Review - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3-D

Last night I took my daughter Sara to see "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" on the big screen in 3-D. It's my least favorite of the "Star Wars" series, and I don't particularly like 3-D movies. Actually, I try to avoid 3-D movies if possible, preferring the 2-D version instead. But...this was a rare exception. I was curious as to how they would do "Star Wars" in 3-D. I also wanted Sara to have a chance to see "Star Wars" the way I saw it when I was a kid, and maybe she would feel some of the same magic I felt when I was her age.

We saw the movie at the local "Alamo Drafthouse" theater. I was later surprised to find out that the movie was completely sold out. I was expecting a small crowd. Not a sold-out crowd. The place was packed with Star Wars geeks.

The 3-D was pretty good, but not great. There were no mouth dropping "WOW" moments. There were very few moments of objects coming out at you. Even the "podrace" scene, which seemed to have lots of opportunities for cool 3-D tricks, didn't really impress me much.

The movie still had all the same problems as it did back in 1999. It was obviously aimed at small children, yet the story was far too convoluted for them to follow. Taxation on trade routes and blockades? Senators arguing in committees? How is a 6 or 7 year old going to understand all that? Then you've got Jar Jar, one of the most annoying characters ever created. It turns out, though, the kids love Jar Jar.

"What was your favorite part of the movie?" I asked Sara. "Was it the Obi Wan/Darth Maul fight scene?" (in my opinion, the best part of the movie)

"It was when Jar Jar's tongue went numb." Sara replied. "He's so silly."

So there you have it. Maybe George Lucas knew what he was doing after all. My daughter loves Jar Jar and all his wackiness.

From what I have read, Lucas plans to release a 3-D version of each "Star Wars" movie for the next 6 years. Which means we will have two more inferior films to go before we get to the classic, "Episode IV." I'd like to see that one again on the big screen, but I think I'll probably skip the next two.

Fighting For Freedom!! ... (of speech)

Just when I start thinking that nobody is actually reading my blog, I suddenly receive not one, but TWO emails threatening legal action against me for something I have posted. Both came within the same week.

I assumed if anyone complained about the content of my blog and threatened legal action, it would have been from the small group of individuals whom I have trashed over the years: Julie Jo Thompson of Hess, Lilliane Salazar of Wi-Fi Link, my brother's wife, or even my sister. But no. Instead it comes from something I wrote 4 years ago on my first blog.

The first issue comes from what an anonymous poster left in the comments section of my blog entry, "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men." (update 5/14/13: That blog entry was deleted when I published my first book.  That blog entry is now in the book.)  "Anonymous" wrote a meandering comment about Taiwanese women picking up foreigners in the bars and pubs of Kaohsiung. He mentioned a few names of women "to be aware of", using their English name, not their real, Chinese name. One particular gentleman didn't like it, and sent off this email to me (I'm deleting the name of the woman in this email):

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Perhaps I was mistaken to think that your blog was attempting to present an intellectual argument about the interrelationships between Taiwanese women & western men. It appears you are only interested in propagating sensationalist banter.

Ms. (X) is a close friend of mine & the complete rather than half-story as posted on your blog was well known to me long before I became aware of your posting. The same person who posted anonymously on your site also posted similar comments in the San Diego Reader. I have since written to that person, who happens to be the wife of the person who cheated my friend & knowing her legal accountability for those comments, has promptly & graciously removed them within 2 days of my request.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2011/jun/14/travel-kaohsiung-taiwan/

If I was to publish that I met your wife in a bar & she propositioned me to have sex, then that would be slanderous unless I could prove the same?

I strongly suggest that you remove references to my friends name.

If I was to publish the full details of the other side of the story this would cause extreme embarrassment to Mrs. B, who has already suffered immeasurably due to the immoral behavior of her husband. Alternatively, I could file a legal suit in Taiwan which would include a demand for removal of the references & damages.

You are a married man & possibly a parent. I appeal to your better judgement to correct the injustice that has been presented on your blog.

Thank You

Paul R. Gannaway

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I made my own comment later, stating that I can only delete comments, not edit them. Not only that, but I have a rule that I don't censor anyone. I publish all comments here, no matter how good, bad, banal, stupid, crazy, or obscene they might be. The only comments I have ever deleted were spam. I used to get bombarded with spam when I allowed people to comment without moderating.

Obviously, I wouldn't allow something that goes too far (racist, hate speech, for example), but I've never seen that on either of my blogs. I didn't particularly like this guy using my wife in his example of slander, but I guess he's trying to make a point in his own "sensationalist" way.

I realize some people would just delete the comment at the first sign of any controversy, but for me it's a matter of principle and of Freedom of Speech. What "Anonymous" wrote, in my opinion, had some merit. It presented another opinion to the topic. Other people have since presented opposing arguments. One side claims that the women are the problem. The other side claim the men are the problem. The argument has balance.

The second issue was far less controversial. It was about a photo that I used on my follow-up entry: "Why Taiwanese Women Like Foreign Men (Part 2)" I wanted to find a photo of a mixed couple, and I didn't want to use yet another picture of me and my wife, or David and Pi Chi. So I used a wedding picture that a Taiwanese woman sent me back in October of 2004. It wasn't personal, I just thought the picture was appropriate for the topic.

Well, apparently her husband didn't appreciate the photo being used. He then fired off this email to me the very next day (grammar and spelling mistakes are his, not mine):

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I am letting you know as of 1/30/2012 10:20am central time the phone you are using on you blog -"Grace%2BWedding%2B3.JPG" is a private photo that you have taken for your personal use on your website. You are being informed that you must cease and desist from using this photo and remove it from you site or future action will be taken against you. Do not take this lightly. I have already reported this abuse to google and will have your site shut down if you continue to violate this privacy issue.

Neal Goodacre

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This was his very first email to me. Angry and confrontational. If he had just asked me nicely I would have likely removed it right away, since the picture wasn't that important anyway. I could easily find another one.

So, I caved in on this one because it wasn't my personal photo. It was a photo that was emailed to me by his wife 8 years ago. Maybe I had a right to use it. Maybe not. I probably could have left it up for years until Google asked me to take it down. But I decided to be nice about it, even though this guy showed a serious attitude problem.

If anyone would like to read that old blog entry and offer their opinion, I'm open to all comments. My wife thinks I did the right thing by taking the picture down. She also agrees that I should leave the comments as is, since, like I mentioned, the legal, Chinese names were not given anyway. That would be like me getting upset over someone writing "Chen Dafoo was a crappy English teacher. This is a name you should be aware of." "Chen Dafoo" just happened to be my Chinese name when I was living in Taiwan. I honestly couldn't care less.

I guess the bottom line is, people really need to lighten up.

Ramblings #16

Sometimes we take the little things for granted....like having a bathroom next to our bedroom, or being able to drive a car when it's raining.

The other day, while Christy and I were just lying in bed, she said "I'm so lucky."

"Why?" I asked her, assuming she would tell me it was because she was married to the greatest man on earth. :)

She went on to tell me that, when she was growing up in Taiwan, she would have to walk outside if she wanted to use the bathroom. When she was little, her parents didn't even have a bathroom! Their toilet consisted of a ditch buried in the middle of their backyard. When she got older, her parents eventually built an outhouse where one could go to do their business. Ditch or outhouse, she still had to walk outside, in often raining or extremely cold weather.

She also pointed out how miserable it was to drive a scooter in the rain. I know this first-hand, as she used to give me rides all the time on her scooter. I always thought death was right around the corner when I would ride on the back of her scooter.

So...yeah...I can see why she feels she is lucky to be living here in the US, where even poor people have the luxury of having a bathroom under the same roof as the rest of their house (or apartment). And even poor people can drive a car here, maybe not the best car, but still a car. I rarely see anyone riding scooters here in the US, and when we do see someone on one, we will say "Whoa! There's someone riding a scooter!" That's how rare it is.

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I'm continually amazed at how smart Sara is turning out to be. She's been in the "Gifted and Talented" program now for over a year. Her latest report card was straight A's. She's able to solve Suduko puzzles, and she's even figuring out how to play chess. I couldn't be more proud of her. I'm really crossing my fingers with Kyle at this point.

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Well, it looks like the gravy train for internet leeches who like to steal music has ended. File sharing services like Megaupload, Filesonic, Fileserve, UploadStation, etc have all closed, or they no longer offer download services. I can't really complain. Music is not that expensive anymore. The days of $20 cd's are over. If there's some new music I want, Amazon usually has it for $3.99 the first few days it goes on sale. There is a website that is listed to the right of this column that still offers "bootleg" recordings of concerts. Apparently it's still legal to share fan-recorded concerts, just not the studio recordings. Whatever.

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If I vote for any GOP candidate in the upcoming primaries, I've decided it's going to be for Ron Paul. Obviously I wouldn't vote for him in the general election, but he's got my vote in the primary. I've watched most of the debates, and Ron Paul always makes the best, common-sense comments. He continually states that America needs to stop it's "empire building" in the middle east, stop the unnecessary wars (especially the one ramping up for Iran), and focus on repairing our own country, rather than "coddling the world, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people." I particularly liked his comments in the last debate, where he criticized the GOP candidates for calling themselves conservative, for wanting to cut food stamps for the poor, but spend billions on national defense. He said that logic doesn't make sense, and I agree with him.

But, don't get the impression that I've become his supporter. I haven't. I just think that, of the remaining candidates left, he is the most honest, and that's saying a lot. I've already known for years that Newt is a hypocritical, unscrupulous liar, and the more we learn about Mitt Romney, the worse it gets. I don't see how a guy who is so out of touch, and thinks that $370,000 is "not much money" could ever get support from the middle class. Here's a video from Bill Maher talking about why Americans don't like him:

The Death of Rick Perry

"I would send troops back into Iraq."
-Rick Perry, 1/7/12

Our governor sure is funny, isn't he? I can see why the guy refused to debate Bill White (the guy that ran against him for governor in 2010.)

With about 80% of Americans opposed to the Iraq war, Rick Perry made a pretty stupid (and politically suicidal) comment last night during yet another GOP debate. Rick Perry clearly has not had a good time during these debates. More often than not, he has come across as a buffoon, further cementing the bad reputation that Texans have among the rest of the country.

When asked what he'd be doing on a typical Saturday night, Perry replied that he'd be "at the shooting range." Ron Paul, on the other hand, said he'd be reading a book on economics. To me, Ron Paul had the best answer. Perhaps if Perry had read more books instead of shooting more guns, he'd have performed better in these debates.

Although I would never actually vote for Ron Paul, I liked much of what he had to say during the debate. Not about completely shutting down the government, but about how the US has become obsessed with "nation building." Ron Paul seems to be the only GOP candidate who speaks honestly and directly, and doesn't come across as a snake-like phony like Mitt Romney. Jon Huntsman had a few good ideas as well. Stop spending money on wars in foreign countries and start spending it here, on infrastructure and job creation. I think that's what most people want. Under a Rick Perry presidency, and Rick "Bomb Iran" Santorum, a war with Iran would be inevitable.

Since I haven't lived in Texas that long, I don't know how many terms a governor can serve here. Rick Perry is already on this third term, and he certainly isn't going to be moving into the Oval Office anytime soon. Will he run for a fourth term? God, I hope not. Let's just hope that, if he does, Texans will remember his embarrassing performances at these debates, and give the guy the big ol' Texas boot.

2012 is Finally Upon Us!

Well, it's 2012. This is the year the world is supposed to end, so I guess this will be my final "New Years Resolutions" post. If I'm writing this again a year from now, then that must mean that the Mayans got it wrong, just like the doomsday prophet Harold Camping (haven't heard much from him lately).

Unlike last year, I didn't stay up to watch the ball drop, or to see Dick Clark dragged out in front of the TV cameras again. Not that I didn't want to. I just had to work the next morning at 6am. A 12 hour shift, too, no less. I couldn't resist the time and a half pay for working on a holiday.

Since I've been writing this blog for a few years, I always like to go back and read the previous years "New Years Resolutions" and see if I accomplished any of them. In January 2011, I mentioned going back to Taiwan, visiting friends and family, and just trying to stay healthy. I went to Taiwan, visited incarcerated family members in Thailand, and survived a colonoscopy. So, I guess I accomplished all my goals. Unfortunately, that family member still remains in a Thai prison, but will possibly be released this year. As for my local family, I did see some of them (including my ex wife) when I went out to California to visit my mom for the last time.

Unless there is another death in the family (hopefully not), I don't foresee any future family reunions anytime soon. The last time I talked to my brother's wife, Kristi, we ended up in an argument again. It was about my mom again, naturally. I had called my mom's cell phone, hoping to talk to her. My brother, or someone who sounded just like him, answered the phone, and then hung up on me. When I emailed my brother and his wife, telling them I didn't appreciate being hung up on, his wife told me that she had disconnected the cell phone. Then she later told me she had "given it away" to her sister. Her story kept changing, but naturally I was the one being unreasonable and childish again. You can never win with this person, so I can honestly say I will likely never see her or my brother again. Once my mom passed away, I no longer need or desire any ties with them.

In happier news, there are some more positive things on the horizon for 2012. I'm seeing Roger Waters "The Wall" show again in May. This time it's here in Austin. Waters is coming back to the USA this year, and this time he's playing (mostly) stadiums. Thankfully, he's playing at an arena in Austin. I wouldn't want to see this show (which is famously "anti-stadium") at a stadium.

We will likely take a big trip in the summer again, though not to Taiwan. We've been floating around the idea of Washington D.C. or Yellowstone National Park. We might even be able to go on a Mediterranean Cruise through my wife's employer, although I'd have to come up with $1900 if I wanted to go, in addition to paying a babysitter for a week. This probably won't happen.

We've also got a big presidential election this year. After jumping back and forth with my predictions last year, I think Obama will probably be re-elected, but by a very, very slim margin. Romney will most likely be the GOP candidate, but I don't know a single person who likes the guy. I think he'd be better than Ron Paul, Rick Perry, or Michelle Bachmann, but that's not saying much.

Christmas 2011

Here's a few photos from Christmas 2011. The kids woke up at 2am this morning and came into our bedroom wanting to open presents. I remember doing this to my mom when I was a kid, so I guess it's revenge.

We got them each a kid's camera this year, and it seems that is turning out to be their favorite gift. Anything to keep them away from my expensive camera.

Ramblings #15

As it gets closer to Christmas, Sara and Kyle seem to get more and more excited, and they're extremely energetic. I find myself yelling at them all the time for doing things I always used to do when I was a kid: touching and knocking ornaments off the Christmas tree, stealing (and eating) candy canes from the tree, trying to locate (and open) the Christmas presents, etc. I guess I should just expect that kids will be kids, and behavior doesn't change from generation to generation. Even when I used to teach kids in Taiwan, it would surprise me sometimes how their behavior reminded me of my own childhood.

In Taiwan, though, they don't celebrate Christmas, so my wife Christy doesn't quite "feel the Christmas magic" like everyone else in the house. She grew up the child of poor Taiwanese farmers, and according to her, the only thing she ever knew about Christmas was that "people sent cards to each other." Oh well, maybe after she's been living here for 10 years, she'll start to feel "the magic!"

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Just took the kids to see "The Muppets" recently and found it to be pretty disappointing. Rather than fill the movie with funny skits (like the first Muppet movie), this one seemed to dwell too much on the fact that the Muppets were old and outdated. Apparently even Frank Oz (the voice of many of the muppets) didn't even like this story, and refused to lend his voice to the project. I can see why.

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So...another GOP candidate bites the dust. Pizza man Herman Cain has dropped out. Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann's campaigns are all but dead. So who is left? Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, and possibly Ron Paul (a longshot). Newt Gingrich seems to be in the lead right now, which is a shock to just about everyone (Democrats in particular).

If scandalous affairs killed Herman Cain's chances at the nomination, one only needs to look at Gingrich's history and see that Cain's got nothing on ol' Newt. Newt is the guy who cheated on his wife while she was in the hospital with cancer. Yeah, John Edwards did the same thing, but that pretty much killed his chances at the presidency. Normally, this kind of behavior doesn't occur until after they become president, so I'd have to take a guess here and say that Newt won't make it through the primaries.

So that leaves us with Mitt Romney, who will likely be the candidate. I used to think he was the most "tolerable" of the Republican nominees, but now I have second thoughts. He's the typical politician who says what people want to hear, no matter if it contradicts previous statements or not. The guy flip-flops on everything. I now think that Jon Huntsman is the only guy who doesn't seem to pander to the right-wing extremists. What does it say when Huntsman is the only candidate that will actually admit that global warming is a real problem? But...that kind of thinking won't get him very far, since he seems to be dead last in this race.

Here's a video that pretty much sums up the problem with the current GOP: