October 15th, 20175149I was standing on the southeast corner of Los Angeles’ Cahuenga and Hollywood Boulevards – teeming with pedestrians and traffic – one bright October evening. As I waited patiently for the light to change so I could cross the street, I glanced across the heavily trafficked Hollywood Blvd. to see if I could figure out which of the...
September 29th, 20170144While I am a bit surprised that today, in late 2017, gender biases still exist in some circles, as I pointed out in the middle post of this series: the more things change, the more they stay the same. Still, it is heartening to learn female fans of Star Wars care not one whit about what anyone thinks. We like what we like, and we make no...
September 16th, 2017175The more things change, the more things stay the same. Aside from the fact I never have been a huge fan of using such a vague word as “thing”, I always have been rather amazed at the truth behind this simple adage. Shouldn’t it stand to reason that change brings about ... well, change ... thus “things” don’t stay the same?...
August 31st, 2017171Years ago, when I was substitute teaching , one of my favorite assignments was filling in for the primary grade teachers. Those little tykes were so much fun to be around! Before I’d head off to school, I’d fix my lunch, and tuck it into my trusty Star Wars lunch box. At school, that lunch box – featuring R2D2 and C3PO – sat...
August 15th, 2017078“Wesa goen home!” Jar Jar Binks exclaims jubilantly moments before Queen Amidala and her entourage board her sleek starship for their return journey to Naboo. Can you blame Jar Jar for his unrestrained enthusiasm? He is akin to a fish out of water while on the daunting, intimidating city planet Coruscant. He is thrilled to be...
August 4th, 2017168On a recent trip out to LA to visit my daughter, Erin, I was passing the time on the four-hour flight doing puzzles in the paper and crossword puzzle book I brought along. The flight attendant came by to bring us passengers a snack and beverage. I looked up from what I was doing to take my tea and goodies, and as she passed, I espied a...
July 16th, 2017275You know where, in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda encourages Luke: “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”? A lot of Star Wars fans take exception to Yoda’s lesson. They think that Yoda is wrong in making such a statement to Luke, our fledgling Jedi-in-Training. These fans criticize Yoda because they believe he is not validating the...
June 30th, 2017048Where were you the morning of December 27, 2016 when you heard that our – yes, I’m using the possessive – very own princess had passed from this terrestrial sphere? It was two days after Christmas, and I was riding pretty high. I already had seen Rogue One a couple of times. Both my girls were home from their far-flung homes . I...
June 15th, 2017066Dodging laser fire ... Eluding capture – and becoming the main course of an almost 10-foot tall behemoth ... Oh my gosh! Is that Darth Vader off to the side ready to use his Force powers on you? ... There’s BB-8 up ahead, beckoning you to join him for a photo op. What’s going on here? If you didn’t know better, you’d think you...