Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….

[Lynn McGuire]

Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day

I remember two of my buddies talking me into go seeing Star Wars at the
Houston Galleria Cinema in 1977. We had to wait in line for several
hours around the ice skating rink before we got into one of the four
huge theaters (well over 1,000 seats each). The movie was cool. Super
cool. I went back in a couple of weeks and saw it again. Now it looks
dated but that is ok because they so upped the game in follow-on movies.

And I still think that “The Empire Strikes Back” is the best of the
bunch. Why yes, “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones is one of my
favorite songs. Why do you ask ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4irXQhgMqg

Lynn

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <s6s1bt$amf$2...@dont-email.me>,

I got a blog post out of my first encounter some years ago:

http://columbiaclosings.com/wordpress/?p=150
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Lynn McGuire]

"Silent Running" was awesome until you thought about it.

Lynn

[Dimensional Traveler]

"Silent Running" can be replaced with a lot of other titles.... :-P


--
Troll, troll, troll your post gently down the thread
Angrily, angrily, angrily, the net's a nut's scream.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <s6s1bt$amf$2...@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
>
>I remember two of my buddies talking me into go seeing Star Wars at the
>Houston Galleria Cinema in 1977. We had to wait in line for several
>hours around the ice skating rink before we got into one of the four
>huge theaters (well over 1,000 seats each). The movie was cool. Super
>cool. I went back in a couple of weeks and saw it again. Now it looks
>dated but that is ok because they so upped the game in follow-on movies.

I haven't seen them. I saw Episode One, which I considered okay,
and then I saw the trailer for Episode Two and I said, "Oh,
crumbs, that's how he's going to be drawn to the Dark Side, by
twoo wuve. What fools these mortals be."

>And I still think that The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the
>bunch.

The Imperial March has lyrics, you know. They begin,

"We are the Empire, we're big and we're mean;
We are Darth Vader's destruction machine."

I forget who wrote them.



--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

[J. Clarke]

On Tue, 4 May 2021 21:45:53 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
wrote:

>In article <s6s1bt$amf$2...@dont-email.me>,
>Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
>>
>>I remember two of my buddies talking me into go seeing Star Wars at the
>>Houston Galleria Cinema in 1977. We had to wait in line for several
>>hours around the ice skating rink before we got into one of the four
>>huge theaters (well over 1,000 seats each). The movie was cool. Super
>>cool. I went back in a couple of weeks and saw it again. Now it looks
>>dated but that is ok because they so upped the game in follow-on movies.
>
>I haven't seen them. I saw Episode One, which I considered okay,
>and then I saw the trailer for Episode Two and I said, "Oh,
>crumbs, that's how he's going to be drawn to the Dark Side, by
>twoo wuve. What fools these mortals be."

I would have been fine with the twoo wuve, the trouble is that Lucas
didn't actually manage to sell it.

[pete...@gmail.com]

Today is also the 51st anniversary of the Kent State shootings.

Pt

[Robert Carnegie]

Someone on a BBC radio improvisation game managed,
perhaps with preparation time, something like this:

"I'm Darth Vader and I'm really really bad
I've got a shiny helmet, and I'm Luke Skywalker's dad
I'm played by Dave Prowse,
But they didn't use my vocal
Cos I sound like a yokel
Which is really really sad
(but not as sad as saying 'shiny helmet' to get a cheap laugh)"

[David Brown]

My tradition is to watch the Ewok movies. Meaning I've done it twice in the last 3 years.

[David Brown]

I have a review of it on my blog. My critique re the science is that if what's described really happened, the free living human population would be either without food or without air.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <082c0ace-abe9-4b91...@googlegroups.com>,

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
>On Tuesday, 4 May 2021 at 22:55:03 UTC+1, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <s6s1bt$amf$2...@dont-email.me>,
>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….
>> >
>> > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
>> >
>> >I remember two of my buddies talking me into go seeing Star Wars at the
>> >Houston Galleria Cinema in 1977. We had to wait in line for several
>> >hours around the ice skating rink before we got into one of the four
>> >huge theaters (well over 1,000 seats each). The movie was cool. Super
>> >cool. I went back in a couple of weeks and saw it again. Now it looks
>> >dated but that is ok because they so upped the game in follow-on movies.
>> I haven't seen them. I saw Episode One, which I considered okay,
>> and then I saw the trailer for Episode Two and I said, "Oh,
>> crumbs, that's how he's going to be drawn to the Dark Side, by
>> twoo wuve. What fools these mortals be."
>> >And I still think that The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the
>> >bunch.
>> The Imperial March has lyrics, you know. They begin,
>>
>> "We are the Empire, we're big and we're mean;
>> We are Darth Vader's destruction machine."
>>
>> I forget who wrote them.

Meg has googled: Jim Vibber.

And she remembered two more lines:

"When we engage the Rebellion in wars across the Galaxy
We'll score till the last man is dead."

>
>Someone on a BBC radio improvisation game managed,
>perhaps with preparation time, something like this:
>
>"I'm Darth Vader and I'm really really bad
>I've got a shiny helmet, and I'm Luke Skywalker's dad
>I'm played by Dave Prowse,
>But they didn't use my vocal
>Cos I sound like a yokel
>Which is really really sad
>(but not as sad as saying 'shiny helmet' to get a cheap laugh)"

Cool. A reference to Mike Maltese, Carl Stalling, and Richard
Wagner.

[pete...@gmail.com]

The biodome ships from Silent Running can be seen blowing up in the first episode
of the rebooted Battlestar Galactica.

Pt

[Your Name]

On 2021-05-04 22:25:43 +0000, J. Clarke said:
> On Tue, 4 May 2021 21:45:53 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
> wrote:
>> In article <s6s1bt$amf$2...@dont-email.me>,
>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
>>>
>>> I remember two of my buddies talking me into go seeing Star Wars at the
>>> Houston Galleria Cinema in 1977. We had to wait in line for several
>>> hours around the ice skating rink before we got into one of the four
>>> huge theaters (well over 1,000 seats each). The movie was cool. Super
>>> cool. I went back in a couple of weeks and saw it again. Now it looks
>>> dated but that is ok because they so upped the game in follow-on movies.
>>
>> I haven't seen them. I saw Episode One, which I considered okay,
>> and then I saw the trailer for Episode Two and I said, "Oh,
>> crumbs, that's how he's going to be drawn to the Dark Side, by
>> twoo wuve. What fools these mortals be."
>
> I would have been fine with the twoo wuve, the trouble is that Lucas
> didn't actually manage to sell it.

George Lucas managed to sell it far far better than *anything* in
JarJar Abrams' ridiculous "Sequel Trilogy" which was simply pointlessly
idiotic ill-fitting garbage (as usual from him).

[Andrew McDowell]

For no very good reason, I was watching an old video tape of The Phantom Menance, and thought of a no doubt politically incorrect interpretation of Vader's story. Anakin Skywalker was born a slave. Is this a story about the crippling effects of a legacy of slavery? Does the damage done by slavery render ex-slaves and those who follow their culture fundamentally untrustworthy? (after all, a slave is not in a position to agree and satisfy contracts with their master - their only defense is fast-talking deception, as was apparently a stereotype in classic cultures with slavery).

[Kevrob]

Elmer's Siegfried had a "spear and magic helmet."

https://www.openculture.com/2017/01/how-the-1957-bugs-bunnys-cartoon-whats-opera-doc-inspired-todays-opera-singers.html

https://www.wsj.com/articles/singers-wecall-how-elmer-fudd-bugs-bunny-tuned-them-to-wagner-roles-1463753848

https://www.supercartoons.net/cartoon/736/bugs-bunny-whats-opera-doc.html

--
Kevin R

[Kevrob]

"A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Death Star".....????

Be careful with that "effects of slavery" stuff. You might get tagged as
someone who thinks those descended from ancestors held as slaves are
somehow inferior. It's perfectly alright to claim they still suffer from harms
done to their ancestors, though. Don't let the cognitive dissonance hit too
hard.

--
Kevin R

[Quadibloc]

On Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 12:21:57 AM UTC-6, Kevrob wrote:
> You might get tagged as
> someone who thinks those descended from ancestors held as slaves are
> somehow inferior. It's perfectly alright to claim they still suffer from harms
> done to their ancestors, though. Don't let the cognitive dissonance hit too
> hard.

Cognitive dissonance is not required.

Acquired characteristics cannot be inherited, if you don't count
epigenetics.

When it is claimed that today's black people are suffering from
the legacy of slavery, it does not mean that slavery deformed
their ancestors, and by some mechanism is still deforming them
as well.

Certainly black people in America do exist, to some extent, as a
group with a culture, and this culture could indeed have flaws.
Some could date from slavery, others from the many years of
Jim Crow, and some could be the result of welfare policies that
discriminate against intact families.

But when it is claimed that black people today are still suffering
from the consequences of slavery, the main thing that is meant
has nothing to do with flaws in black culture. Instead, they're
talking about the fact th at black people tend to be _poor_. And
that's because, in a free-enterprise society, how well a child
does economically in life is very strongly influenced by the
financial position of his or her parents.

There are two ways to address this.

One would also benefit white people who are poor; turn the
country into something like Sweden, where the government
ensures that all children, rich or poor, get a quality education,
adequate nutrition, clean drinking water, and so on and so
forth.

Since American political culture is allergic to "socialism",
however (scare quotes used since a welfare state does not
require state ownership of the means of production),
reparations for slavery have been suggested as an
alternative.

After all, if property inheritance is regarded as legitimate,
then, since slavery is an act of aggression against those
enslaved, it is also a _theft_ of labor and its proceeds; and
of course restitution for a theft can be demanded if it has
not yet been recieved, no matter how many generations
have passed. With accrued interest.

John Savard

[Paul S Person]

On Wed, 5 May 2021 23:21:54 -0700 (PDT), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

Good observation -- /A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum/
was based on Plautus: it used characters and situations from his
plays. And Pseudolus was, indeed, a fast-talking deceptive slave.

But it wasn't actually one of the surviving plays by Pautus; the plot
was crafted by the makers of the original musical play and then
adapted for the film.

This is similer to the film /Moliere/, which has many characters and
plot elements from Moliere's plays, but is not a play by Moliere.

There may be other examples of this strange genre: films based on an
author's works that do /not/ claim to be based on any particular one
of them, and yet would have fit right in had the author had the wit to
write it.

>Be careful with that "effects of slavery" stuff. You might get tagged as
>someone who thinks those descended from ancestors held as slaves are
>somehow inferior. It's perfectly alright to claim they still suffer from harms
>done to their ancestors, though. Don't let the cognitive dissonance hit too
>hard.

As Quadi points out (and then ruins with his own nonsense) there is no
cognitive dissionance.

One is the psychological effect of /being/ enslaved, which their free
descendants do not suffer (well, unless they have really vivid
imaginations or have undergone some sort of experience).

The other is the psychological, economic, and social effects of how
they have been treated since the end of slavery and, most of all, how
they are treated today.
--
"I begin to envy Petronius."
"I have envied him long since."

[The Horny Goat]

On Thu, 06 May 2021 09:37:24 -0700, Paul S Person
<pspe...@ix.netcom.invalid> wrote:

>On Wed, 5 May 2021 23:21:54 -0700 (PDT), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 12:23:28 AM UTC-4, mcdow...@sky.com wrote:
>>> On Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 11:25:47 PM UTC+1, J. Clarke wrote:
>>> > On Tue, 4 May 2021 21:45:53 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
>>> > wrote:
>>> > >In article <s6s1bt$amf$2...@dont-email.me>,
>>> > >Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > >>Tues. May 4, 2021 – May the Fourth be with you….
>>> > >>
>>> > >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Day
>>> > >>
>>> > >>I remember two of my buddies talking me into go seeing Star Wars at the
>>> > >>Houston Galleria Cinema in 1977. We had to wait in line for several
>>> > >>hours around the ice skating rink before we got into one of the four
>>> > >>huge theaters (well over 1,000 seats each). The movie was cool. Super
>>> > >>cool. I went back in a couple of weeks and saw it again. Now it looks
>>> > >>dated but that is ok because they so upped the game in follow-on movies.

I remember it well - I saw the second showing in Vancouver that day
(shortly after end of university exams) and had the 'privilege' of
being lined up around the block ticket in hand for the second showing
on the first day. It was 80-85 (in the shade) outside that day so they
had the back door of the theatre open and we all got to hear the roars
when the Death Star blew up though while we obviously knew that had
been the climax we didn't yet know what it was. Though it was rather
offputting hearing those 10 year old boys clucking when Leia gave Luke
and Han very chaste kisses at the end following their medals!

(The fact that I remember that detail some 45 years later should tell
you something!)

If anything that made the second audience even wilder than the first!

Saw what are now called episodes 5 and 6 (e.g. TESB and ROTJ then much
later "episode one" years alter, said "meh!" and haven't bothered with
the others.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <tu8meg1looskela34...@4ax.com>,

The Horny Goat <lcr...@home.ca> wrote:
>
>I remember it well - I saw the second showing in Vancouver that day
>(shortly after end of university exams) and had the 'privilege' of
>being lined up around the block ticket in hand for the second showing
>on the first day. It was 80-85 (in the shade) outside that day so they
>had the back door of the theatre open and we all got to hear the roars
>when the Death Star blew up though while we obviously knew that had
>been the climax we didn't yet know what it was. Though it was rather
>offputting hearing those 10 year old boys clucking when Leia gave Luke
>and Han very chaste kisses at the end following their medals!
>
>(The fact that I remember that detail some 45 years later should tell
>you something!)

I remember a slightly different incident from about that long
ago. The whole family (Hal, me, a toddler, an infant in arms)
went to the performance. As you recall, after the crawl there's
lots of noisy shooting. My daughter woke up and started crying;
I said, "Hush, kid, it's just a movie..." and she apparently
observed that nobody else was panicking over the loud noises, and
went back to sleep.

>
>
>Saw what are now called episodes 5 and 6 (e.g. TESB and ROTJ then much
>later "episode one" years alter, said "meh!" and haven't bothered with
>the others.

I saw 5 and 6, and eventually saw 1, which in my opinion was not
half bad.

But then I saw the trailers for 2, and said, "Oh, RATS, that's
how Anakin is going to become Vader: he's going to be seduced by
the Dark Side for the sake of Twoo Wuv." And I never saw 2 or
any of the later episodes.

[J. Clarke]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 10:07:21 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcr...@home.ca>
wrote:

I saw it with a bunch of other physics and engineering grad students,
so no clucking. However it was observed at the end that Leia was
looking at Han, and then we had mock light-saber battles all the way
back to the dorm.

This was a weekday afternoon across the street from OSU so no huge
crowd.

[J. Clarke]

Just as well. Lots of action shots and not much else, and the action
failed to awe. I could have dealt with the Twoo Wuv if Lucas had
actually managed to sell it, but he didn't even come close. I never
really felt that what Anakin was feeling was more than puppy love.

[The Horny Goat]

On Sun, 11 Jul 2021 18:02:36 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

>I remember a slightly different incident from about that long
>ago. The whole family (Hal, me, a toddler, an infant in arms)
>went to the performance. As you recall, after the crawl there's
>lots of noisy shooting. My daughter woke up and started crying;
>I said, "Hush, kid, it's just a movie..." and she apparently
>observed that nobody else was panicking over the loud noises, and
>went back to sleep.
>>

Good catch on your part - and I'm impressed that your tyke knew that
because mommy and daddy weren't panicking and neither were the other
adults that all was well.

My personal scariest experience was one Sunday when I took our kids
out without their mother. I turned a corner at NOT excessive speed and
my son's car seat had a loose strap that caused his car seat to flip
upside down. He was secure in his harness and not at all alarmed - but
was upside down. His sisters were giggling and I pulled over
immediately and nearly passed out when I saw him upside down. I
immediately put him back properly and TIED the loose strap and told
his sisters "your mother must NOT hear of this!"

I eventually told their mother herself - when my son was 13 and
already as tall as she was!

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <3io5kgp34o3fot3kt...@4ax.com>,

The Horny Goat <lcr...@home.ca> wrote:

All's well that ends well. My scariest movie experience as a
youngster was in Disney's _Snow White_, the scene where the evil
Queen is enchanting herself to look like an ugly old hag. The
camera (so to speak) has turned away from her to look out her
window. She holds up her beautifully-shaped hands, screams "My
hands!" and there's a lightning flash and her hands are gaunt and
bony with arthritis or something. Scared the living daylights
out of me.

[Paul S Person]

On Thu, 16 Sep 2021 13:07:52 GMT, djh...@kithrup.com (Dorothy J

When Disney re-released it in (IIRC) the 80s the local papers warned
parents that the transformation scene was /known/ to give kids
nightmares.

So you're in good company.

[Lynn McGuire]

I've read Seanan McGuire's version of Snow White. Very unnerving. Snow
White has the whitest skin ever that burns with just a couple of minutes
of sunshine. And her red lips are a startling contrast to her skin.
https://www.amazon.com/Indexing-Seanan-McGuire/dp/1477809600/

Lynn

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <si0efj$3nn$1...@dont-email.me>,

Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>I've read Seanan McGuire's version of Snow White. Very unnerving. Snow
>White has the whitest skin ever that burns with just a couple of minutes
>of sunshine. And her red lips are a startling contrast to her skin.
> https://www.amazon.com/Indexing-Seanan-McGuire/dp/1477809600/

Is she a vampire? Seanan does vampires, zombies, undead,
whatever floats her boat. Since those don't float my boat, all I
can read of her work is the Incryptid books, of which I believe
there's another one out; must ask my daughter if she has a copy
yet. She and Seanan are former co-workers in the workplace from
hell, and are still close friends. (Whenever Seanan is up for a
Hugo and headed for Worldcon, Meg makes her a new dress.) I love
the Aislinn Mice.

[Lynn McGuire]

On 9/16/2021 7:26 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <si0efj$3nn$1...@dont-email.me>,
> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I've read Seanan McGuire's version of Snow White. Very unnerving. Snow
>> White has the whitest skin ever that burns with just a couple of minutes
>> of sunshine. And her red lips are a startling contrast to her skin.
>> https://www.amazon.com/Indexing-Seanan-McGuire/dp/1477809600/
>
> Is she a vampire? Seanan does vampires, zombies, undead,
> whatever floats her boat. Since those don't float my boat, all I
> can read of her work is the Incryptid books, of which I believe
> there's another one out; must ask my daughter if she has a copy
> yet. She and Seanan are former co-workers in the workplace from
> hell, and are still close friends. (Whenever Seanan is up for a
> Hugo and headed for Worldcon, Meg makes her a new dress.) I love
> the Aislinn Mice.

Nope, just a very depressing extremely white person with extremely red
lips who has a really bad habit of eating poisoned apples. The book
"Indexing" has several of them, they keep on reoccurring (magic !) to
the detriment of society (when she falls asleep after eating the
poisoned apple, entire cities fall asleep with her).
https://www.amazon.com/Indexing-Seanan-McGuire/dp/1477809600/

I don't remember a vampire in any of Seanan's books but I would not be
surprised, she does not miss any tricks.

One of these days I will try to see how closely we are related.
Supposedly all McGuires in the USA trace back to an indentured servant
who came from Ireland to the colonies in the late 1600s or early 1700s.
There are many of us.

Lynn

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <si10fs$63h$1...@dont-email.me>,

Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>On 9/16/2021 7:26 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <si0efj$3nn$1...@dont-email.me>,
>> Lynn McGuire <lynnmc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> I've read Seanan McGuire's version of Snow White. Very unnerving. Snow
>>> White has the whitest skin ever that burns with just a couple of minutes
>>> of sunshine. And her red lips are a startling contrast to her skin.
>>> https://www.amazon.com/Indexing-Seanan-McGuire/dp/1477809600/
>>
>> Is she a vampire? Seanan does vampires, zombies, undead,
>> whatever floats her boat. Since those don't float my boat, all I
>> can read of her work is the Incryptid books, of which I believe
>> there's another one out; must ask my daughter if she has a copy
>> yet. She and Seanan are former co-workers in the workplace from
>> hell, and are still close friends. (Whenever Seanan is up for a
>> Hugo and headed for Worldcon, Meg makes her a new dress.) I love
>> the Aislinn Mice.
>
>Nope, just a very depressing extremely white person with extremely red
>lips who has a really bad habit of eating poisoned apples. The book
>"Indexing" has several of them, they keep on reoccurring (magic !) to
>the detriment of society (when she falls asleep after eating the
>poisoned apple, entire cities fall asleep with her).
> https://www.amazon.com/Indexing-Seanan-McGuire/dp/1477809600/
>
>I don't remember a vampire in any of Seanan's books but I would not be
>surprised, she does not miss any tricks.
>

As I recall, the Toby Day books do not have standard werewolves or
vampires, but there was one type of Fey that effectively functioned
as a vampire, and Toby (natuarally) got attacked by one that had
purposefully been kept starved. I think they might have made up later,
but I'm a bit hazy on that..
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <si10fs$63h$1...@dont-email.me>,

Clearly, he and Mrs. McQuire were fruitful and multiplied.

I can ask Meg if Seanan is interested in getting in touch and
tracing possible affinities. (IIRC her father was Roma, which
doesn't prove anything one way or the other.

[Paul S Person]

Anything's possible in geneology, but is it /really/ likely that only
one "McGuire" ever emigrated to America?