We're still here!
P’s finally moving out/in today. I’m going to miss the place that she has been in Sheepshead Bay — it’s really a nice neighborhood in a quiet location. Made two runs with the Zipcar (the Toyota Matrix is a great car for cargo).
YC’s mom is going for surgery today, so we’re praying that everything works out well.
Busy weekend. Saw Star Wars 3 on Friday night in digital projection. It really makes a big difference. Trying to say this in a non-spoiler way, but things could have been so different if just Sam Jackson would just let Anikin just tag along — or to put it in another way, Anikin just has no business pulling off a temper tantrum. In any case, the special effects were just wonderful. In the light saber battles, the digital camera’s light beams would make their glows extend into the audience. Wow!
Meanwhile back at the ranch, we were refinishing the wood floor of my apartment. The previous tenant spilt latex paint all over the floor, and back in 1999, there was no tech that could remove it. Today, several companies sell products that can soften latex paint, which work really well after scrubbing. After the floors were cleaned off, a polyurothane product called Renewal really improved the sorry condition of the floor into a rich reddish brown. Really amazing!
So – Star Wars – Obi-Wan Kenobi is the man, even if Episode III isn’t the happy movie (no, you’d have to watch IV and VI for the happy stuff). I’ll say it again, if necessary (don’t mind me, I ended up watching Episode II: Attack of the Clones on FOX tonight, and I still saw Ewan MacGregor with the best acting out of the entire cast, able to rise above George Lucas’ lame lines). Anyway, I do recommend watching Episode III if you’ve watched the previous five movies; get some closure, you know.
Enterprise rant time – ok, I might as well admit it – the next to last episode, “Terra Prime” is the true “Enterprise” series finale – the entire cast had lines and acted decently; Capt. Archer had the right speech, and T’Pol and Tucker had something that resembled resolution in their relationship. The xenophobic faction on Earth tried to derail the foundations of the Federation (intergalactic cooperation and all that good stuff), they violated Tucker and T’Pol’s privacy by stealing their genes and creating a hybrid child doomed to die. Tucker’s quite a character and even T’Pol proved capable.
But, the series finale “These are the Voyages” – look, I loved seeing the Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Enterprise again, but Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and Marina Siritis (Troi) were ten years too old to be playing their characters dating from a 10-year old episode of Next Generation (and, while a fascinating episode, it wasn’t an episode I’d pick as pivotal to be an Enterprise episode). And, while I always wanted to see an episode taking place in the 24th century (contemporary) Trek reflecting on Archer’s time period, it wasn’t terribly fair to be a series finale episode. And, of course, saying goodbye to Tucker, probably one of my favorite characters on the show… Well, the episode’s on again this Friday or Saturday, so fans get to pick at it again.
Finished reading “Ex Machina,” by Christopher L. Bennett – good Star Trek reading. It’s a sort-of sequel to “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” – and reflects on the legacy of the departed Capt. Decker and other consequences of that movie. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy at their best and worst, I say, as they try to figure out how to help this unstable society. Sulu gets comfortable with the command chair (now I see why fans get all convinced he’ll be a great captain; while I still don’t quite see the greatness in Sulu, I see how he has potential). Chekov is Chekov (I see his new maturity; but he’s not one of my favorite Original Trek characters). Greater insight into Uhura (which can be accredited to the expansion of the status of the communications officer in “Enterprise” and the character of Hoshi Sato). Oh, and Scotty doing a little engineering (giving the command chair man a conservative time limitation and you’ll come out looking like a genius if you can get things done in half the time). Thumbs up.
Another work week…
