So I started to FINALLY watch all three extended versions of the �Lord of the Rings� movies back-to-back Sunday. 12 hours of supurb fantasy entertainment goodness!
But was interrupted durring �Two Towers� for a couple of hours, so had to cut the marathon short. Will need to try again some other week-end.

So I watched Star Wars episodes 1 and 2. Holymoly episode 1 was terrible! Horrible.
2 was only somewhat better.

I saw Episode 3 last night at the first, Midnight showing of it. Glee! It was far and away better than those two. And the only thing keeping it from being the best of all 6 movies is it still had some really bad dialogue and sections of terrible acting (even from the good actors, confirming for me that the blame lays solely on the shoulders of writer/director Lucas.) Even so, it may be better than at least �Return of the Jedi.� If for no other reason than because it doesn’t end with dancing teddy bears.

They did a good job in establishing the lead-up into episode 4. Ships begin looking a lot more like the ones found in ep. 4, some sets and scenes. And certainly the story itself. For example, it’s somewhat hard to believe that a 20-something Anikin could become the large and menacing figure of Darth Vader. But even if it didn’t make sense that Aniken WOULD be at his most manipulably emotional stage at that age, but in Episode 4 Obi-Wan tells Luke �a young Jedi named Darth Vader helped the Emperor hunt down and kill all the Jedi.� That one mysterious, terrible sentence becomes fully realized in Episode 3. But why does Yoda go to Degobah? What is Obi-Wan doing conveniently on Tatoine? It’s all established here. And done not at all badly. Even with the moments of bad acting and laughably horrible lines. It successfully tears at your emotions when you seen Anakin struggling with his rage and suppressed guilt and moral turmoil on the lava moon. ( :: small Spoiler warning :: ) The money-shot for the movie, for me, is when you see Anakin overlooking the laval after having just slaughtered the leaders of the Separatists Movement, he appears angry and rageful and full of hate…and his cheek is moist with tears. You can see that he is struggling painfully at the death of his innocence and repressing his sense of good and justice as the Dark Side struggles to take complete control. That is the moment he has truly become Darth Vader.

And that why it sucks so much that Episode 1 sucks so bad. The loss of Aniken to Darth Vader would be a hundred times more powerful and the tragedy a hundred times more heartwrentching if we had actually liked young Aniken. If he hadn’t been some annoying…REALLY annoying little kid. When I watched Episode 1 again, I had to struggle to keep in mind the idea that this overly happy yet somewhat frightened and very innocent kid would have such terrible things happen to him as to help contort his love into revenge and devotion into rage and become something evil and terrible.

:: sigh :: What a ride these 25 years have been. I still recall seeing the original in the theater.

On a side note, I also got to see �The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy� last week.
I have a certain affinity and love for the book having read it back in Jr. High, some 20 years ago, and having played Ford Prefect in a sort of �Noises Off!� treatment of it in college. So, while I have some certain reservations and complaints, in general I really liked it. It was great to see it on the Big Screen (hugs and kisses to the BBC version and all.) And they did a very good job, I think, honoring the book (and radio play that actually came before the book.) There were a lot of things in the film that only real fans would get. Like Mr. Prosser’s somewhat Mongolian appearance and the appearance of the BBC’s Marvin and inclusion of some design work from Douglas Adams’ computer game �Starship Titanic.�

Good flick. =)

I’ve mentioned in a previous blog (or three) that we have advanced in military technology and size that it impossible now for the American people to form a revolt against our government as is our right. Mandated by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence, among other political, sociological, and governmental writings.

“WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

However, I don’t know why I hadn’t seen this before, but we could still hold a “General Strike.”
General strike – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I saw this mentioned in Wil Wheaton’s blog regarding the Real ID Act:
http://www.wilwheaton.net/mt/archives/003271.php
Imagine what would happen if not even 49%, but even just 30% of the entire population of the U.S. went on strike? The purpose of which to force government to enact massive changes in governing.

Well, actually, I imagine that the current administration would brand us as terrorists and seek to punish us for daring to question their God-given mandate to rule over us how they see fit.

But can you imagine what would happen if 30% of us stopped working and demanded anything from immediate administration change, repealing of laws, enactment of amendments to give power back to the governed and away from the government? (As if the current 10th Amendment isn’t enough: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”)

Remember, less than 30% of the citizens of the 13 Colonies fought for independence from Britain.

They Really Are Watching You / Ready for your own all-new, sinister ID card, courtesy of Homeland Security? Shudder

That article is about 75% sci-fi speculation of what extreme versions of surveillance are eventually possible…and while it’s a bit into paranoid extremism, I think there is some real awareness of the threat of the slippery-slope the new Real ID card will lead us down.

Each little tiny step is easy to justify and easy to ignore. Each little step aware from liberty is easily dismissed as a necessary step toward security. Each little step is easy to shrug off and say “eh, it’s just a little thing.”
Until we wake up one day and find we’ve shrugged away our freedom, our country.

We’re so complacent, so arrogant, so immature of a country, believing we’re perfect and unstoppable and always in the right. That it’s impossible to lose the country our forefathers fought for only 200 years ago. The greatest threats to our country are not the terrorists, but ourselves. Our own politicians. The people running this country “with our best interests in mind.”
We are failing to pay for our freedom with “eternal vigilance.” We are trading it away piecemeal, until in the name of “security” we’ll become a terrified little fascist state hiding behind our “secure borders” which will be no more than “Emperor’s New Clothes,” and become not the land of “the free and the brave,” but the “secure and the terrified.”

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Rosevelt was right in more ways than he could have predicted. Fear and arrogance and complacency is what is allowing us to destroy our liberties from the inside.

Here is something interesting Wil Wheaton mentions in his blog entry: “Ashes of American Flags”
The Real ID bill which Congress just passed includes this little amendment to the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act:

SEC. 102. WAIVER OF LAWS NECESSARY FOR IMPROVEMENT OF BARRIERS AT BORDERS.

Section 102(c) of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1103 note) is amended to read as follows:

`(c) Waiver-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section.

`(2) NO JUDICIAL REVIEW- Notwithstanding any other provision of law (statutory or nonstatutory), no court, administrative agency, or other entity shall have jurisdiction–

`(A) to hear any cause or claim arising from any action undertaken, or any decision made, by the Secretary of Homeland Security pursuant to paragraph (1); or

`(B) to order compensatory, declaratory, injunctive, equitable, or any other relief for damage alleged to arise from any such action or decision.’.

So, did you catch that? The Secretary of Homeland Security (henceforth shall be referred to as Unterfuhrer of the Gestapo) shall have fiat power to implement the ID in nearly any way he sees fit. Not just the ID, but any method or means deemed necessary as a barrier to illegal entry into the country. But even worse, no one is allowed to sue or petition the court for review of grievances or violations of rights.

How are you feeling about our free country, home of liberty and freedom from oppression?

Just a general what’s-going-on from me.
Currently reading:
Carl Sagan’s “Demon-Haunted World” (still)
How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!!
And trying to get ready for some games: Stargate:SG-1 RPG
Spycraft RPG
World’s Largest Dungeon

Currently listening:
At this very moment – The Prodigy “Fat of the Land”
In playlist: Everything I own. *grin* Although I might skip to some Tori Amos next.
Would VERY much like to be listening to: Nine Inch Nails “With Teeth” (Need to save up a bit to get it)

Current projects:
Aside from my day job, currently finishing a pretty extensive e-commerce site for a game and hobby store. It will soon appear at:
Games To Order
Considering some massive changes in my blog and personal site. I really need to contemporize. My Celticbear site is circa 2000. And I need to find a real purpose for it. Focus, concentrated, useful, interesting.
Much like my blog (* hurts self from laughing *)

(As I finish this, my playlist went on to Radiohead’s “OK Computer”. In my opinion, their best work, and argueably one of the best albums ever.)

NPR : Debating America’s Christian Character

Includes a comment from someone visiting the graven image of the “10 Commandments”, saying they want to see the 10 Commandments “before the sacred text is taken from us and our children.”

God. Can we be any more rediculous? It’s not the freakin’ actual stone tablets from 4000+ years ago (whether you believe they actually existed or not.) It’s a representation of something that’s not even accurrate according to the Bible.
http://blog.celticbear.com/archives/000155.html

And as for “the basis of our government,” it’s TOO pathetic and rediculous to even laugh at. There’s only 4 “commandments” that are reflected in our laws, and they’re the same four concepts (don’t kill, don’t lie (on the stand), don’t steal, no adultry) that are found in virtually every other code of laws from all cultures in all countries since long before the Jews even existed.

How unique to Judeo-Christianity is it to not kill, steal, or lie? I mean, seriously?

That NPR article linked above includes some Founding Father’s thoughts on religion. Here’s some more:
http://www.deism.org/foundingfathers.htm

National Day of Reason: Home Page

If there were every a time we need to encourage rationalism, reason, critical thinking. Even moreso than when Thomas Paine declared the 18th century “The Age of Reason.”
We’re approaching more of a social Dark Age than we ever have since the 16th century.

NPR : Kansas Weighs Alternates to Teaching Evolution

Oh my God! In the article, the audio article linked in the link above, actually said “…to encourage teachers to tell students that Evolution is only a theory, not a fact.”

God, I’m so sick of it. Hearing “only a theory.” GRAVITY is a freakin’ “theory”! “Theory” does not equal “unfounded idea.”

Dictionary.com – “Theory”
Wikipedia – “Theory”
From that:

In the sciences, a theory is a model or framework describing the behaviour of a certain natural or social phenomenon. Theories are formulated, developed and evaluated according to the scientific method.

Wikipedia – “Scientific Method”
Dictionary.com – “Scientific Method”

As someone in the NPR article above mentioned, if the Creationists or “Intelligent Design” proponents want their “theory” to be treated as a serious scientific theory, then put it up for proper scientific scrutiny, testing and observation, subject to testing and objective evaluation and put to the test in application.
Not try to skip the whole process of validating it and trying to legislate it into the schools.

CNN.com – Evolution on trial in Kansas – May 2, 2005

I’ve discussed this ad nauseum in blog posts over the last couple of months. But of course this rediculousness just brings the ire back.
How is this possible? How in the 21st century can we still be in an educational Dark Age?
Europe doesn’t have this problem. They’re smart enough to realize the difference between science and mythology.

And what kills me are all the people who think the who attempt to get Creationism taught in schools is tragic, are boycotting the hearings! That’s insane! That’s exactly the kind of behavior that got “Evolution is only a theory” stickers placed on textbooks (oh but the stickers didn’t mention that GRAVITY is also only atheory, or that “Intelligent Design” is even less than a “theory”.) By not participating, they’re allowing religious doctrine and mythology to be allowed to pass as credible science and taught to our kids!

Interesting that on the same day I also saw this:
CNN.com – Scientists: Fossil new dinosaur species – May 2, 2005

We live in an amazing world in an amazing and impossible universe filled with mystery and wonder, and yet people still turn to mythology and dogma instead of embracing the wonder that science is providing right under our noses.
Evolution is a cornerstone, and accepted and proven process that underlies nearly all of genetic medicine. Without the proven concepts of evolution, we wouldn’t have gene therapy, we wouldn’t have a fraction of the anti-viral medicine we have, we wouldn’t have half the knowledge we have regarding botanical science or the ability to understand how to save many animal spieces from extinction.

From that last article:

“When my colleagues saw a CAT scan of the new fossil, they tore up their family tree diagrams and said, ‘Back to the drawing board!’ … We never suspected such a creature existed,” said paleontologist Robert Bakker.

(This is the paleontologist that a couple of decades ago spearheaded the belief that modern birds are related to the dinosaurs and that the T-rex was not a hunter but a carrion eater…two beliefs that are now widely accepted in the scientific community.)
See that? Something new, and scientists are ready to throw out what they had before and work on new information and evidence. They’re willing to correct their findings and change their hypotheses based on new information.

What religious proponent is willing to do that?
Mountains and mountains of blatant and irrefutable evidence for evolution to the point that it’s not even questioned in the scientific community, and still people will ignore it all to claim that a few passages of one (of many) religious text somehow disproves all the science.

It boggles the mind.