NK News is the only source you need (as if you really needed this sort of thing :-) for all the latest official party announcements from North Korea: enough Kim Jung Il to make you ill. Be sure to check out the Random Insult Generator for a healthy dose of ego-dashing vitriole. Special thanks to Melody Hallman-Daniel for sending in the link!
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Casey Sheehan: He volunteered to serve America, not a President
Ever since coming back a few days ago I've had some mild interest in this Cindy Sheehan thing at President Bush’s "ranch" (I still haven't found anything on what is produced on this ranch). Maybe it's 'cuz it seems so simple a thing for a sitting President of the United States to come out and talk to a regular citizen on his own, without somebody advising him what to say or how to spin it, and he isn't doing that. The harsh truth of the matter is: we have never seen the real, candid Bush left to his own devices before the American people. I'd like to see that, and Sheehan is really giving him what could only be called a golden opportunity for Bush to show everyone how legit his personality really is. But he ain't taking it. Go figure.
I also know that Sheehan has been targeted by the Bush-bots because she dares disagree with the emperor. Some of the things attributed to her, I don't particularly agree with. But she's a grieving mother and the source of her grief alone merits consideration without regard for anything else she's saying. And if her son was killed in a war based on a lie pushed by this President... well, I don't see how it is that anyone could defend that President against a mother bereft of her son because of that.
But one thing in particular that the Bush-bots (sadly, that is what they are: unthinking robots programmed to follow and adore Fearless Leader) are now claiming got me to thinking. The 'Bots are saying that Cindy Sheehan is disgracing the memory of her son Casey because "he volunteered" to join the Army. That it was on his own volition that he chose to be a soldier. Therefore, in their logic it follows that it was Casey Sheehan’s own choice that led to his death (and I've seen it stated at least once by the Bush-bots that Casey Sheehan had it coming because he was a "bad soldier", believe it or not).
There are a few things wrong with the claim that because "he volunteered" that his death is somehow justifiable. The most obvious is that although Casey Sheehan volunteered to serve in the Army, he did not volunteer to fight in a war that began and is being continued on the basis of a lie. But that's already been stated, and I don't want to retread over ground that others have already covered more thoroughly – and more eloquently – than I ever could.
Instead, out of curiosity as to what it is exactly that individuals are volunteering to do, I did a quick Google search and came up with the oath of enlistment taken by personnel in all four branches of the United States military. Here 'tis...
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."Officers have a similar oath to swear...
"I, _____, having been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States, as indicated above in the grade of _____ do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; So help me God."For sake of this essay I will refer to the oath taken by enlisted personnel, with the understanding that the one for officers is a necessary adaptation.
That said: Taking this oath at its most literal face value causes the Bush supporters' "he volunteered" argument to completely implode upon itself.
Let's be very clear on something: all service personnel who take the standard oath of enlistment are swearing to serve the Constitution of the United States. They are thus swearing to serve the people who consent to the Constitution. They do NOT – and can not logically – swear to serve the government that derives from the Constitution as though that government supersedes the authority of the people.
There is a difference between the country of the United States of America, and the government of the United States of America. "Government" does NOT equal "the country". Government does not define or establish the country. We are citizens of a country, not citizens of a government. This government does not now, ever has or ever will, establish the rights and freedoms that we have as the American people. We are free by the grace of God, not by the grace of government. And this government exists by OUR grace. It answers to US. Or it's supposed to answer to us anyway.
Casey Sheehan volunteered to do something, on a professional basis for a period of his life, that every single one of us should be doing for free all the time by whatever means God gives us: being wary of threats to our great country. This government, on the other hand, can go to Hell.
Service personnel swear an oath to serve the Constitution of the United States and those who subscribe to it. NOWHERE in this oath is it found that they are servants of the government of the United States. Even much less are they deemed to be servants of whoever it is who currently has power over that government.
The only reference to particular individuals in this oath is the part where the enlistee swears to "obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed" over him or her, with respect to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That's understandable: the success of any military organization depends on adherence to a chain of command, and this part of the oath is where the enlistee promises to acknowledge that chain. However, it does not ascribe superiority of the President of the United States over the authority of the Constitution. Indeed, it should already be understood that the Constitution is the highest authority of the chain of command, with all others – including the President – deferring to it.
Casey Sheehan swore to defend the people of the United States and their Constitution. Casey Sheehan did not swear to be a member of George W. Bush's personal cadre for the task of executing whatever private vendetta Bush has. Casey Sheehan was our servant, not Bush's servant.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice leaves no room for already-enlisted personnel to object to service in a war on the basis that said war is founded in a falsehood: Article 92 makes it illegal to disobey any lawful order, meaning that unlawful orders can and are expected to be disobeyed (Nuremberg settled that 'un bigtime) but an unlawful war is nowhere in the Code's jurisdiction. It's not supposed to be anyway: Whether a war is morally justified is something left not to the soldiers, or to the "elected leaders", but to We the People.
Whatever her motives may be, right or wrong, that is what Cindy Sheehan is doing right now. She is calling for accountability from the government that was established by the Constitution of the United States. A Constitution derived from the consent of the people. A Constitution that her son Casey swore an oath in good faith that his time and talents would be used to uphold and defend to the best of his ability.
But Bush supporters don't want this government – and especially "their man" – to be held accountable. They are the furthest thing from true conservatives that can possibly be: They want power over other people. And they will attack anything that they deem to be a threat to "the way things are". Truly, they do believe that anyone who signs up to serve in the armed forces is cannon fodder without apology for whatever mad plot comes across the mind of George W. Bush.
How dare the extremist Bush supporters seek to shut up this woman? They refuse to attack the message, so instead they opt to attack the messenger. The best way to counter Cindy Sheehan would be to defend the war with as much vigor as Sheehan is giving to denouncing it. But so far they do not seem willing to do this much.
Or could it be that Bush supporters don't really have anything of substance with which to defend this war? The best they can come up with is "we support our President, we support our troops" blah blah blah (as I noted earlier they're wrong to call them "troops") and use that as the primary basis for attacking Sheehan (more than a few times I've seen it suggested that she be tried for treason and hanged).
Well, as I said earlier, and despite some things she has said that I strongly disagree with... Cindy Sheehan could be doing a far greater good in light of this war than most people realize.
Bush is not our king, and he never will be. He is, at most, a bully who was made President through party affiliation and personal connections. And one way or another he must be made to understand something: That no one among the American people will be considered a disposable resource for sake of his own convenience.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Dad said years ago this would happen someday...
Truck drivers across the country saying the CB channels are full of chatter about bringing the big rigs to a halt to protest the rising fuel prices.
Dad says that all that would be needed to shut this country down, would be to honk off enough truckers (most of whom are independent contractors) and there would be no more groceries delivered, no more goods coming into the neighborhood stores, no more of a lot of supplies for needed services... well you get the picture.
This thing could turn into a full-bore general strike, if worse comes to worst.
They are SOLDIERS, darnnit... not "TROOPS"!
I'm reading some stuff about this Cindy Sheehan business where Bush is vacationing on his "ranch" (just what does this ranch produce anyway: beef cattle, dairy, ranch dressing...?) and I just have to rant about this...
Call them "soldiers". Do NOT call them "troops"! A troop is a unit of soldiers, not the whole mass of soldiers put together. Say you SUPPORT THE SOLDIERS but please in the name of all that's good and holy STOP SAYING "SUPPORT THE TROOPS"!! I mean, the singular of "troops" is "troop" but when was the last time you called the highway patrolman who's writing out your citation a "state troop"? Call them "troopERS" if you must, but no more of this "WE SUPPORT OUR TROOPS" crap. It just ain't accurate.
While we're on the subject, I support our soldiers. I do not support the meaningless war that our soldiers have been put into, however.
Hotel Rwanda will really choke you up
I've been meaning to see this for awhile, and last week it came courtesy of Netflix: Hotel Rwanda. It's a movie that came out about a year ago recounting the real-life story of Paul Rusesabagina, manager of the posh Hotel Milles Collines in Kigali, Rwanda. When the country erupted into civil war in 1994, Rusesabagina saved the lives of more than 1,200 Rwandans by sheltering them in his hotel. It's a POWERFUL film, and quite a sobering one: the Hutu slaughter of the Tutsis was one of the most horrific events of recent history, and the filmmakers really confront you with visuals that echo all too well the rivers and roadsides swollen with corpses. Don Cheadle has the best role of his career to date as Paul Rusesabagina: a man ready and willing to do anything to save the life of a neighbor... even if he's never met that neighbor. The DVD is packed with extras, including two documentaries: one is about the making of the film, the other is about Rusesabagina's return to Rwanda after almost seven years away. PLEASE be mindful that this second one has some quite disturbing images that may bother some people: it sure did me. But don't let that hinder you from seeing Hotel Rwanda: it is not only an involving drama, it is an entertaining (and when appropriate, humorous) movie that will affect you on so many levels.
Friday, August 12, 2005
I've unplugged from The Matrix Online
After previously extolling the strengths and virtues of this game, I sadly and reluctantly was led to cancel my account with The Matrix Online a short while ago.
I really, really hated doing this, because The Matrix Online (a) has one heckuva beautiful graphics engine (b) has the most compelling premise of any online game to date and (c) is intended to give players a real part to play in the ongoing Matrix storyline. It's just simply a gorgeous landscape to run around in... and I'm having to leave it.
Why? 'Cuz sad to say, there's just no new content being created for this game, and there hasn't been for some time. They did some gutsy things like killing off Morpheus and introducing a few compelling story arcs, but for the past three months there's not been anything substantial added to this game. The "grind" of leveling-up characters has become long, monotonous and just plain boring: it's the worst of any online multiplayer role-playing game that I know of. I'm not the only one feeling this way right now: account memberships have dropped so sharply that they actually combined all the previously existing servers into three new servers. Otherwise it was looking like an empty shell of a city all across the board. Well, the drop-off in the quality of the game is only one reason why so many are leaving: the real one during the past month or so has been the takeover of The Matrix Online by Sony Online Entertainment... the same company that took Star Wars Galaxies and turned it into Star Wars Costume Party. They wrecked what should have been a winning game from the start, and there's no sign that they've learned any of their lessons now that they have The Matrix Online.
I called an 800 number to cancel my account and talked to a friendly customer service rep named Steven. He was extremely courteous, didn't try to pressure me into staying on, but he did ask me a question or two about why I was leaving. I told him that I couldn't justify paying $15 a month for a game that has become, for all intents and purposes, boring. But I also told him that I'm a huge Matrix fan, that I do like the ideas behind this game and that if it gets its act together then I would definitely reconsider reactivating my account. Maybe it will... who knows? But in the meantime, although I'm going to keep an eye on things with The Matrix Online I won't be one of the "toons" dodging bullets in the streets of the mega city.
Price of oil has jumped 300% since Clinton left office
Have read a few places tonight that it was $22.50 per barrel just when George W. Bush was sworn in. It's now $66 a barrel and only going up.
Funny thing is, Bush chided Clinton back in 2000 about the escalating price of oil. What does he make of a 300% jump in it on his watch, then?
The only reason I'm up right now posting about this is because lately I've been doing a lot of study on petroleum production and possible alternatives to gasoline. I'm inclined to believe that the point of Peak Oil has now arrived and we are seeing the beginning of a rapidly dwindling supply of crude (or at least the readily-refinable "sweet" variety) that cannot meet escalating demand (especially from India and China, where petroleum demands are beginning to vastly outstrip those of the United States). Two possibilities exist from this point forward: a drastic change of lifestyle as formerly plentiful liquid fuels "dry up", or look for other forms of liquid fuel that might be used in already existing engines with some modification. Primary problem here is that many gasoline alternatives - such as ethanol - do not have the energy potential of "fossil fuels".
The best recourse we might be faced with would be a conversion to biodiesel as soon as possible. But I don't know how easy (or even feasible) it would be to convert a gasoline engine to diesel (which could run most biodiesel with no problems). Can anyone enlighten me as to whether this is possible? 'Cuz some interesting stuff I'm reading suggests that if we could do this, if current research bears out we could produce more than enough bio-derived energy to meet not only current demands but those of the next several decades.
So the good news is there is hope if we are almost out of petroleum. But it's gonna take a little bit of effort to make it work... if it's indeed possible.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Now it IS "The end of the world...": Prophetic article from 1999?
The following item isn't something "new" in the least bit. It was first printed in my old college newspaper more than six years ago. I had no plans to write something that week: the following edition would be my "farewell column" before graduation but my editor told me the morning of deadline day that he had too much empty space on the op-ed page for this week and he needed someone to fill it. Since he'd considered me to be his "wordy wordy monkey" I obliged him by promising to write something... even though I had no idea at all what I was going to write about.
So, I wandered around campus the rest of that day, trying to find my Muse. Listening for whatever it was that I was supposed to write about. Elon University really is one of the best places I've ever found to walk around until something presents itself. Lot of rain that day. I think it was finally about 4 p.m. that some things "clicked" in my mind, and I slammed out the following essay. Two days later when the paper hit a lot of friends told me that it was "a really deep article" that they had to try and wrap their brains around. I didn't intend for it to be OVERLY heady... this was the purest essence of my take on things that got poured into MS Word, just because a friend was desperate for filler material and asked if I could provide it.
I refound this a little while ago. Looking back on it now, I have to wonder what exactly was going on that day that made the cylinders fire as they did. It's a very dated read now because it refers to Y2K, the situation in Kosovo back then, and Star Wars Episode I which was getting released the following month. The first part of it reads like a guy with a "Pollyanna" schtick going. The rest of it though... well, in light of the situation our world is in now, and how fast things are headed downhill, it just seems downright too prophetic: we ARE fast approaching the worst stagnancy that human culture has ever known, and very few people seem to want to stop that train from flying off the track. The stuff about "empire", that now seems like too much foretelling of the rise of the neo-conservatives who've gotten us so bogged down in Iraq. A lot of other things that make this article resonate so strongly today.
Anyway, make of this what you will: from the April 22nd, 1999 edition of The Pendulum at Elon College (now Elon University), here is my essay...
'The end of the world as we know it?' I don't think soLike I said, this was written over six years ago, and it's pretty open to interpretation, so feel free to do so.Chris Knight
ColumnistAccording to some students of esoteric lore, the next month or so is when Nostradamus prophesied the end of civilization would occur, with a great cataclysm.
Nilus, a fourth century Christian, foretold of the coming of the Antichrist before the end of 1999, after describing in detail such things of this century as telephones, aircraft and world war.
All over the world people have become so terrified of the "Y2K bug" that some are digging bunkers and stocking up on food and ammo, hoping to "ride out" what they believe will be a global catastrophe.
One of the hottest sells in bookstores lately has been Apollyon, the latest of the "Left Behind" series set in a post-Rapture world (think of Book of Revelation meets Tom Clancy, meets The Winds of War). Meanwhile, Christians everywhere have begun interpreting the times to mean that the Second Coming of Christ must soon come to pass. Some say that Kosovo will erupt into World War III.
How appropriate that in the midst of "millennial madness," Stephen Jay Gould spoke here a few weeks ago about the times we live in. Especially of late, Gould has been critical of the idea that we can know the future. According to Gould, the obsession that some people are having about the "end of the world" is so much foolishness, particularly religiously-inspired eschatology.
I am a Christian. Meaning that I have accepted Christ as my personal savior, and I believe that a relationship with Him is the only way that a person can enter into the presence of God. I came into that relationship after a life of experiences, especially the experiences I've had at Elon College. So too, as part of my faith, do I believe that Christ will return someday. As a Christian, that much of the future is already established.
That doesn't mean I'm gonna join in the frenzy, though. As Jesus Himself said, "NO MAN knows the hour..." Whether it happens in the next several months, or even in my lifetime at all, that's not something to be worried about. Shoot, I got more stuff out the wazoo to take care of than I know what to do with: post-graduation plans, gearing up to see Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, wanting to travel and see more of the world, get married someday... TONS of stuff. The stuff that life is made of, y'know? I mean, remember Bobby Fischer? He was the world's greatest chess player back in the Seventies. The guy had everything, then he dropped out of sight and started living in cheap motels and getting boozed up, because he was waiting for the Second Coming. That ain't LIFE, man! And that ain't what God wants you to do with it, either: He wants you to be living for Him, but still be grabbing life by the horns and not letting go!
Still, regardless of all the end-time scenarios that are getting chucked around lately, I do wonder if humanity has reached a summit... or perhaps a plateau is a better term. Professor Gould may have been partly correct that we can not predict the future with any reliability. But perhaps, it is that we no longer have any reason to predict the future. If we are not at the end of the world, we could be at an end of history.
Note that I say "an end," not "the end." By "an end of history," I am not speaking of the apocalyptic or supernatural at all. It is something that man has brought upon himself, whether by grandiose dreams and designs spread out over millennia or the simple cravings of the human nature that have steadily brought manking to this point. It is the course of history, culminating in a long-sought "equilibrium" on a global scale.
Throughout recorded time, history has been divided into epochs of "empire:" the Babylonian, the Greek, the Roman... onward until the English and finally, the American empire. The "empire" is the binding force of human civilization: for good or ill, "empire" determines the value of currency, establishes the frontiers, and interprets and enforces the law. "Empire," whatever its name, is what man looks to as the identity of whatever time it is he lives in.
"The empire" has remained the same; only its seat has changed. The influence exerted by our leaders in Washington D.C., though in a radically different form, is essentially the same as that of, say, Xerxes of the Persians, two and a half thousand years ago. And the same of Hadrian, and the khans of Mongolia.
And up until about the middle of this century, "empire" has taken the course it had been on for the past six thousand years. And then something became apparent: that the growth of empire had increased the effect that regionalism was having worldwide.
Consider the two World Wars: they were not true "world wars" at all, in that they were confined to two separate theaters in Europe and the Pacific Rim. But economies and whole nations worldwide were affected all the same. And after the conflicts, there was one undeniable seat of empire: the United States.
There has been one great characteristic that all forms of "the empire" have shared throughout time: growing centralization. It's an aspect of the increase in power that comes with grasping the economic and military reins.
And with this centralizing of military, infrastructure, and economies, there is almost always a breakdown of empire. Consider the Roman Empire, which became so ingrown and heavy upon itself that it collapsed, unable to bear its own burden which had been added to by internal corruption. The Roman Empire fell, only to have "empire" further built up upon its ruins, expanding further.
Now consider that for all intents and purposes, America has become the new Roman Empire, only ours has a truly global influence and a far greater disadvantage.
Without any further frontiers to push into (unless you want to consider colonizing Antarctica), and with the rest of the world either province or periphery, WHERE is it left for "the empire" to expand, to add unto itself? There is nowhere... and no other left to take up the burden of "empire."
There becomes a lack of vitality, and subsequently a waning drive for civilization to improve upon itself. Advances in sciences and the arts steadily dwindle. Ultimately, all that is left is for the seat of empire to try to hold itself together. That has become America's motivation on the world stage in this decade (and I think that trying — and failing — to maintain the situation in the Balkans is part of that effect).
Here's where I'm getting at with all this: as this world becomes more "globalized," we are looking at a breakdown of everything we have come to cherish of human civilization. It's losing its vibrancy, everything is becoming lackluster. There’s an "equilibrium of mediocrity" we are approaching.
Consider that the American of 1800 had far, FAR more rights than you or I enjoy in 1999, with far less to pay for them but his or her own drive and initiative. Growing centralization on a global scale has hit you and me in ways both apparent and subtle... all in the name of a global "community" but more accurately, a global "empire."
This is why I said we are at "an end of history," because in such a time as we are entering into, what is left for history books to be written about? Human progress is slowing down under its own weight for the sake of empire. It needs to break free, with as few limits as possible.
I have some ideas for that. First, we cannot change the world overnight: we need to start "locally." America should consider taking a "protectionist" or perhaps even a bit "isolationist" stance, at least for a decade or two. We need time to examine ourselves internally, and try to determine who we are again, and where we are going.
Second, we should take steps to end centralizing everything here into what is becoming one giant bureaucracy. Localized governments are far more efficient than our federal one. This may sound extreme, but a HUGE step would be to eliminate the Department of Education and let communities run their own schools. Putting all the schools in this country into one basket just opens itself up to incredible abuse and corruption, at the cost of the best education we can give this country's children.
Third, we should really consider getting out of the United Nations. The UN began with the noblest intentions, but time has proven it to have been a grand failure so far as creating and "maintaining" peace goes. It was doomed from the start, because it took the best elements of "empire" and magnified its vulnerabilities to human nature.
I've already argued in past columns, human nature is, on its own and without God, inherently corrupt. If we get out of the UN, now, we will be setting an example to all nations of the world: that they have to start looking to God and their own experiences, and not the illusion of combined human "wisdom," to guide them.
For the young people of our generation, this world still holds great promise. I believe that each of us has God-given potential to make something better of this world than how we first found it.
But we need to take a good, hard look at what this world is becoming now, if we want to someday leave our children and theirs with the same opportunities that we have been blessed with.
It sounds like an impossible task to cut off "an end to history," to break apart an "empire," but it can be done. It might be hard, but it will be fun. And if we need any more enticement, think of it this way...
It will be revolutionary, in every sense of the word.
I'm really new to this whole Cindy Sheehan business...
...but it seems to me like it should be a simple enough affair: Bush should look her in the eye and tell her for what reason was it that her son was killed in Iraq.
In another time, real men could do that much.
After-Action Report: Revenge of the Sith at Atlanta's fabulous Fox Theatre!
The only way this could have been better would be if a good friend had gone with me to this. Otherwise, I can't imagine a finer way to have ended seeing the first-run theatrical release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith than what happened the night before last.
ME: Hey Ed do you think I should go see Episode 3 at the Fox Theatre tonight?There was also gonna be a wine-tasting before this thing. Since I've never been to one before, all the better for the new experience, eh? Anyhoo the movie started at 8 and the wine tasting at 5:45 so I left Lisa's parents' house shortly after 4, fought an awful thunderstorm while "heading down the Atlanta highway" as the B-52s once put it, and after overcoming the local environment's traffic quirks I pulled into a parking garage around quarter 'til 6.
WEIRD ED: ARE YOU NUTS HECK YEAH MAN!!!!!!!!!!
Why drive over an hour to see a movie I've seen about twelve times this summer already? 'Cuz it's at the Fox Theatre!! It must be said with such awe and reverence. I'd been to the Fox twice before - once to see Stomp and a few months later for The Phantom of the Opera and every time this place bowls me over. This is the theater that had the world premiere of Gone With The Wind back in 1938. It's hosted a lot of neat shows and world-renowned folks (and in 1996 it was headquarters for the Australian Olympic team) over the years. Ignore all that and the place will still absolutely overwhelm you: the architecture is grandiose beyond mortal ken. The entire building was originally a Shriner's temple back in the 1920s that got bought and converted into a theatre at the dawn of the Great Depression. Well those Shriners wasted no expense in giving the building an Oriental/Egyptian/Moorish look: the outside of the Fox has those onion-shaped domes out of "Arabian Nights". That's nothing compared to the inside: the main auditorium will literally make you weak in the knees, it's so overwhelming. The bathrooms are cleaner than most people's houses... heck the bathrooms have like a smoking lounge between them and the rest of the theater! The Fox is so grand it borders on the obscene. But, it's incredibly beautiful. It must be seen in person at least once in your life, just so you'll know that this kind of place really does exist in the world... and for seven bucks for a movie ticket, you can take it all in for the evening!
Well, the wine-tasting it turned out cost an extra ten bucks. I ain't a cheapskate but I thought it'd be wiser to keep the pocket change I had on me for a possible bite after the show and 'sides, this thing would be better shared along with Lisa. I decided to forego the wine this time. So I hung out in the main lobby and about 6:15 Darth Vader and four Imperial Stormtroopers came out, joined later by Boba Fett. They were from the 501st Imperial costumer's group, so respected it is that those troops that accompany Anakin into the temple in Sith were dubbed the 501st by Lucasfilm... is that cool or what? There's a documentary film in the works about them also. Neat bunch of guys. Oh yeah did I tell you that there was gonna be a costume contest before the show? Darn... 400 miles from home and I sure could have used my Jedi outfit and custom-made lightsaber. Ahhh well...
They opened the doors at 6:45. I got me the biggest tub of popcorn and a large root beer and then found a seat in the upper balcony (the best seats in the house). Like I noted at the beginning, I didn't have any good friends with me but I did make a few new ones: there was a really nice lady named Marie, in town from Miami, sitting next to me and she hadn't seen Episode III yet. We had quite a good conversation about Star Wars and other stuff. I even told her about Forcery and she said she'd have to take a look at that :-) At 7:15 an organist came out to play on "Mighty Mo": from what I've read it's the 2nd biggest theatrical pipe organ in the world, after the one at Radio City Music Hall. So we listened as he played some stuff and then everyone did a sing-along (complete with lyrics slides that date back to the 1930s) to songs like "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" and "You Are My Sunshine". Then came the costume contest: about three Darth Vaders, two Obi-Wans, a pre-burn Anakin, one Darth Maul and a Twi'lek chick, along with a few generic Jedi: the smallest Darth Vader was the winner, I think.
7:55 and the curtains opened up to show they screen. They ran that old Warner Brothers cartoon Duck Dodgers in the 24th and 1/2 Century!!! How cool is that?!? And then you know how most theatrical chains have a custom-made "welcome to the whatever theater"...? Well there was a VERY beautiful one made just for the Fox Theatre: that should give ya an idea how important a place this is, when this ONE theater has its very own... one of those thingies.
Then they crank up Revenge of the Sith. As far as I can tell it was practically a virgin print of the movie. And for the next two hours or so... it was unlike any showing of Episode III I'd ever seen.
Nobody talked. Everybody was spellbound. Marie, sitting to my left, cried a few tears, I noticed, during that heartbreaking scene between Anakin and Padme and Obi-Wan.
The quietest I've ever heard the Fox Theatre be came when Darth Vader's mask and helmet come on for the first time: the mask locks down, the helmet clamps on, there's that momentary silence and then Vader's breathing for the first time: "whooooooo-hhhhaaaaahhh". You could have heard a pin drop in that place, I swear.
And then not long after that the show was over, and as everyone was leaving I told Marie it was great meeting her and we wished each other a good trip back home. I got to my car and after getting on I-75 I turned on my MP3 player and dialed up the PERFECT song to end the night on: "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Yoda".
And, that was my night at the Fox Theatre to see Star Wars Episode III. Even if you never see a Star Wars movie there (who knows maybe they'll run all six of them there someday) it's well worth any chance you get to experience the place. But as for me, if there had to be a one last time to ever see a Star Wars movie during its first run, I can't imagine a better venue to have had it in than at the Fox. It was a night I don't think I'll ever forget.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Ain't no way to check out
In South Korea a 28-year old man has died after playing video games for almost 50 hours nonstop.
Meanwhile in Washington state another man has died after having sex with a horse.
Call me old-fashioned, but when my time comes I want to go out standing up, with a gun in my hand and loud 'splosions going off.
20,000th visitor to this blog coming today?
Looks like this blog will get its 20,000th visitor sometime today. It got more than 5,000 visitors in just the past month or so alone.
Maybe I'm doing something right? :-)
Will have a full report later this evening on something really cool that I did last night. Here's a tip in the meantime: if you're in the Atlanta area you might wanna check out the Fox Theatre tonight around 8 or so.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Post-Prince: Is Rowling tricking us with Snape?
For some truly fascinating thoughts regarding the latest Harry Potter book, head over to Dave Kopel's blog, where he posts an essay on Severus Snape. It's a very long but provocative article about where things now stand in this story in the wake of Half-Blood Prince's events.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Vox Day puts women in their place
Read it over at WorldNetDaily now and be sure to check out Vox's blog right now especially this and this and this and this 'cuz the reactions to this article have been a real scream!!
Sunday, August 07, 2005
RuneScape is a pretty neat lil' game
I'm going to be writing up a review of Guild Wars pretty soon (now that I'm almost level 11 and have had time to explore the game a bit). In the meantime, my 12-year old cousin Dylan came over earlier today and showed me something pretty darned cool: RuneScape. So far as massively-multiplayer online games go it's rather unique. Fer starters, the entire game is played via Java applet on your web browser. Graphics are 3-D, not the full-detailed stuff you'd find in World of Warcraft or City of Heroes, really sorta glorified textual MUDding but they're still rather effective. Play is either fee-based full membership or free, which limits the landscape you can explore and quests you partake in and puts some banner ads in your browser window. But even free, it's quite a nice game to behold. I found a lot more info about it at Rune Tips and Runescape Realm.com (Rune Tips has a nice graphical bestiary where you can take a gander at the game's various monsters... which includes chickens, ducks, and drunken dwarfs). All things considered, I was rather impressed with RuneScape, so sign up for free and check it out!
Kyle Williams hits the mark again
This time he's spotlighting Christian hypocrisy toward homosexuality while caring little for the actual sanctity of marriage...
Some of the very people who vehemently oppose and criticize homosexual marriage are basking in the hypocritical light of a double standard. Their mantra is "save marriage" – from homosexuals presumably – but the practices of the average American have nothing to do with a devotion to chastity. In other words, what is marriage being saved from when Britney Spears, while in a drunken stupor, gets married in Vegas for 55 hours? And aside from social repercussions, there's very little encouragement from our nation for couples to stay married.Mash here for the rest of his article over at WorldNetDaily.
