SWC LATE SHOW WITH JAR JAR BINKS

These forums would not be here... and I would not have been active enough on them to be promoted to this position... if not for the Prequels.

They are not without their flaws and some debatable choices but I absolutely adore them. I had been a lifelong fan of Star Wars and my mother's attic had basically become the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark in holding a truly mad amount of SW toys, collectibles and other such rubbish which I had amassed... but I had also sort of "moved on" from it all. Which, to revisit your earlier question about the Special Editions, is probably why any changes were less impactful to me. I was happy to just revisit the films after having simmered down in my fandom during high school and had toured the world with my band, started a career, completed 2 degrees at University and moved myself back to Ireland by the time 1997 brought the films back into my focus.

But, The Phantom Menace relit my love for all of it. I spent an arsed amount of money on toys and collectibles... the first I had bothered to collect since 1985... and saw the film a regrettable number of times in the cinema. Regrettable only in the amount of hours committed. Episode 1 reinvigorated my fandom so much that I suddenly cared about spoilers and production leaks, which led me to register here in 2000. Overall, I ended up loving the entire trilogy.

 

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no, my ears are clear, sir!

It’s just been a strange week here with several unexpected twists, so I don’t have major plans beyond the usual stuff. What are your plans?

 

I had a *lot* of Star Wars stuff. I've since sorted through it and used much of it to help buy a house but I kept the best stuff and have a house full of organized and displayed collectibles, a lot of it from my original SW collection.

Back then I was the drummer of a touring band and the vocalist of a different band. I also played guitar and bass.

I am incredibly out of practice on drums and my primary instruments are now theremin and guitar.

Initially I held my major in psychiatry and minored in publication because I was a full-time comic book artist even before completing my final year of high school and wanted as much insight into the entire publication process as possible.

Eventually, I got an advanced degree in biblical scholarship and converted that to seminary. I served several years as a pastor. I have, since, gotten my doctorate in psychiatry.

Koala. They're sorta incredible. I held one once. It was like holding a smelly cloud.

In terms of complete impracticality, I'm a fan of the Trash Panda. We had a semi-pet one who lived in the cemetery across from our house for the first few years after we moved into the suburbs in 2015. Every night that I was home I would feed it apple slices and it had free reign of our back garden because the dog was always done out there by evening and so they never crossed paths. We believe the raccoon passed on to the rubbish bin in the sky because, one night, the visits stopped. But I always wanted to let it in the house. My wife drew the line at that.

 

My Monday is going well @Jar-Jar Binks! Thanks for asking. I’ve done a few chores around the house and I hope to clear out some errands but I just read that a couple of the main streets in my town are closed due to a big police chase.

 

And this has been going so nicely...

I was elated with the sale inasmuch as it meant a commitment to producing new content. I would just as gladly have had George Lucas stay in control until Kingdom Come but he wants to spend his retirement eating mall food court Chinese food and I support his life choices.

When the Sequel Trilogy was announced, it was a remarkable time to be a fan of this stuff. The promise of seeing the childhood heroes of multiple generations again and bringing back John Williams. There was so much goodwill and then the trailer had Han saying "Chewie, we're home" and it actually felt like going back home for myself and millions of other people.

As to the films, themselves, I've attempted a policy of "If I have nothing nice to say, do not say anything at all" regarding them since becoming Head Admin. But, since you asked, I very much had my own problems with the direction the trilogy ended up going and part of it is that the promise of being able to "go home" was not fulfilled. People I used to know as well as my own family were written to be nearly unrecognizable. And that's fine for art's sake but those films were made for someone else and not me. I'm not edgelord enough for the nearly asinine amount of deconstruction which was opted for. My reaction to it all is compounded immeasurably by how The Last Jedi ended my daughter's love for Star Wars. Every Halloween she was a SW character and her room was a shrine to the films and Clone Wars but she spent the weekend after TLJ's release packing away all of it and erasing it from her life. The first trailer for The Rise of Skywalker got her interest peaked but the film was far too little too late and she has negative-level interest to the point I cannot talk about Star Wars around her without being shushed for still committing to a "daft" corpse of a series. So, while I find the trilogy amateurish and momentarily self-important to the point of mockery, my harsher feelings toward it are mostly in how I watched it absolutely murder a child's love for this stuff. But, it's just a fictional universe and "let the past die" and all that.

 

Sadly the sequel trilogy really messed things up for some of my close family members too. Thankfully my son is still a fan and I have him to share it with, but there are others who roll their eyes when I mention anything SW related.

I’m sorry your daughter took it so hard, maybe in time her love for the overall SW universe will rekindle. Did she try any of the TV series out? Disney has done a decent job with those so far.

 

No. She has moved on from it, entirely. She likes the idea of Grogu and cannot resist his adorableness but has not actually watched any of it.

 

That’s a start! He’s cute little guy and I have my fingers crossed that they don’t mess that up. They definitely nailed the casting for the Mandalorian, if you ignore the Lizzo appearance, and it remains my favorite series that they’ve done so far.

 

The Phantom Menace. While not as deep or epic as later entries, it is has the most fairytale quality to it which (if watching the series in numerical order) really creates a sense of being transported to "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." nicely.

The Empire Strikes Back. It cannot be helped, I'm going with the cliched answer. The film just has a mood to it that is brilliant.

The "How It Should Have Ended" episode which eviscerated the films.

My answer changes almost daily.

Orange.

I have developed a soft spot for Maarva Andor's little buddy.

Lambda Class Imperial Shuttle.

Coruscant.

Jawa.

Darth Sidious, Obi Wan Kenobi, Admiral Raddus

 

Honestly, I don't swear. On here I sometimes act like I'm angry enough to post ****s but it really is just a bunch of stars for the sake of pretending I'm an enraged old codger.

My quite effective alternative to reacting to an annoyance with profanity is I have found a hilarious joy in shaking my fist toward people and saying "Bah!" or "A pox on you!", which somehow offends them terribly but is so absurd that it ensures that I am moving toward a mindset of hilarity rather than rage, while still somehow causing offense to people who wronged me.

 

What’s your favorite vacation destination?

 

Carpathian Mountains.

 

1. Anise.
2. The Quay near my house in Belfast.

 

The doorbell.

 

Ooo. Same!