the weeks leading up to the film. It got so bad that I would go to the toy aisle and just stand there, not looking at anything, but wanting to be next to the wall of action figures because it brought me that much closer to the film. One of my favorite memories after seeing the film was getting to go into a Wal Mart in Warrenton, VA, and finally just being able to look at what had been released. Unfortunately, I was too vapor-locked at my new freedom to actually buy anything, but I was able to make up for that later in spades.
• The camaraderie — To no one's surprise but mine, I determined to make the trip to Virginia to see the film for the first time with my fellow Jedi — who at that time were simply my fellow fans, the foundation of our own Jedi order still being some days away. I have seldom been more excited than when I made my way up the Shenandoah mountains at 5:45 a.m. that day in May, 1999. My wife and daughter were asleep, the Empire soundtrack was on the tape player, and I was beside myself with the knowledge that the next day, I would finally be seeing a new Star Wars film. To my surprise and great delight, my nephews and I subsequently made an impromptu decision to see the film that very afternoon. The cashier at the theater took one look at the four of us, bedecked in brand new Star Wars t-shirts (a gift from my sister), and said "Let me guess — you guys are here for The Mummy, right?" Once the film started, I remember my nephew, the Veiltender, watching me as my eyebrows raised at the first mention of "my young padawan" — the first time I'd ever heard that new tidbit about the Jedi. The film unrolled slowly, a contrast to the urgency and excitement I'd felt before. As the credits began rolling, they asked me what I'd thought of it. "I didn't want it to end," I said. Ten years later, I still don't.

Greetings from Tatooine!

Well, as I predicted, we're in full Star Wars mode this week. What can I tell you — a visit from Henri does that to me. I only wish he were still here to enjoy it. For that reason, visitors may find that this blog is temporarily reverting to the reason I initially started it in the first place; namely, a chance to vent about Star Wars. If you're not in the mood for that sort of thing, best skip a bit. Also, this post tends to be a bit on the negative side, so if you're not up for that right now, move along.

That said, I stumbled across an interesting tidbit about the Expanded Universe that I absolutely had to pass along to my fellow Jedi. I was browsing Wookiepedia yesterday, and for some reason was delving into the background of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy. For those who know me, or who have stumbled across my review of the first book in the trilogy on Goodreads, you'll know I pretty much despise Zahn's take on the Star Wars universe. His characters are near-godlike in their abilities and foresight, making Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia — who, before the Expanded Universe stories began, were once the heroes of the Star Wars universe — look like half-witted buffoons who are lucky enough to hang out with said main characters. Or unlucky enough to find them as adversaries.

This is a frequent complaint of mine about the EU novels, but Zahn originated the idea of the near-infallible EU character. He also spends a great deal of time trying to get the reader to share his delusions. Most of the time, he spends so much time telling us how great Grand Admiral Thrawn is, I half-believe the character is a real person who hired Zahn as a PR flack. The worst offender in my memory is when Wedge Antilles, one of Henri's favorite characters, ruminates on how the battle of Endor might have been different, if only Grand Admiral Thrawn had been there (cue scary music).

He also has the habit of making a lot of Rebel Alliance coalition members seem dirty and unlikable. In Return of the Jedi, Mon Mothma mentions the heroic Bothans who died getting the information about the second Death Star. After Zahn finished "fleshing out" the Bothans, they are so shifty, underhanded and downright unsympathetic, I found myself being deeply sorry that more of them hadn't been killed. I can, in all seriousness, name at least three Imperial officers from the movies that are infinitely more likable than all of Zahn's Bothans put together.

To polish things off, Zahn is so afraid of the Force as a dramatic device that he created ways to make it not work. He created the Ysalamiri so that Grand Admiral Thrawn could have a cocoon of invulnerability to the Force — essentially, Jedi kryptonite. He also created a predator, the Vornskr, who hunt the Ysalamari using the Force. I still haven't figured out how the Vornskr were able to cultivate the ability to use the Force while evolving on a planet that is essentially, because of the Ysalamiri, Force-dead, but nobody else seems to have a problem with it, so who am I to criticize?

Sorry. Tangent. Won't happen again. For this post, at least.

One of Zahn's creations was a Jedi Master named Joruus C'baoth. We later find out that he's an unstable clone of the original C'baoth, and as luck would have it, quite insane. He essentially fills the role of "evil Dark Force user" since Darths Vader and Sidious are no more. Like most of Zahn's characters, he's pretty much insufferable, and I remember hating his character only slightly less than Thrawn, albeit for similar reasons.

During my research yesterday, I discovered that Zahn had originally planned C'baoth to be an insane clone of Obi-Wan Kenobi. This is pretty much the last nail in the coffin for me with Zahn; you don't take the beloved mentor and turn him into the bad guy. The fact that Zahn wanted to do just that to give the book a little more oomph speaks volumes about him as a writer, Hugo award or no Hugo award. Like the Bothans, it ruins whatever good feelings you may have had about the character. As a literature device, it is on a par with making Han Solo a wife beater, or Luke a drunk — it has dramatic impact, but it is a cheap bit of sensationalism that has no respect for the integrity of the characters as they have been already shown.

The other important thing I discovered yesterday was that the only reason he didn't use the Obi-Wan clone idea was because George Lucas stopped him. Let's stop and think about that for a moment: the man who a lot of people blame for ruining Star Wars with the prequels stopped Timothy Zahn from turning one of the most beloved characters in the Original Trilogy into an evil and psychotic plot device for his own selfish ends. So the next time we start to bad-mouth George for his numerous (and somewhat valid) sins again the Franchise, let's remember that he was once a force for good.

As an epilogue, I have been mulling the idea of putting where my mouth is, and writing some Star Wars fiction of my own. If I decide to do it, I would take only the established six films as canon. This might teach me some respect for Mr. Zahn, who, to be fair, had the enormously intimidating job of adding on to a legend not of his own creation. I haven't come up with anything yet, but the wheels are starting to turn in that direction.

That's all for now, campers. I promise, I'll have some fun Star Wars content in my next post.