Nov. 15th, 2015

Good day

Nov. 15th, 2015 12:39 am
owlmoose: (library - sign)
Today was a good day. SE and I went with a local librarian group on a tour of the Sonoma County Wine Library, which is part of their public library system. It was interesting -- not so much for the space, but to see what can be done with such a specialized collection. Lots of books, of course, including this 16th century book on agriculture from Spain, as well as more modern texts, but also magazines, clipping files, wine labels, a really hilarious drinking game from the 1960s, and a selection of cool old bottles. Also I was happy to be hanging out with librarians and talking shop again, something I don't get to do much these days. Afterwards we went to a wine bar and just chatted, and I really appreciated it.

Of course I can't go up to the wine country without having some fabulous food. We dragged our husbands along (although they absented themselves for the librarian portion of the festivities), and had delicious lunch, tea, dinner, and dessert. Then I came home just in time to lend a hand to a last-minute Wind dominance victory on Flight Rising! Literally at the last minute; it was glorious. And now it is late and I must sleep, if I can come down from the victory high.
owlmoose: (star wars - han woohoo)
[personal profile] violacea asked for my top five favorite Star Wars moments, in honor of the upcoming film. As it happens, I decided just a couple of days ago to put myself on trailer/teaser/general information lockdown for The Force Awakens, because the images I briefly saw from the most recent teaser felt like more than I wanted to know. I have to wonder why this level of hype -- it's not like people don't know it's coming, and they have to know that it's getting a huge audience no matter what they do. I already have my tickets, for a Friday afternoon showing (I'm crashing the show that T's office is taking his team to see), and I am officially excited. But I'd rather not feel like I've already seen the whole movie before I actually get there.

Narrowing this down to five is basically impossible, but I'll give it a go, bearing in mind that these could change according to whim. Listed in no particular order:

"I love you." "I know." / "I love you." "I know." Both of these scenes are wonderful on their own, but the juxtaposition between them is what makes them perfect. I could never write about the echo and all its implications for Han, Leia, and their relationship better than this meta post on Tumblr, so I'm not even going to try -- just go read it. These are the best moments in the Han/Leia ship, which I absolutely ship, so how could I not choose them? And it's totally not cheating to list them together, or to throw in "Someone who loves you" from the Jabba's palace rescue. Nope, not at all.

Han Solo shooting up the comm station during the rescue of Princess Leia. I could have gone with any number of scenes and lines that make me laugh ("I am not a committee!" "You don't want to sell me Jaffa sticks." "I dunno, fly casual." "Artoo! You're playing the wrong message!") but "It was a boring conversation anyway" is one that sticks with me, as does the scene leading up to it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino. I wanted to pick at least one scene from the prequels, because although there are tons of problems with those films, and I wish they had been much better, I don't want to excise them from my fannish experience, either. Frustrating as they were, they also added many interesting elements to the canon, and none more so than the backstory of the clones -- who they were, where they came from, for what purpose they were created, the surprising origin of Boba Fett. I thought it was a nice subversion of expectations that the clones were created to fight with the Republic, rather than being the enemy of the Jedi -- and then the closing moments of Attack of the Clones, when the ranks of clone soldiers wearing a clear precursor to stormtrooper armor, prototypical Star Destroyers flying in the background, took my breath away. [tumblr.com profile] fangirlhappyhour recently did a special Star Wars episode, and [personal profile] renay's comments about this scene reminded me of how much I liked it, in particular the best CGI aliens in the entire series, and one of the best fight scenes.

The Battle of Endor. Make fun all you like, but I love the Ewoks. Maybe it's youthful imprinting -- Return of the Jedi is the first movie I ever saw in a theater, at the age of 10, which put me right in the target audience. Regardless, I adore how they can be both cute and fierce, and both those traits are on full display in their battle with the stormtroopers in the forests of Endor. It included moments that were adorable, sad, and filled with crowning glory, and I am a sucker for underdogs coming from behind to defeat a superior force. And it was even better on a big screen.

The Comic Con reel for The Force Awakens. When The Force Awakens was first announced, I wouldn't say I was skeptical exactly, but I wasn't really excited, either. I sometimes had trouble remembering it was even happening -- I almost forgot to include it out of the list of movies I was most looking forward to in my 2014 wrap-up posts, for example. That all changed when this reel leaked, and showed me a world that looked like Star Wars, and felt like Star Wars, in a way that the prequels with their reliance on CGI characters and environments never quite did. Getting a little behind the scenes and seeing practical effects in action was heartening. And I found the excitement of the actors and crew to be infectious. Hearing their love and enthusiasm for Star Wars reminded me of my love and enthusiasm for Star Wars. It made me hopeful again, and I've found no reason to give up that hope. Fingers crossed that I still feel that way in a month.

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  12345
678910 1112
13141516171819
2021222324 2526
27282930   

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 8th, 2025 01:18 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios