5/25/2007
Happy Birthday Star Wars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
30 years ago a movie came out that had as deep an impact on me as any tale, myth, story, movie, music, show or even book ever has.
I was three and half years old when it came out. I don't know when we saw it because it had such a long run in the theaters but seeing it was the 1st very vivid memory I have that I can place time wise. Being good Hispanics, we showed up late... very late. I threw a patented temper tantrum when the movie ended until my family agreed to stick around and catch the parts we missed. We left the second viewing as the gang was in the cockpit of the Falcon (hands down the coolest spaceship ever) taking off.
Regardless of whatever people like or dislike about SW, it clearly established a unique presence for its self in pop culture. As a kid, we played everything under the sun growing up but SW was always king. No toys were more coveted, no movies discussed more.
A little later in life, a lot of childish things were put away, but SW hung around. If you were talking about a teacher, you could do no better than calling them, "Darth (insert name)." "Use the force" could be used with geeks, jocks or adults and would always get a positive response.
That's one of things about SW that always stood out to me in my nerd mind too. It crossed bounds in a way nothing else 'geek' did. You could talk Star Trek or anything else w/in geekdom. Outside of it, you would be advised not to try.
Star Wars = Geek + Cool.
Way later in college SW was still common ground. I couldn't count how many conversations we Rock Stupid Students had about it. At UD we did an OT marathon in the lounge on a Thanksgiving weekend when the campus was pretty empty. As people we didn't know passed us on the stairs, we collected more and more viewers until it was absolutely packed. I wonder what other movies we could have had going in the VCR that would have had that effect, to that degree.
Now as a 30+ year old in corporate America, it still happens. One of my best friends is a guy I worked with downtown and although neither of us goes to conventions or lives 'in' geekdom, SW somehow came up and got the ball rolling.
So anyway, a big thanks to Lucas and the many, many people involved in the barely managed chaos and incredible fit of creativity that produced the greatest blockbuster/cult hit/B movie/Space Western/Reinvented-recycled myth/morality tale to come along in my lifetime. Happy Birthday to the Galaxy far, far away.
|
30 years ago a movie came out that had as deep an impact on me as any tale, myth, story, movie, music, show or even book ever has.
I was three and half years old when it came out. I don't know when we saw it because it had such a long run in the theaters but seeing it was the 1st very vivid memory I have that I can place time wise. Being good Hispanics, we showed up late... very late. I threw a patented temper tantrum when the movie ended until my family agreed to stick around and catch the parts we missed. We left the second viewing as the gang was in the cockpit of the Falcon (hands down the coolest spaceship ever) taking off.
Regardless of whatever people like or dislike about SW, it clearly established a unique presence for its self in pop culture. As a kid, we played everything under the sun growing up but SW was always king. No toys were more coveted, no movies discussed more.
A little later in life, a lot of childish things were put away, but SW hung around. If you were talking about a teacher, you could do no better than calling them, "Darth (insert name)." "Use the force" could be used with geeks, jocks or adults and would always get a positive response.
That's one of things about SW that always stood out to me in my nerd mind too. It crossed bounds in a way nothing else 'geek' did. You could talk Star Trek or anything else w/in geekdom. Outside of it, you would be advised not to try.
Star Wars = Geek + Cool.
Way later in college SW was still common ground. I couldn't count how many conversations we Rock Stupid Students had about it. At UD we did an OT marathon in the lounge on a Thanksgiving weekend when the campus was pretty empty. As people we didn't know passed us on the stairs, we collected more and more viewers until it was absolutely packed. I wonder what other movies we could have had going in the VCR that would have had that effect, to that degree.
Now as a 30+ year old in corporate America, it still happens. One of my best friends is a guy I worked with downtown and although neither of us goes to conventions or lives 'in' geekdom, SW somehow came up and got the ball rolling.
So anyway, a big thanks to Lucas and the many, many people involved in the barely managed chaos and incredible fit of creativity that produced the greatest blockbuster/cult hit/B movie/Space Western/Reinvented-recycled myth/morality tale to come along in my lifetime. Happy Birthday to the Galaxy far, far away.
|
5/04/2007
I just sat thinking, "My teacher friends will love this":
I was forced to go to a 4 HOUR Business Writing course this week. Now I will grant you that I make my share of writing errors (this post included I'm sure. God knows you people are perfect for finding them), but I don't think this was the best use of my time...
Highlights from Kiki's notes:
According to the teacher, academic writing is long, dry and boring. Also, the only reason anyone ever reads it is because they will be tested on it. Needless to say, most of the class agreed.
Wikipedia is a great resource but you have to be careful because people have "hacked" into it before and put out bad information (LOL).
The WRITING TEACHER did not know the difference between "further" and "farther." Also, she had never heard of the words "novella" or "affable."
Other handy subjects covered...
-The differences between "their," "there" and "they're"
-The differences between "too," "two" and "to"
-The difference between "principal" and "principle"
-The difference between "capital" and "capitol"
-When trying to spell the word "together," think of it as "To get her." This was one of a page full of hints on how to spell properly. Other tips included, "Say it out loud" and "Mispronounce it to emphasize the proper spelling."
-Why we should always use short and simple words instead of long ones
Part II of the class is in a few weeks. Oh joy.
|
I was forced to go to a 4 HOUR Business Writing course this week. Now I will grant you that I make my share of writing errors (this post included I'm sure. God knows you people are perfect for finding them), but I don't think this was the best use of my time...
Highlights from Kiki's notes:
According to the teacher, academic writing is long, dry and boring. Also, the only reason anyone ever reads it is because they will be tested on it. Needless to say, most of the class agreed.
Wikipedia is a great resource but you have to be careful because people have "hacked" into it before and put out bad information (LOL).
The WRITING TEACHER did not know the difference between "further" and "farther." Also, she had never heard of the words "novella" or "affable."
Other handy subjects covered...
-The differences between "their," "there" and "they're"
-The differences between "too," "two" and "to"
-The difference between "principal" and "principle"
-The difference between "capital" and "capitol"
-When trying to spell the word "together," think of it as "To get her." This was one of a page full of hints on how to spell properly. Other tips included, "Say it out loud" and "Mispronounce it to emphasize the proper spelling."
-Why we should always use short and simple words instead of long ones
Part II of the class is in a few weeks. Oh joy.
|
