This Means War: Where I Am Right Now

Well... here we are at election day.

You know, the one that is being billed as the most important election, possibly, ever. I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it's at least the most important election in the last century.
All I feel is... dread.

And maybe I'm too pessimistic about humans -- although what I have learned in the last four years is that, really, I have not been pessimistic enough -- but I don't think it matters which way the election goes: There's going to be violence.

The most likely scenario is this:
Trump -- already a #fakepresident -- loses the election. His supporters, already primed for violence and on standby, "revolt." They will claim that the election was rigged and try to use force and violence to help Trump reman in office. Will this be an actual civil war? I don't know. It really depends on whether these guys organize or not. It could just be like spot fires that have to be stamped out but, if any state governments get behind this shit, it could be a whole lot worse.

The problem, here, is that I think Democrats are thinking that if Trump (#FAKEPRESIDENT -- yes, I'm saying it again) loses that everything will... just be okay. Everything will go back to "normal" and we can all pretend that the last four years didn't happen.
I don't think it's going to be that way. At all.

The other scenario is that Trump "wins," again losing the popular vote but by an even greater margin. The electoral college again fails to do the job it was created to do and gives the election to Trump. This will be the slow burn war that might result in an actual civil war. Two things will happen:
1. the GOP will pull out all of the stops on their facism
2. liberal will organize

Of course, all of this will be complicated -- or maybe simplified -- by what happens in Congress. If things remain relatively as they are now -- specifically, the GOP retains control of the Senate -- I think the likelihood of everything I've just been saying goes up. McConnel is drunk on power, right now, and already out of control. If Republicans retain control of the Senate, it will be like Palpatine declaring himself Emperor.
But if the GOP loses control of the Senate, especially if the loss is significant, we may be able to make it through all of this with a "minimum" of violence, whatever that means.

None of which is to mention that Trump is already calling for Biden to be assassinated and some of his followers, his cult, have already been taking that seriously. Because of course they do, and he wants them to.

So, yeah, that's where I am right now.
I really hope that you're in a better place than me, but I really don't see how we get through all of this without bloodshed. Maybe it was always going to be that way with where we are in the political cycle; I don't know. And I hope I'm wrong. I hope people (by "people," I mean Conservatives) regain their senses, but I think they've moved past that. When I see them posting things about Trump being god's chosen one, I can't get away from the fact that all of this has become a holy war for them. This is no longer politics; it's religion. It's disgusting.

Rebels: "Family Reunion -- and Farewell" (Ep. 15&16)

-- "You chose to be a Jedi."

I'm going to close out the last two episodes of the series in one post. In part, because it's one two part story but, also, just because I feel like it. Not that I would do it this way if these were two separate episodes, but they aren't, and I feel like wrapping this up by watching both episodes in one sitting without pausing in between to write up part one before going on to part two. So there you go.

Yeah, so I'm glad I did it that way. There was no real break between episodes.

And, well, it wasn't really the ending I expected.

Not that I had any real expectation, but it certainly went in a direction I hadn't contemplated.

I guess here's the problem:

Rebels created some very compelling characters that couldn't be left in limbo during the time frame of the original trilogy. Rogue One dealt with that issue by killing all of the characters it created, appropriately so, but I can understand not wanting to just erase all of the characters from Rebels, especially after already killing off Kanan.

But, then, what do you do with all of them?

Well, actually, some of them you do kill.

And the rest?

You have to give them a reason to not be around for the events of the original trilogy.

Which explains the death of Kanan.

And I suppose that's all I can really say.

Except, hey, oh, exciting news! It was recently announced that Ahsoka will be back for season two of The Mandalorian. I'm super stoked about that.

Otherwise, you just need to watch the final story arc of Rebels. I'm sure some or all of these characters will be back in some way or another, though. Actually, I know that Hera has had some further development in the comics and stuff, which I'm vaguely curious about, though I doubt I'll pick any of that. Gotta choose your poison and all of that.

Anyway... Good wrap up to the series. Now I'm eager to get to the newly completed and released final season of The Clone Wars.

"Fine, I'll do it, just call off your dog."

"In my experience, when it comes to Jedi, the worse the plan, the better the result."

"I serve the Empire until the end."

"So not much longer then."

"And remember, the force will be with you... always."

Rebels: "A World Between Worlds" (Ep. 4.13)

-- "Train yourself to let go of all that you fear to lose."

Ezra finally gets to say goodbye to Kanan. In a manner of speaking. He is finally able to let him go.

Though finally seems like a somewhat inaccurate adverb to use here. It's not like it's been all that long since Kanan's death. And, really, it's all about choices, because Ezra discovers there is a way to save Kanan, but it would negate Kanan's sacrifice...

And that could have been a really interesting story line to follow, because saving Kanan would have resulted in Ezra's own death. We haven't dealt with any weird time paradoxes in Star Wars -- at least, not to my knowledge, but there are scores of books and comics I haven't read -- so it would have been interesting, at the very least, to see what they did with that. I guess that's more of a Star Trek thing.

Oh, hey, Ahsoka is back. That's significant.

Vader makes an appearance.

The Emperor tries to grab Ezra.

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty significant episode.

I didn't even mention Sabine's verbal shenanigans.

"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power."

"How did you open the portal?"

"I'm smarter than you."

"I can see that the Mandalorian in you understands only one form of discourse."

Rebels: "Wolves and a Door" (Ep. 4.12)

-- "Hold tight."

So...

So...

Okay, honestly, I don't know what to say about this episode.

Remember back in the Clone Wars when Obi-Wan and Anakin end up on that planet with the family who were incarnations of the Force? You know, the father was the balance (I think), and the daughter was the Light, and the son was the Dark. They wanted Anakin to become the incarnation of the balance. Or something. Man, I need to go back and watch those again.
Anyway...

This episode takes us back to that story line. I'm not sure how, yet, but Palpatine makes a rare appearance in this episode wanting to get his hands on some gateway on Lothal, but Kanan's death has thrown everything out of whack for him.

Way to go Kanan! I guess.

Not a lot of hi-jinks in this episode, which you can probably tell by the lack of amusing quotes.

I'm just going to guess that this last arc of Rebels is going to be a truly important one.

"I'm just glad they're on our side."

Rebels: "The Siege of Lothal -- Part 2" (Ep. 2.02)

"We're going to have to smuggle ourselves off Lothal for a change."

Ezra meets Vader...

It doesn't go well.

It doesn't go well for anyone. 

Vader takes on a whole rebel fleet in his special TIE fighter, and we see why he's so feared as a pilot. Seriously, the stuff he does with his TIE is so far beyond anything we've seen from him, and we saw Anakin do a lot of impressive flying during Clone Wars.

The take away, though, and this is spoilery, is that Vader discovers his old apprentice is still alive.

Really, that's all I'm going to say about all of this (almost). It was a great start to season two and bringing Vader and Ahsoka together has me fully invested in where this is going to go.

All that and Lando makes an appearance.

And the Emperor.

Dream of the Red Chamber (an opera review post)

Dream of the Red Chamber is a new opera. As in brand new. In fact, this was the world premiere. Not that we saw the first showing of it during its run. It's more like seeing a movie on opening night but seeing the 3:00am showing because the earlier showings were sold out. It's still opening night.

The opera is based on the book of the same name, or usually the same name, depending on the translation. The book is considered the book of Chinese literature and even has its own branch of scholarship, redology.

It is, however, a very long book (evidently, Martin has nothing on this guy), so the opera is based on this very particular plot arc of the book, one which involves a love triangle.

In a general sense, this is not a problem; however, the opera spends the first half (until the intermission) setting up the triangle, and it does a poor job of it. Let me explain:

The lead male, Bao Yu (all of the names are symbolic, but I'm not going to go into all of that), has grown up in the women's house, the red chamber, something not normally allowed. During his time there, he has fallen in love with Dai Yu and she with him. They have a lot in common, though she is a "plain" girl and an orphan, making her a "poor match" for Bao Yu, at least according to Bao Yu's mother.

They spend a good portion of the first half of the opera setting up the love between Bao Yu and Dai Yu, then Bao Chai is introduced. She is supposed to be exotic and beautiful, and we are supposed to believe that the presence of Bao Chai creates a romantic conflict for Bao Yu, but, other than an erotic dream he has about both women, there is nothing to support Bao Yu's supposed passion for Bao Chai. It's never quite believable.

Especially since, in the opera, it is almost immediate that Bao Yu's mother begins to push Bao Yu and Bao Chai together (as does Bao Chai's mother). Bao Yu is never torn between the two women. He wants to marry Dai Yu. But it's Bao Chai who is the "good match" and, thus, the conflict. This conflict, which is heightened by a visit from Bao Yu's sister, is not introduced until the very end of act one, leaving most of act one to be various songs about people's intentions with singers standing in place telling of their love or whatever.

Basically, there was little action, leaving act one to be fairly dull.

Act two was a complete turn around, though, as all the court intrigue around the marriage kicked in. The family is trying to force Bao Yu to marry Bao Chai, but he is taking a stand against that. Unfortunately for him, the Emperor himself wants the marriage to happen... because he has a plot underway against the two families. Needless to say, act two is quite a bit more exciting. Enough so that it makes the opera worth watching.

Actually, it's all pretty interesting. Enough so that I'm exploring the idea of reading the book. It's twice as long as War and Peace, which I haven't read yet, so that's saying a lot. I've said for a while that the quality of an adaptation can be told by whether it makes the "viewer" want to explore the source material. Based on that, I would have to say that this is a successful opera. It's certainly not bad, just a bit slow and boring through the first half.

The Problem of Non-concession

I grew up not thinking much of George Washington. Of the founding fathers, I felt like he was by far the most overrated. Sure, he was the leader of the revolutionary army, but he was bad at it. It seemed to me that what he was best at, the place he really excelled, was losing battles. Of course, that's from the perspective of a teenager who evaluates everything based on whom is winning or losing. And, sure, Washington "won" the war, but that was hardly his doing considering the long list of defeats he suffered. Winning by luck isn't really winning; it's just not losing.

Needless to say, my younger view of Washington was overly simplistic at best, and I have since come to appreciate the man. For one thing, Washington knew his own limitations and, because of that, surrounded himself with people who were, basically, smarter than him and on whom he could rely to make decisions. And I think he must have been one of the most charismatic men to ever walk the planet based upon what he was able to inspire men to do.

But none of that is important. All of the important things about Washington boil down to two things:
1. He freed his slaves. Yes, he waited until his death to do it, but, still, he did it. Of the founding fathers who owned slaves, the ones everyone knows about, at any rate, he was the only one to make that gesture. He didn't like slavery; he just couldn't figure out a way to deal with the issue during the founding of the nation.
2. He stepped down as President after two terms.
If for nothing else, Washington is one of the most important men in modern history (or all of history) for that one simple thing: He stepped down!

Let me make something clear, here: This stepping down that Washington did; it had never been done before. Ever. There was no precedent. Period. Men with power did not give it up, not voluntarily. And, yet, Washington, being invested in the viability of the nation he had helped to create, and wanting to set an example of a peaceful transfer of power, chose to not run for a third term as President of the United States.

Sure, you can say that it was because he never wanted to be President anyway, because he didn't, but President was better than King, which is what everyone wanted to make him. They also wanted to call him things like "your majesty," but he worked it down to "Mr. President." In truth, the reasons don't matter. All that matters is that he DID. He did this one thing that changed the world.

Because it did change the world.

It created the precedent that in the United States we could, and we would, have a peaceful transference of power and abide by the will of the people in regards to whom is elected.There has not ever been a President who did not step down if he lost the election.

By extension, we have never had a candidate who did not concede if he lost the election.

Some people seem to be wondering why it matters that Trump won't say that he will concede if he doesn't win. They don't think it matters, evidently. But... And this is a huge BUT!
Do you think that if he's not willing to concede the election if he loses that, if he were to win, that he would willingly step out of power when his term is over? His particular brand of powermongering is dangerous, and it goes against everything, everything, that the United States has been built around.

Even if I agreed with Trump and his ideas, this one thing would be enough to stop me from voting for him. He's too much like watching Palpatine take control of the Senate in the prequels and, well, I'm not into the idea of an Emperor Trump. Or an Emperor anyone.

Rebels: "Gathering Forces" (Ep. 1.8)

"Make it your specialty and make it fast or this ship becomes a real ghost!"

The Inquisitor is hot on the heels of the crew of the Ghost chasing after a cybernetically enhanced rodian who has inadvertently stolen Imperial plans. At least, that's who he's supposed to be chasing, because the information the rodian is carrying is significant: blue prints for top secret weapons, deployment schedules, what the Emperor eats for breakfast. Okay, so I'm kidding on that last bit; it's what the Inquisitor eats for breakfast. Fine, still kidding. It's important stuff, though, and the Empire wants it back.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Tseebo, the rodian, and Ezra have a history, one Ezra is not prepared to forgive. Then there's the fact that, no matter how important the information Tseebo has is, the Inquisitor is more interested in bringing down Kanan and his Padawan. Kanan uses that to his advantage which, of course, puts him and Ezra into harms way.

A was not completely happy with the episode "Out of Darkness," as I said in that review a couple of weeks ago. This episode somewhat redeems that one by bringing elements of that episode back into the plot. "Gathering Forces" reaches back and elevates what felt like a mostly disposable episode at the time by giving it a larger purpose in the scheme of things. That's the kind of thing I like in story telling, where things that seem insignificant at the time return later and show their importance. Not that this is incredibly significant, but it's enough so to make it interesting.

So the show has bounced back up in my estimation, especially with the conclusion of this episode, showing that things are going to be a bit more complex than what is normal for just a kids' show.

Clone Wars -- "Liberty on Ryloth" (Ep. 1.21)

-- Compromise is a virtue to be cultivated, not a weakness to be despised.

[Remember, you can sign up to join the Clone Wars Project at any time by clicking this link.]

This episode wraps up the Ryloth story line and has some pretty impressive action in it by Mace Windu. I think Windu gets overlooked a lot because, mostly, in the movies all he does is sit in a chair and talk. Sure, he went toe to toe with the Emperor, but I think people also underestimate how powerful Palpatine was supposed to be. Actually, he beat the Emperor -- something Yoda failed to do decisively -- and, if not for Anakin getting involved, could have put an end to the Sith right there in Palpatine's chambers. Mace Windu did, though, develop Vaapad, the seventh form of lightsaber combat, a dangerous form only he mastered.

All of that to say that we, the audience, forget just what a badass Windu was supposed to be because we don't get to see him being all badass in the movies. However, the animated series shows off his power to great effect, and it's great to see in this episode.

But the episode isn't about Windu. It's about whether you accept help from a force which might occupy your country as soon as they help you get rid of the force occupying your country. Have you ever read the book The King, the Mice, and the Cheese?

I loved that book when I was a kid. The king loves his cheese, but he has a mouse problem. To get rid of the mice, he brings in cats, which he then can't get rid of, so he brings in dogs... Eventually, he brings in elephants -- to get ride of the lions, maybe? I don't quite remember -- and can't get rid of them, either, so he brings the mice back. This is kind of the question in this episode. Do you stay with the enemy you know, or do you bring in another that could be potentially worse?

The Separatists are starving the twi'leks and destroying and stealing their cultural heritage. But is it worth it to bring in the Republic forces (an issue caused by rival political factions on Ryloth) to drive out the Separatists if they are just going to stick around?

Sounds like an issue we've seen a lot of in recent years.

It's an interesting episode. Not as compelling on a character level as the last couple, but it's a good question to look at and fit in well with this trilogy of episodes.

The Problem of People

I'm not a huge fan of people. In fact, you wouldn't be wrong if you called me a misanthrope. Don't get me wrong, I like individuals just fine. Well, at least, I can like individuals just fine, but the mass of humanity... not a fan. I don't believe in the inherent goodness of humanity or anything close to it. I think people are pretty not-good, and it's closer to the truth to say I believe that humans are inherently selfish morons. This is not to say that I don't believe that people have the capacity for good. I do. I believe that (most) people have great potential for goodness. But that's all it is. Unused (or rarely used) potential.

I'm not saying any of this to imply that I'm any better, either. I'm sure that I'm not, but, at least, I'm aware of it, which is more than you can say for most people. It's like that whole thing about wisdom beginning when you realize how much you don't know.

Yes, I have examples:

1. I was driving the kids to school yesterday morning. Driving to school is not something I'm really enjoying having to do, at the moment, although I'm sure my kids are. But the dog isn't crate trained, yet, so she has to go with us, and I haven't been able to have the work done to my bike that will allow her to ride on it with me, so we've been in the car since the dog acquisition. (I'm hoping to get that changed after the new year.) Anyway... We were running a bit later than normal (yes, it was my fault, but I'm blaming the dog :), so I was feeling rushed. However, let me just be clear: I don't speed. (There's a long story about that and being late to a final during college (NOT my fault).) We're coming up the street to where we need to make a right onto the street their school is on. The light is green, and the crosswalk had the big red hand up barring pedestrians from entering the intersection. However, I see on the sidewalk on old woman with a bundle of sticks on her back (yes, I'm totally serious) making for the intersection with no signs of stopping. She didn't look around, she didn't slow down, she didn't act as if she realized she wasn't out in the middle of the woods gathering said sticks on her back. She also didn't stop at the corner. She walked straight out into the intersection and proceeded on her way. This is the kind of behavior that can kill you (you may now refer back to the "selfish morons" comment). Let's pretend that I was driving the same way that she was walking, especially since I was in a hurry. What we would have had was a dead pedestrian, a wrecked car, injured children (and dog), and sticks all over the street. But, as it was, I gritted my teeth and mumbled something about stupid people as I came to stop at a green light so that someone could cross against their own light.

2. Some of you may have picked up on the fact that we're big Star Wars fans in this house. Some of you may also know that Star Wars was recently (I use that term loosely) released on blu-ray. This was a cause for much debate and angst in our household. On the one hand, we own way more copies of Star Wars than anyone needs. I have a very special limited edition collectors set of the movies on VHS that have a leather case, a holographic cover, a book that only came with this edition of the movies and a 4th tape that was also limited to this edition. These are quite old at this point. I also have the last release of the original trilogy on VHS before Special Edition came out along with the Special Edition release of the movies on VHS. And we have them on dvd (it was the dvd release that actually prompted our first dvd player purchase). The original trilogy and the prequels (and The Clone Wars movie and the first two seasons of the show and a bunch of spoofs and parodies (Thumb Wars, R2-D2: Beneath the Dome, Hardware Wars, etc)). As my wife put it, "we don't need another set of those movies. Which is, objectively, true. But there's supposed to be all of this special, never before released stuff on the blu-ray edition, so "I wants it, my precious." (to mix a metaphor (except not)) My kids also wanted it. Hence, debate and angst. Not to mention the complication of the 3D versions which begin coming out next year, and I know I will want to buy those, even if I can't watch them in 3D, at the moment. So... do I buy the blu-rays knowing full well that I'll be repeating that purchase in the near future when the newer versions begin coming out on blu-ray 3D?

I began doing some research into the reaction of people about the blu-ray collection. I also mentioned to a friend of mine the dilemma we were facing, and his response was, "Oh, we pre-ordered them. You can borrow them when we get them." This was awesome. So we're in the midst of "borrowing," right now. But I was still doing research.

When the blu-ray collection came out, people began to immediately complain about Lucas tinkering with the movies again and all of these scenes that got added back in and how they all sucked and how Lucas has just continued to ruin everyone's childhood by messing up a good thing. There were even references to specific scenes in some of the reviews and how they sucked and made the movies suck. Because the implication of every review that I read was that all of these scenes had been edited back into the movies.

IT'S ALL HOGWASH!!!

The collection is 9 discs (which could  have been reduced to 7, thus reducing the price by $20): 1-6 are each of the movies, 7 is special features (including deleted scenes) for the prequels, 8 is special features (including deleted scenes for the originals), and 9 is documentaries and featurettes. There are no new scenes in the movies themselves. The only tinkering is with the sound in a few places, the removal of the scream as Luke falls down the shaft in Empire (which was the only thing added in the Special Edition that I really couldn't stand, so I'm glad they took that back out), some bits of dialogue between holo-Emperor and Vader in Empire (which is the only thing that's a significant change), and a cleaning up of the blaster exchange between Greedo and Han so that it's less clear who shot first (that change having already been made, this new version is better than the first). None of the deleted scenes are added into the movies. They're on completely different discs. In fact, they are no different than deleted scenes from every other movie, and it's just stupid to get all upset that Lucas is letting us see them. Personally, I find it interesting to look at what was cut from a movie, especially if there's an explanation as to why it was cut. (And some of those scenes I've been waiting since I was 7 to see, so I think it's awesome that Lucas finally put them where we can see them if we want to do that. There's nothing to force anyone to put that other disc in or to watch the deleted scenes if you think it will shatter your delusions.)

In the end, the uproar over the deleted scenes is another example of the stupidity of people.

And, although I'd really love to own the blu-ray edition (mostly because of the Luke/Biggs scenes that are FINALLY included in the deleted scenes), I've decided to save my $90 and wait for the 3D releases.

3. Have you seen the news about the post office? In an effort to become more competitive in these troubled economic times, they will be lowering the quality of their service. Not that it will become cheaper.

It's no secret that the post office has been struggling due to loss of business to the internet. Why send a letter when you can send an email. It's both faster and cheaper. Physical letters are on the verge of extinction. Even cards are becoming endangered. Starting next year, in an effort to save money, the post office will be doing away with 1st class, next day delivery. Even if it means holding the mail because it's within the same city. In fact, they're kind of saying that delivery times will be sporadic and unpredictable. This whole move strikes me as something more along the lines of punishing us for not sending enough mail. A move of smite.

See, the smart thing to do here would be to figure out how to become more competitive. But of the three main shippers in the US: USPS, UPS, and FedEx; USPS is the worst. They cost more and offer less already for any kind of service that allows you to track your package. And for anything of any real weight, they cost quite a bit more than UPS, and UPS offers FREE insurance. However, instead of looking at ways that they could, you know, become viable, they decide to stick their tongues out at us and take their ball and go home.

It's a good example of the power of the dark side. Reacting in fear is quicker, easier, and this shows every sign of a fear reaction, which is the general way that people react to these types of situations. I'm not going to start making a list of historical examples of people reacting out of fear due to economic upheaval, but, if you want to do the research, you should quickly find enough on your own.

4. Which brings us to the publishing industry. I only mention them specifically, because their way of reacting in fear to the decline in traditional publishing affects many of you guys out there. They're being the same as the post office in many ways. People are buying less books, so, instead of figuring out how to be competitive, they hike prices and squeeze their authors. This, of course, prompts people to buy less books and the authors to start looking for alternatives.

Fear is the path to the dark side, people! Go back and watch Star Wars again!

>sigh<

I could go on with this stuff all day, I'm sure. As you can see, I'm not overly impressed with people.

Let's just call this post practice for Grumpy Bulldog's upcoming BlahgFest

You know, in the spirit of the holidays.

Merry Bah! Humbug!