I’ve seen this twice now - once with the folks from work on Friday, once with Jenn on Sunday. I’d see it again.

A lot of people out there seem to be complaining that they didn’t get what they wanted out of this one. Let’s put this into perspective:

This is a science fiction movie series about people who have some sort of telekinetic powers given to them by a mysterious “Force” in the universe. People fly spaceships. People duel with swords made of contained laser beams. Everyone in the universe speaks English except Chewbacca. And you’re complaining about plot holes?

I look at Revenge of the Sith like this: Coming in, there are certain plot points that need to be addressed to bridge the gap between Episodes II and IV. Anakin has to turn into Darth Vader. Chancellor Palpatine has to become the Emperor. Luke and Leia need to be born. Yoda has to make it to Dagobah. And on and on. If you were paying attention to the other five movies, you know what’s going to happen in here. It’s like watching Titanic: Is the ship going to sink or isn’t it? You know the ending already - you’re just along for the ride.

Thinking about it like that, this movie was awesome. I loved it. The action was great, the story moved along fairly well (maybe a little too quickly toward the end, but that’s okay), and all of the loose ends were sewn up. Every plot point that I wanted to see addressed got addressed. Plus - and this is a huge bonus - there were no “cute” characters like Jar-Jar Binks or the Ewoks to mess it up. It stood on its own without selling out.

I’m still not a big Hayden Christiansen fan. I don’t feel him as Anakin. I’m not sure why, he just didn’t sell me. The rest of the cast did a good job.

The effects were good, too. The battles were great! Why couldn’t they have done that sort of stuff in the last two movies? This was what I was waiting for this whole time and I wasn’t disappointed in the least.

Maybe I’m not a “true fan.” I didn’t think The Empire Strikes Back was the best of the original three - I liked Episode IV best. I didn’t get all worked up about the little plot points that some of the more obsessed fans get worked up about. I was happy to see characters I loved on the screen. I was happy to see the plot points I was hoping to see addressed get addressed. I was happy to see great effects and I was happy to have a good time watching it.

Go see it. You’ll like it.

After much deliberation, Jenn and I have decided not to get full season hockey tickets for the Winter Hawks this year. We love hockey, we love our seats, and we love the people we sit by. We just can’t make it to 36 home games over the course of a season, and we can’t justify spending the money on the tickets anymore. The Hawks have taken too long to “rebuild;” there are too many Memorial Coliseum games when they should be in the Rose Garden; and we always tell each other we’ll go on vacation when we have the time and money… but with 36 games to go to, there’s no time, and at the prices they’re charging, there’s no money.

This was actually a really hard decision that we chewed on for several weeks. We really do love our seats - right on the glass! Front row hockey action! And the people we sit by are really good friends - we couldn’t ask for better seat neighbors. Those were the two factors making us reluctant to not get the season tix - the seats and the people. Sadly, the factors against (money, time, etc.) barely outweighed and now we’re going to step down for a partial season ticket package instead.

I’ll be honest - the real push for me was the time. I do love the hockey. 36 home games, though? It’s like every single night you’re having to haul ass downtown. I’ve really been enjoying not having to run around so much during the off-season and I really just can’t see getting back into that crazy shuffle. Six or seven times in a season? Sure. Twice a week for several months? Too much. Far too much.

So we’ll lose our seats, which I’m sorry to do, and we’ll have to run down to visit our friends during intermissions. But we’ll actually plan and go on a vacation this year, which, I think, will make up for it. Cancun? Disneyland? The sky is the limit!

I love my Roomba. LOVE IT. I may have to get a second one because we love it so much.

I heard rumor they might be coming out with a floor mopping robot. I laughed that it would be “Mopba.”

Turns out it’s real. It’s actually called “Scooba” and it’ll be out for the holidays. I must have one.

I’m not sure why it is, but Star Wars is like lube for my wallet. I am compelled - like at the soul level - to buy Star Wars toys. Not just any old merchandise, mind you, but action figures and vehicles.

I’ve seen episode III twice since Friday. This weekend I bought like five figures and two of the vehicles. I’d probably have bought more had the store carried the rest of the vehicles. And to be honest, I have no idea why. It just makes me happy.

Just seeing the opening Star Wars logo and hearing the fanfare makes me smile. I think that, combined with the fact that I never really had any Star Wars toys growing up (and those that I did have got sold out from under me at a garage sale) sort of adds up to me buying toys I probably don’t need but really, truly want.

I saw more on Amazon that I want but I realize I should probably not indulge much more. Jenn’s already told me to stop buying the toys. But I’m an addict! Just one more figure!

Last night Jenn and I decided to try out this little Chinese restaurant that’s kind of close to our house. We’d seen it, but we’re not terribly adventurous folk, so not knowing the type of food (Cantonese vs. Szechuan - we like Cantonese better… lots of deep, lots of fried…) or quality made us wary. We decided to take the jump last night.

It was actually pretty good. The fried shrimp was different than I’m used to - it had a flaky breading with some sweetness to it instead of having been battered. The pork fried rice had (gasp) actual, visible pieces of barbecued pork in it (and it was very tasty). I had the General Tso chicken and it was tasty - the spiciness was just right.

The experience, though, was in the environment. The place is very obviously a house that they tore the inside out of and converted to a restaurant. You order at what looks like a fast food counter, with a giant color menu behind the register. The dining area had four tables of mediocre quality - our table had absolutely no stability to it, and the table diagonal from us was held together with cardboard and aluminum foil. There were these random posters of Chinese women on the walls… like fashion models or something. Fake ivy plants hung at intervals along the wall, with plastic fruits coming out of them (bananas, oranges, apples). I was previously unaware that ivy bore fruit, but I guess I was misinformed. A small TV/VCR unit was mounted in the corner of the dining area playing a rerun of Malcom in the Middle.

The whole thing was very surreal. The food was good (and reasonably priced), the environment interesting…

I’ll totally eat there again.

My fortune (all spelling and grammar exactly like this): “Today it’s up to you to created the peacefulness you long for.”

Awesome.