Babbling About Rabbits

Man. That "Peter Rabbit". I walked in to the theatre late, but I was just in time to catch a montage set to Len's "Steal My Sunshine". That song seems to steadily be resurging, and I'm deeply appreciative. I developed a love for it some years ago that far exceeded any regard I had for it when it was current. Which was . . . I don't know. I was probably 10 or something.

But this version turned out to be sung by birds with added details that referenced the plot.

Also. Maybe some people have been following Star Wars and thinking "Well, the Kylo-Rey romance is fine, I guess, but it's just not trashy enough for my tastes. I'm a human piece of garbage who yearns for sweet baby Rey to end up with the impotently irate ginger general Hux." If this is you, "Peter Rabbit" should be a treat. That's right. Gleeson and Ridley! Together at last! He's  not ginger here, though. But the rest is basically still intact.

Bonus Question!

Br'er versus Roger! Battle of the other two dudes with the surname Rabbit!

Roger. His extreme affinity for the magic of cartoon physics gives him a big edge.

Droid Sauce

Shortly after going to see "Last Jedi", I decided on another viewing of "Attack of the Clones", my favourite of the saga, and it gave me a new insight into C-3PO's vanity. I think that the fellow has a touch of ugly duckling syndrome. The dude began life in a junkyard as a nearly naked mess of exposed wires with a modicum of scrap plating. After a decade outside of slave life, he's decently covered at least, but he's stuck with a dull, tarnished coal grey. When he gets a makeover after joining up with the Republic, he's got the shiniest golden plating a droid ever had. But he's not going to forget his humble beginnings. That's got to inform his personality even after a memory wipe.

On another note, I recently learned that the sauce on A&W’s Grandpa Burger isn’t called Grandpa Sauce or something. It’s Teen Sauce. I don’t know if that’s also what’s on the Teen Burger, but I’m struck by the implication that it’s in the natural course of things for the elderly to feed on the essence of the young.

Bonus Question!

Robert Plant versus Threepio! Battle of the golden gods!

Plant's got a divine voice, but Threepio convinced a whole tribe of Ewoks to adjust their dietary habits in order to prevent the consumption of his friends, which does seem like a pretty godly deed.

Jedi Camp

Alright. So. I'm just going to say one thing about "The Last Jedi". Then I might say another? I don't know. We're not there yet. Right now, it's this one thing. If you haven't seen it, it might not even make sense, but you can make your own reading choices.

That thing Luke almost did in his flashbacks to Jedi camp counsellor days? He could have played that off. I've been to camp. I've woken up to weird pranks and strategems. He could just say, "Hey, friendo! Impromptu training exercise! Let's go snipe hunting!"

Or whatever the Star Wars equivalent of a snipe is. "Snipe" already sounds like a Star Wars bird.

Bonus Question!

Best Star Wars  bird?

I basically have to go with the porg, don't I?

It's 2018. Be the Jaymes You Want to See in the World.

2017 was  a weird year. This was largely because it was a year, and years are weird.

Nevertheless, "The Last Jedi" felt like a decent cap to it, and one of its central messages made it especially fitting for the purpose. Specifically, the one against reliance on idols.

I liked how this was delivered, for the movie didn't decry them outright. It  showed their potential for disappointment, but it also emphasised the need to move beyond that disappointment.

This year will be remembered in the minds of many as one in which several cultural beacons were irredeemably tarnished by the light shone upon their indiscretions. These luminaries meant much to their fans, and now those fans are left with a mess of feelings they never expected when they gave their hearts to ostensibly infallible heroes.

But heroes are no less fallible than anyone else. Open your heart to them. Sure. Of course. But don't give it away to anything. Own your heart. You're the only one who'll always be there to protect it. And if the people who've touched it turn out to be less than what you thought, the choice to move forward rests solely with you.

Did Joss Whedon speak to your soul? Were your feminist ideals kindled by the fiery panache displayed by Buffy and her ilk? Or even the stated beliefs of her creator? Great. Nothing can take that away. Joss is hardly the first teacher who failed to live up to his lessons. It doesn't diminish those lessons.

I've always been one to celebrate art even if the artist isn't personally deserving of esteem. Now I'll say that what an artist meant to fans who knew him before some dark revelation can survive afterwards. If you were inspired by your love for Joss or anyone else, you can keep that inspiration even when that love is brought down. Joss's philandering doesn't detract from what he taught you. It just gives you a chance to show that you learned it better than he did. As Yoda said, a teacher can  be something for a student to move beyond. Every experience is a lesson, and you get to choose what you learn from it.

Like Hollywood, the Jedi  Order's an institution that means many things to many people, but it's also made up of people, meaning that it's prone to foibles just like its followers. Its mistakes might shake it up, but its strengths persist, and it's up to the individual to do a better job of carrying those strengths forward. That's some of what I got from the movie. Don't worry about tearing stuff down. Take what you need and build something from it for yourself.

Bonus Question!

Grandmaster versus Supreme Leader! Who wore it better?

Giving it up to the G man. Dude can accessorize.

Also colour blocking. Also Jeff Goldblum.

Darth Agita

December 14th, 2017. A momentous date for two clear reasons. It saw the release of “The Last Jedi” and the FCC’s repeal of net neutrality at the hands of Ajit Pai.

 I cannot be the only one who thinks that “Ajit Pai” sounds like the name of an ancient Sith Lord. 

Bonus Question! 

Jedi versus Sith! What's your philosophy? 

The Jedi way's about stoicism. Not for me.  The Sith fuel their magic with emotion. It's basically Space Romanticism. They just tend to choose the worst emotions and fall into Dark Side nonsense. But their core ethos has merit.

Thrawwwwwn!

So . . . I've just started the new "Thrawn" book. You know the one. The one by Timothy Zahn. You know the guy. The guy who popularised the expanded universe of "Star Wars" in the early Nineties with a trio of books that came to be called the Thrawn Trilogy. When people complained about the disposal of all "Star Wars" spinoff media that preceded Disney's acquisition, they were mostly thinking about the Zahn stuff. And lo! Thrawn turned out to be one of the high points of the old universe that got inducted into the tighter Disney version, making his new debut on the "Rebels" cartoon.

But now there's this book. No hiding the intent. In the original series that came to be named after him, he was still just the antagonist. Despite his popularity, he wasn't even given a viewpoint. He was only seen through the eyes of other characters. But in this book, officially called "Thrawn", he actually gets to narrate bits by himself, which isn't even traditional for "Star Wars" novels. I think that "I, Jedi", an older book, was actually called that because it broke the norm by featuring first-person narration.

But the best aspect I've encountered at this point is the fact that it basically feels like "Encino Man" in space. With a mysterious blue alien instead of an enigmagic surfer caveman. And an earnest young translator cadet instead of Pauly Shore. And though Brendan Fraser is apparently absent from "Thrawn", the situation's meliorated by my automatic tendency to imagine the titular character's portrayal by Benedict Cumberbatch. But yeah. Thrawn goes to school. It's pretty great. It would have been regardless, but this in particular is pretty great.

Bonus Question!

Best blue guy with glowing eyes?

Nightcrawler!

Ooh. But could he meet Thrawn? It'd be like blue Errol Flynn versus blue Sherlock Holmes!

Actually, this sounds exactly like the sort of scenario Nightcrawler would create for himself in the Danger Room. Dude treats that thing like his own personal version of Abed's Dreamatorium.

As well he should.