Much to report on. I'll start with the most important: Star Wars.
I went to Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith with Chad, Matt and Sarah last Wednesday at the opening Midnight Showing for the State of Alaska. This was an awesome time. Chad's got a great report written up, placed on Evermore, and I want to elaborate a bit on it.
Everyone got interviewed and filmed by the Channel 2 News with my Interview making the cut. Haven't seen the video yet. When we entered the theater, there was some geeks going around and scoring people's costumes. I got a perfect score, with Sarah's fine rendition of Leia making a close second. 
When we passed the huge lines to get to the theater (some people had been there since the night before!), people broke out into applause. It was way cool. The rest of the time we stood in pictures for everyone. We spent over four hours doing nothing but getting our pictures taken. It was awesome. When we all moved into the theater, we saw several pictures of us on Camera Phones. I also participated in a lightsaber battle but fighting in a vinyl suite with nothing to see but the red glow of your enemy's saber doesn't bode well for your chances. If you want to see some pictures of our trip, this will slate you thirst.
I don't remember much of the movie from that single, solitary experience. I went and saw it again in the Mat-Su Theater and here's my impressions:
(I hate stupid spoiler warnings so if you think you are going to read
this without the movie being ruined, then you are an idiot)
It was very good. Acting was still bad (and I know Hayden is a good actor after seeing the wonderful movie Shattered Glass) but it was well-done in the areas it needed it. I didn't like the scenes with the droids in the beginning, where they made a real effort to force humor. It didn't go over well. The opening action scenes were well done and the chemistry between Anakin and Obi-wan during the scenes was very good.
The love scenes weren't as bad and I think the reason why is because Lucas kept them very, very short. They were interspersed throughout the movie so one didn't suffer Attack of the Clones' "I wish I could just wish away my feelings!". A few love scenes that managed to pull the needed punch, barely.
The politics was decent as well and Palptine came across perfectly. I really enjoyed the Ballet scene, with the dark and ominous conversation, and the others with Ian McKellen as well. The seduction of Anakin was sufficient I believe. As was his turning over to the Dark Side. I got the sense that everything Anaking did was for his desire to save Padme, whatever the cost. This is exactly what was needed. The betrayal of the Jedi and Anakin's ruthless destruction was all flawless. I got the chills during the scene where he murdered the younglings. Proper evil displayed.
The final scene, the Volcano Duel and the most important scene, was perfect. This scene was truly the Star Wars capstone, the one block that sets all the others to rest. I was horridly anxious to see this well carried out and it was. Hayden conveyed the emotions to perfection and Ewan showed he was truly the superior man that Anakin was attempting to become. It was a 28 year journey to see it and I'm glad it happened with such a shining end.
There were weak points, many of them in fact. However, Revenge has the feeling of a tired runner, stumbling and tripping, barely crashing into the Finish Line tape ahead of the other runners and collapsing exhausted while you, the viewer, smile at the panting figure with affection and pat it on the head, saying "Well done, well ran." Star Wars has truly had a good run.
It's not over either. The Star Wars Television series will keep the franchise (and, more importantly, the money) going but the main part of the saga we all know and love is done and finished. I, a fan, am satisfied.
I've been reading a lot of books lately. I finished The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling which was very good. I love steampunk writings and The Difference Engine is one of the founding novels of the obscure genre. If you like things like Daisy Kutter, Flight, H.G Wells or Jules Verne, then I recommend looking into steampunk and trying out some works.
I also plowed through the novel version of Revenge of the Sith. It always helps to read the novels on the Star Wars movies to see what Lucas intended them to be. It was a fast read (four hours) and sent by my kind grandmother in Washington. It was well-done, I've always liked Matthew Stover's stuff. I'd recommend it if you like Star Wars in any capacity.
I'm currently reading many books. I'm almost done with Crisis. It's about President Jimmy Carter's last year in office and it's written by Hamilton Jordan, Carter's political adviser. It deals mostly with Hamilton's experience in the White House and the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Since Jordan was Carter's go-to guy on the Hostages, it's a fascinating read. Extremely well written, it's really suspenseful and laid out in a daily journal style. I love politics and foriegn affairs and this book has me hooked. It's fascinating to read about Carter and what they went through during that tough year.
I'm about halfway through The Hunt For Bin Laden by Robin Moore. It's mostly about the Green Beret's involvement in Afghanistan. Military thrillers are always a favorite of mine so I thought this would be a good read but I've been disappointed. It's pretty receptive and poorly written. But it does give a good glimpse into the Green Berets, Afghanistan and how the war was fought over there. In that light, it's a good read but I'm having trouble wading through it. I need to just sit down and finish the book.
In addition to those, I'm currently reading two Henry Kissinger books, Diplomacy and White House Years. Both are superb. Kissinger is a fascinating, egotistical, foreign policy genius. I'm really enjoying Diplomacy because it's a diplomatic history book, dealing from Early History all the way to post-Vietnam. Wonderful reading, it provides some great information on the Art of Diplomacy and historical political maneuver. I'm enjoying it immensely, even though it's slow-going with the many things I'm currently doing.
White House Years is one of three books of Kissinger's memoirs. This guy wrote a ton as this book is over 1500 pages long, with the other two books being 1400 and 1100 pages. That is some memoirs! White House Years is a wonderful look into Kissinger's mind and the activities of a major White House figure. Politics is so complex and it's some slow reading through the complicated picture Kissinger paints. It covers his first four years as National Security Adviser, January 1969 to January 1973. Really intriguing, I have no idea how long it'll take me to finish this.
Finally, the book I'm really looking forwards to starting is In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Issac Asimov, 1920-1954. I love Asimov, he was an incredibly talented man. Sure, some of his writings have been called "wooden" but they were full of imagination and incredible stories. I've always been a great lover of his works. I am really looking forward to reading this book but I've promised myself I won't start it until I've finished another book. Currently, I'm chipping away at Crisis so I can start it.
I've been asked sometimes where I know that one certain fact or how come I know so much on the Battle of Gettysburg and I always answer, "I read it." If I read something, I've got it memorized. I have a horrible short-term memory but if I write or read something, I almost never forget it. It's one reason why I can have so many books that I read all at once. When I pick the book back up after a month or so, I remember exactly where I am and with a quick flip through, can totally recall everything that I have read so far. I truly love reading and it's probably my greatest pleasure. If there is one thing I hope I can pass on to my offspring, it is my desire to read. Reading the is the single most fundamental skill a person can have, for Reading is the tool to gain knowledge.
I think I learned my love for reading and for history from the Landmark series. They were books written by well-known authors, many of whom I'd go on to admire, for children. They weren't dumbed down like most children books today are but were instead written practically and plainly about a variety of historical occurrences, like the D-Day Landings, the Great Depression and Julius Ceaser. I've told my mother to keep all of them and as soon as I have an apartment I'll have the books shipped down to start my library.
We always had a ton of books at my home. At one point, we estimated having a library of over 2,000 books. My personal, private library of military history and science books alone is over 100 titles of major military classics like Sun-Tzu, Martin Gilbert, John Keegan and others. I hope to have one day an immense, expanding library of titles on all subjects. I have a great many history, political and miltary science books but I need books on such subjects as Philosphy, Mathmatics, Religion, Behaviorial Sciences and Social Sciences. Books are the best teachers of knowledge. I guess when I look at today's current youth and see them saying such things as "I hate reading", I'm filled with great sadness. It is this generation's greatest tragedy, I believe.
Some people say "The internet has killed books" and I laugh at such statements. The internet, a fine and wonderful tool of both knowledge, entertainment, community and evil, does not carry the same weight and authority that books have. I know when I flip open a John Keegan or a Henry Kissinger book, what I am getting inside is a wealth of knowledge by people who have experience in these things and can form an opinion, one I may agree or disagree with. However, when I stumble upon information at a website, I must say (like I usually do when I read The New York Times) "What if this was true!"
There are still a great pathway of knowledge and insight that I garner from the internet. Blogs is where I gather opinions like a Californian farmer may gather oranges and I rely on technical sites for hard data. But when it comes time to either immerse myself in some other world or to study some distant idea and thought, I'll always turn to books and reading.
It is this loss in our culture that I dread. So I plead, I implore you, please, please read. Grab a book and learn. Those video-games won't do a whole lot for you.
Woah. I meant to write a Star Wars review and I came up with an Evermore piece. I'll post various bits on my blogs (Evermore and Dice Theory). Thanks for wading through all that. Today, I must finish this essay I'm writing for Alaska Pacific University and then make plans to go see Revenge of the Sith again with the crew. I'll check back here more often, I promise. Now that my grandparents have left, I have time once again!
Stay awesome, dear reader.
