(no subject)

[orangerful]

Last time I was Aragorn, which was a surprise, this seems a bit closer

What LoTR Character Are You?

thought I really think I should be Merry or Pippin...actually, I'm probaby more like Pippin.

Spudtrooper is now available for pre-order! Attack of the killer Potatoes! Begun the spud war has!

My friend Mathew got a blog today -- blu_harvest - stop by and say hello and laugh at how silly he is. He will fit in perfectly.

I did managed to get myself sunburnt yesterday, though not too bad. My back was bright pink when I got home but it's alright now, 24 hours later. We stayed up far too late last night watching "Curb Your Enthusiasm" on DVD, finished it off so we can send it back to Netflix. That show is so funny but it's also very painful! They are brilliant improvisers though, which is really what makes it so much fun to watch, they are really in the moment. Good times.

Anyhoo, yeah, we were up until about 2am watching that so I slept in late this morning. Woke up and finished off "Star Wars Jedi Apprentive : Dark Rival" (omg Qui-Gon chose Obi-Wan to be his new padawan learner! what a surprise!). Worked on my 'Revenge of the Sith' scrapbook. I've got all of Celebration III finished, now I just need to do in line at the Senator and April's midnight madness toy run. And I have a few Burger King things I'm going to put in too.

Then, I had some left over BBQ chicken and watched the second episode of 'Greg the Bunny'. It was alright. I'm gonna watch a few more before I totally give up on it, as the pilot made me giggle. I have to at least watch the "Mr Bojangles" one.

And that's when it started. I turned on Sims 2. I was going to go to the grocery store to get milk...but no, I turned on Sims 2. And I played ALL DAY! I played 3 different families. Babies were born, old people died (of natural causes, thank goodness), and woo-hoo was had. Luminara had a baby girl, I named her Bariss. She is fugly. See, she has Luminara's eyes. Luminara is an alien, so she has huge oval eyes that are all black. Bariss' father is Zaphod, a human. So Bariss has a human face, with human eyes, but the shape of her eyes are huge ovals, which are so large they stretch off of her face. She's just ugly. She's a toddler now and it hasn't gotten any better. Hopefully, her friend Kay will reach high enough in the show business carreer track to buy a face lift machine so I can fix her. Ugh. And now Luminara wants another baby! Dear god, what will this one look like! Ophelia passed away, but Hamlet and his wife Kaylyyn are in the house, along with Hamlet's sister Ariel, and brother, Laertes. Laertes will leave for college soon, which is good as Kaylyyn has a bun in the oven and we need the space. I'm trying to decide whether or not I should move Sebastian back in with them. In the Curious house, baby Devon grew into a toddler and she's already potty trained! She has a very pointy nose but she might be cute when she's older. Kat's grades are improving and she'll be a teenager in a few days, so I gotta think of what aspiration I want to give her. I'm leaning towards knowledge, since I haven't had a knowledge person in awhile. Genesis and Lazlo will be having a second baby, just cuz I can. haha. They live in the "Helluva Hacienda" so they have plenty of space.

And that was my day (and probably what my night will be too).

OH! I figured out why the prequels and I don't get along. And why the correct viewing order is IV, V, VI, I, II, III, IV, V, VI -- it's because Lucas changed the focus of the story. It was in the "Star Wars and Philosophy" book (which is enjoyable, but it has melted my brain). Anyway, one of the writers points out that Lucas is fascinated by myths, and that he takes the hero myth of luke's story and turns it into the redemption story of Anakin. The thing is, Luke's story is far better. The hero myth is far stronger than the redemption story. It's hard to argue with the hero myth, but when it comes to redemption, that's harder to justify. Can someone so evil really be "redeemed"? And I don't think he really is redeemed, but he is forgiven, at least by Luke. I don't like the fact that the focus of the story was taken away from Luke. Luke all the way.

Anyway, I think that's what bugs me about people who say watch the films in numerical order. I think they first need to be seen as the hero story, Luke's story. Then you can delve into the whole Anakin story, which I think was more of an experiment for Lucas than anything, to see if he could do it.

Comments

Spudtroopers!!

[jellibean.livejournal.com]

AH! I didn't know they were making spudtroopers! I am tempted to buy an army of them (maybe like 10?) and line them up behind Darth Tater.

Once EP3 comes out on DVD I'll watch them in order once.. but I'm coming to agree with you. After seeing it again last Saturday, I realized again (as I had after I saw it the 1st time) that seeing baby Luke and Leia is much more powerful now b/c we know what happens to them. If the movies had been done in order, it wouldn't be nearly as moving or significant to see them as infants.

Hopefully I'll get a copy of Star Wars and Philosophy soon. I'm just too lazy to drive five minutes out of my way to Davis Kidd. ^_^

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

In reference to Spudtrooper... Lucas has his hands in everything, doesn't he? :D
That Jedi Apprentice series... is that what you were talking about when you mentioned the new pre-quel books? Is it good?

Yeah, I was a bit confused when Lucas said that the saga was really about Anakin's fall and redemption. Originally, I had thought it all centered on Luke and his hero myth. *shrugs* I've also wondered if Vader could truly be redeemed after one sacrificial act, though I understand that it's probably the first he's done in a very long time. The funny thing is that we assume that he regrets his actions that lead him down the Dark Path. I've, personally, never heard him mutter anything about being sorry. He just wails when he's told that he killed Padme. Another point is that Vader already has it in his mind to get Luke to be his apprentice so that they can toss over Palpy and 'rule the galaxy as father and son'. Is it redeeming that he essentially commits the same act, but with different intentions?

Perhaps Anakin's fall makes Luke's heroic story more dynamic. Anakin's fall sets up Luke's story, and gives it something to be heroic about. :)

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Yeah, to enjoy the prequels I have to look at them as what Luke must overcome and recreate. It's his destiny to reforge the Jedi order into something better than the archaic design that Obi-Wan and Anakin grew up in.

I also don't think that Vader can really be forgiven for everything he's done, since Luke doesn't even know everything he's done. But I do think that Luke forgiving him is just a big a part of his story as Anakin's. I'm reminded of the Buffy episode "I Only Have Eyes For You" where Buffy says that the murdering ghost doesn't deserve forgivness, and Giles points out that to forgive is an act of compassion, not about if one deserves it or not.

Yeah, Vader never really shows remorse for anything (except for Anakin's little crying scenes in RotS...hard to feel sorry for someone who is crying *while slaughtering children*). Honestly, I think Lucas might have gone a bit too far. Originally, we just knew that Vader helped the Emperor hunt down and destroy the Jedi, so I figured he slaughtered adult warriors and hunted down any that went into hiding. But to have in wander into a temple...yeah, I don't think I'm satisfied with how the entire Jedi order was set up....okay this is turning into a whole other rant haha. must be the wine I had with dinner...or is that the whine I had with dinner?

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered if Luke would even be able to forgive Vader if he had known that Anakin had basically killed his mother. I've seen some people get so upset with Obi-Wan for not immediately forgiving Anakin and praising Luke for doing so, but I always felt that Obi-Wan had just witnessed Anakin murder, or attempt to murder people very close to him, where Luke had really only known about the distant destruction of planets by a man that he hadn't really had that much time growing great affection for. In my opinion, Luke didn't have nearly the same level of emotional attachment to Anakin as Obi-Wan had. *shrugs*

Hee! I love cross-referencing those two fandoms! Again, when it comes to justifying Obi-Wan's actions, I always think about how both Buffy and Obi-Wan have the strength to let go of their attachments for the greater good... Buffy in sending Angel to that hell-dimension, and Obi-Wan for a)trying to stop Anakin, and b) for not going against his Jedi morals to kill an unarmed man even when it was clear that it was quite difficult for him to watch Anakin suffer among the flames. But, I digress.
Giles' remark is, of course, very wise, and very true. :D

Yeah, I feel bad about Anakin's conflicted loyalties, and I do sympathize with him about how both sides try to 'use' him for their own agendas. Heck, even Padme tries to kinda 'use' Anakin when she asks him to talk with Palpy about ending the war. But, my sympathy goes right out the window with Mace. I'm sorry, but when Palpy admits that he doesn't even know how to achieve such power, I think Anakin should've tossed him out right after Mace. Palpy says that they can learn it together??? Like that wouldn't take time that Padme didn't have. *shakes head*

Yay for whine wine with dinner! ;D

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Yes, Luke was in love with an idealized version of Anakin. And at the same time, it was very much like Frodo and Gollum's relationship, only not as extreme. Luke had to hope that he could bring Vader back from the dark side because he sorta dips into the darkside himself while fighting Vader. If Vader can't be saved, what hope is there for the rest of the universe. I think Luke also had this need to belong, and finally knowing who is father was played a big part in that. And he needed his father to be a good guy like him.

YES! The Buffy/Angel & Obi/Anakin stories are so very parallel! And she does give up her love to save the world, as does Obi-Wan. You are exactly right. Only Anakin didn't turn back in that last second, instead he screamed "I HATE YOU!" at poor Obi-Wan, which must have broken what was left of the shattered pieces of his heart. *cries* Poor Obi-Wan!!!!

It definately feels like there was a piece missing in the Anakin's fall storyline...between his striking of Mace and his bowing before Palpatine. He just gives up so easily. I think we needed more to make him totally hand himself over. Either a rush of power or perhaps a vision of Padme right there to cause more panic. Or perhaps Mace saying something vicious about Padme (shut up about your woman already! Gawd!) that would really make Anakin hate him.

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you on Luke. :) He's an idealist and always strives for the best is any situation. And yeah, being an adopted child, he definitely needed something to belong to, and I just don't think the Rebellion filled that gap for him as he had originally hoped.

Yay! Somebody besides miss_tinkermel gets the parallel! (I've been trying to explain the similarities to my big sis but she can only get the basic gist of it since she hasn't watched past season 1 of Buffy.) It's funny, but I think I always base my opinions of other fandom characters off of what I know that Buffy can accomplish. (My big sis and I once got into this 3-week-long debate about how prophecies can affect a character.) I seem to always think that if Buffy can do it, then a Jedi can, too. *laughs*
That's why I adore Obi-Wan... even though you know parts of him were forever broken by the incident on Mustafar, he still had enough hope and respect for Anakin's children. Too bad he didn't have enough faith in Vader. :( But heck, they all reached sparkly!afterlife status in the end! :D

Yeah, I think so, too. I mean, he totally blames himself for Mace's demise, but once Palpy feeds him some line, he's all good to go. I can see his desperation when he asks Palpy to help him save Padme, but once Palpy tells him to 'do what must be done', he doesn't flutter an eyelash until after he laid waste to the Temple. I think it would've been far more compelling if he had tears in his eyes when he approached the younglings. *shrugs*

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I am the same way with my fandoms and Jossverse. I wish the Jedi would question prophecies the way that Buffy and Angel do. I think Luke is that first step, the one who says "I flunked the written" and goes off to save his father. The Jedi Council's obsession with the prophecy of the "chosen one" is their downfall. I mean, if it's a prophecy, it's gonna happen, why are they so concerned with finding the chosen one and training him and such, if he's gonna bring balance anyway, just let him be. But instead, they try to twist the prophecy around to work for them...obviously, the Jedi never read Oedipus.

I love talking with you, I always think of new things about Star Wars/Buffy that I hadnt really thought on before! *hugs*

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

...obviously, the Jedi never read Oedipus.

*laughs* Seriously! Buffy and Angel never let the prophecies define them as people, but the Council certainly defined Anakin as simply the Chosen One, and seemed to forget that he was still a young man. But, I'm thinking the reason they were so preoccupied with it was because before TPM, they thought that the Sith were essentially no more, so I would have to say that the scales were weighed greatly in the Light Side at that point. So, I figure that if a prophecy talked about 'bringing balance', they must've known that some good ol' Dark Side was going to have to rear its ugly head in order to have a balance of both. Perhaps that's why they were all worked up over it. *ponders*

Awwww... *hugs* Ditto, sweets. :D