Star Wars: Special Edition arrived 10 years ago today

It was ten years ago today, on January 31st 1997, that the cinematic re-issue of Episode IV: A New Hope kicked off the arrival of Star Wars: Special Edition in theaters.To say that this was a big thing when it came would be a severe understatement. I don't think even we die-hard Star Wars fans were expecting what happened starting that day in the winter of 1997. It was truly...

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The zampolits have come to America

This isn't becoming very much of a break from blogging, is it? This is the third post I've made since I declared last week that I would be refraining from my usual blogging routine. But as with the previous two, if it wasn't severely important then I wouldn't be making it at all.I've said once or twice on this blog that the way things are going in America, that we owe an apology to the leaders of the old Soviet Union. At least they were honest...

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In loving memory of Edna Manning

Yeah, still on sabbatical from regular blogging. If you see me posting here during times like this it's only because whatever I'm writing about is really important. It also probably means that it's something that I really didn't want to write about... and unfortunately this is going to be one of those times.Last Wednesday night Lisa's grandmother, Edna Manning, passed away...

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Ron Price: "I've learned who my opponents are..."

Normally I wouldn't break my "blogging fast" for anything, especially this soon into it. But since this is a story I've been covering for the past two months here, I might as well post about its conclusion.As was reported here two months ago, Ron Price, one of the sixteen candidates - including myself - who ran for Board of Education here in Rockingham County this past November, was caught stealing campaign signs belonging to U.S. House incumbent...

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Taking a break

Every now and then - even though it's been almost a year since the last one - I take a break from blogging. Sometimes for a few days and others, over a month. For Lent last year (even though I'm not Catholic) I gave up blogging, and I think it was a good thing in retrospect.Since then I've gone through a lot of things, including the school board campaign. Well, the past day or so some things have happened that have made me decide that I need some...

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Birth of the OSS REBEL RUNNER

Fellow former school board candidate and all-around great guy Eric Smith is making good on a vow he made during the campaign: that when all of this had ended, that he was going to start building a boat. I can't wait to see the finished product: for the life of me, I can't remember seeing up-close a boat that I knew was hand-built.But there's another reason why I'm eager to see the O.S.S. Rebel Runner come to life...A promise I made to myself was...

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"I have a penis."

It took 25 years but real-life soap operas have finally caught up with Tootsie...Egads, what else has been going on with All My Children all these years that we didn't know about?!(Thanks, I think, to Shane Thacker at The Phantom City for this... thin...

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Wow, Jim Webb's response to Bush's State of the Union speech tonight...

...was one of the best speeches by an elected official I've heard in a real long time.Colorful, articulate, spoke on the level of everyday people... as opposed to Bush's speech which tonight - as it does all too often - was in a dreary monotone that sounded too much like an illiterate speaking.I don't necessarily agree with Webb on everything (he' supports No Child Left Behind apparently) but listening to him was quite refreshing.Plus, I just found...

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Atlanta suburbs mulls seccession: Maybe America should consider it too

Part of Fulton County, a suburb of Atlanta, is threatening to split off and form its own county. Charges of racial motivations are flying because the possibly-future Milton County would be white-majority and more economically affluent than what would be left of Fulton County.Reading this and doing a little more research into the situation, I can't really see where race is a factor here. It seems more like one part of the population is tired of...

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Tom Cruise is "the Christ" of Scientology

So say leaders of the bizarre cult.So does this mean Tom is going to be Cruise-ified for the sins of the wor...

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If Chris Knight came to South Park...

...I would probably look like this:Turn yourself into a South Park character! Thanks to Shane Thacker for the fi...

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Our first look at the Thestrals!

Darth Larry found some great new pics at The Leaky Cauldron of new Harry Potter merchandise. Look at this one: to the best of my knowledge, this is the very first good look at what the Thestrals look like:What are Thestrals? Well, if you only know Harry Potter from the movies and haven't read the books, you have seen these creatures already... kinda. Harry doesn't actually...

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Once more, pro-lifers played for chumps on ROE anniversary

Today is the 34th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Which does not mean that abortion was something morally justified 34 years ago today. It merely means that it was allowed by law.Given enough time for the timbers to rot in a culture, and anything can become allowed by law. Still doesn't mean that it's right though.As they do every year on this day, thousands of pro-life supporters had a rally in Washington D.C....

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Were a plucky Droid and a scruffy Wookiee the REAL heroes of Star Wars?

I found this through Shane Thacker (who found it on Diane Duane's blog). A fellow named Keith Martin has written one of the most original and well-written essays about Star Wars that I've ever read.In "A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope", Martin lays out the case for how the true heroes of the Star Wars saga were Artoo-Detoo and Chewbacca. You have to wonder: how, in a galaxy so big, do all of these characters keep running into each other? Well,...

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Over 130 and rising fast

And in the last little while the rate has jumped: I'm now getting about 2 or 3 new ones every fifteen minutes. And that might be accelerating too. I might have over 300 by midnight tonight.This is going to take awhile to go through.What is it? I'll be tipping my hand to what that is within the next month or so. But I thought it was something significant enough to "memorialize" here on the blog while it's happening all the sa...

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I'm a candidate for President... in 2016!

My fellow Americans,After a great deal of prayer and contemplation and consulting with those closest to me, it is with great excitement and joy that I officially announce that I am now a candidate for President of the United States... in 2016.Why am I announcing my candidacy for that far-off race instead of for one much sooner? There are several reasons. The most obvious...

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Another Bert and Ernie classic

Yet another big of comedy gold from the good old days on Sesame Street. This is the Bert and Ernie "dripping water" sketch..."G'NIGHT!...

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