Good evening, GUSsacks, cheerleaders, and Saturday night lounge singers.
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Last weekend, I visited my parents (father and stepmother) who live in central/southern Wisconsin. They had been babysitting my nephews for a few days, and were willing to spring the bus fare to have the boys' favorite uncle divert their attention.
That's the story on the surface, anyways. Truth be told, my old man is pretty creative when it comes to sharing the fun with his two grandnephews. That part comes later.
When I was ten years old, dad took me and my sister to see Star Wars at the theater, circa early June, 1976. The experience was so great that I returned for two more viewings. There are fans who had returned for repeat viewings many more times than I did. True geeks. Unlike me, they would have kept their Star Wars figurines in the original packaging.
Top 5 Most Valuable Star Wars Action Figures
Within a month after seeing Star Wars three times, I called an old buddy from my last neighborhood. Joe was his name, and even at the tender age of 10, I could see that we went back a long way. First grade, man.
Joe was a science purist who cut my glee for Star Wars down at the knees, claiming "WTF? There is no sound in space. And lasers don't shoot like that... it would require much more energy than is possible in a hand-held projectile device."
Those words were the pre-Facebook equivalent of an "unfriending." But because I had pulled a bogus 6th-grade kind of move on Joe a year earlier, I was obliged to bite my tongue.
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When it comes to favorite things remembered as a youngster who just saw Star Wars at the cinema in the first two weeks of its initial release, my absolute favorite is this one with my dad's buddy Mike:
Mike: Star Wars was great, huh?
Me: Yeah!
Mike: You know, there was one thing wrong with it.
Me: (suspiciously) What was wrong with it?
Mike: It ended.
The following Halloween, I was 11 years old, and played Han Solo, brown vest (I chopped the arms off one of my long-sleeved shirts), slicked-back hair, and wooden gun, which I paid for in its carving by a seven-stitch-in-the-finger trip to the hospital.
So I have literally bled for this franchise from the beginning, knowing full well that there is no sound in space, or ways that an X-Wing fighter can crash land in the exact planetary parameter that your Jedi master lives (BTW, I agree with the critics: The Empire Strikes Back is the Star Wars chapter that easily transcends its always excellent set design.
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Almost a quarter-century later, my dad, a retired painter as I hope to be one day, knows what makes his grandnephews tick, and hands out reasonable facsimiles of Star Wars weaponry and battle gear (caulking guns, a power drill, a kaleidoscope, and bicycle helmets for all, because we are on the side of the Republi... Alliance.
Such is Star Wars: The Next Generation. My older nephew only knew that damn old fool Obi-Wan Kenobi as portrayed by Hayden Christiansen, and refused to believe me when I insisted that "Yes, it is the older Obi-Wan!", as we all watched Sir Alec Guiness condemn Mos Eisley spaceport as a prime hot spot of wretched scum and villainy.
Do you have favorite Star Wars memories? Bring it on in the comments!
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UPDATE (22:17:00 CST): Here, check these out. Because it is Saturday night, after all.
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids was the chosen source of donation for our one year anniversary.
The party's over... but I am keeping this block for another few Saturday AM diaries. Please check out the TFK website, and consider giving to a cause that helps keep children away from tobacco, the source of various multiple diseases.
Donate!!! Suggested: add .01 and show GUS representation!
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