Old School vs. New School Gaming
December 11, 2015
Petroglyph Parking Procedures
January 8, 2016
Even though the self-published book of essays is completed, there’s still all sorts of added headaches that have been added to the mix. #1 being the fact that the book is available off the Amazon website for sale, but back-ordered ever since its been listed. Hopefully this problem will be solved early in the coming year as we’ve undertaken a few things to remedy the situation.
On the bright side, I have been able to do some new writing and because of the Christmas holiday I’m posting a new essay a bit early today. Star Wars related for all you fanatics out there. Happy Holidays!!
Page Count: 748
The Force Is Still
Strong With This One
Last Thursday my friend who took over as manager of the hotel I used to oversee bought a ticket for me, and I accompanied him and two other folks to see the premier of the new Star Wars movie (The Force Awakens). Besides the fact that the movie started at 10:00 pm-which pretty much guaranteed I’d be doing my best imitation of a walking zombie at 2:00 am the following morning, I was very excited.
When I saw the original Star Wars (A New Hope) in May of 1977, I became so enamored of the film that I ended up making the 50-mile trek to Durango nine more times to see the flick that summer. For fans of a particular movie this may seem like a mild obsession, and it is when you think about the overall picture. My little sister, who strongly feels The Wizard of Oz happens to be God’s cinematic gift to humanity, has seen her favorite film 200 or 300 times.
Multiple viewings of the same movie almost becomes like a religious ritual though. You just keep doing it over and over again, and pretty soon you’re able to quote entire lines of dialogue while engaged in all sorts of day-to-day mindless tasks. This recitation of lines becomes like a part of your being and you naturally end up quoting a particular passage to match individual situations in your own life. Then again that scenario happening is completely absurd. Obviously, “We don’t need No Stink’in Movie Quoting.”
My obsession with the entire Star Wars movie phenomenon goes a bit deeper than just a simple movie engrossment. Part of it also has to do with the fact that the first movie in the series came out at the beginning of summer. The time of year when everything in nature seems to be achieving its full glory.
I’d just graduated from high school and was all set to make the big move to the big, bad world of college, the University of Colorado-Boulder since we’re getting specific about these things. Twenty-two thousand under-graduates at the time: monstrously huge (at least compared to growing up in the tiny little burg of Silverton).
Star Wars Episode IV became exactly what their title said, A New Hope. The beginning of a whole new set of adventures with their corresponding mysterious and exotic situations laid out in front of me to experience in all their guts & glory.
By mid-summer I started telling everyone I knew, “May the Force be With you.” Things got almost too extreme; began writing the term on anything and everything in site. Triumphantly scribbling the sentence on my father’s cast as he’d just recently sustained a broken arm, and doing a credible graffiti artist imitation on the side of buildings all over the place.
The phenomenon that is Star Wars had managed to immerse itself into every fiber of my being that summer. Those ten viewings of the film probably would’ve been twenty or thirty if I’d had the time and money. Spent a number of nights blindly staring up at the stars and envisioning all sorts of Star Warsscenarios playing themselves out a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Followed of course by one of my friends slapping me across the face in an attempt to bring me out of my stupor. A group of us would then formulate plans to make another movie-viewing trek. Seeing another film that summer? You can’t be serious, are you?
So much has happened since that time. Traveling to all sorts of exotic locales in this great big world has become my way of journeying to far-flung parts of the universe. Creating stories in my mind, then writing about them has become my modus operandi for experiencing Star Wars-like adventures.
The new film is pretty good, but I won’t say anything else and spoil it for those of you out there who haven’t seen The Force Awakens yet. Suffice to say the movie deserves all that cash its currently raking in at a record setting pace.
This past Sunday that same friend of mine who journeyed with me to see the new movie talked about another trip to take in the film. I may not go to see it nine more times like I did with the original way back in ‘77, but a second viewing is definitely called for. Count me in.
