Home Again

It is strange to walk around and hear people speaking English. Now I can eavesdrop and actually understand! Still, my first instinct is to say, "Bon jour" or "Merci" in response to chatting. I'm sure I'll lose that soon enough.

So the first thing I did as I got home on Sunday night was participate in Hump Fest 2005. I showed Marigold how they kiss in France. Then I promptly slept the night through. Even with all that motivation to sleep soundly I felt like getting up at five in the morning. I slept at very odd and inconsistent hours in the last two weeks in Lacoste, but still I have to adjust to being six hours earlier. Luckily, Hump Fest continued on into Monday.

Marigold and I, sufficiently de-motivated to do anything too vigorous other than each other, decided to make our way to a matinee showing of Starwars III. The best part about it was that it was a matinee. And that we are finally done feeling like we have to pay attention to anything StarLike - Wars, Trek, or Jones. Lucas has absolutely proven that he completely lacks any subtly when it comes to ANYTHING. I like what the New Yorker reviewer guy said, "It is better than the first two of the new trilogy. But that is like saying dying of natural causes is better than being shot in the face." Some of the most memorable parts were the Wookie conversation scene after Yoda says goodbye, and Natalie Portman and Hayden C. vainly attempting to scare up some chemistry. Did Yoda always sound so lame? Were the droids always such a waste of screen time? I want to watch the original trilogy again to see if the dialog and acting and pacing and scenery, etc, etc, were as bad as this. In my memory even the special effects were much better. Was it the wonder of youth that pulled me through, and now I am a jaded old man? I would like to think that they had a certain camp charm to them that made me forgive and even embrace the thinness of the plot or characters or characters names (Han Solo? General Grievous? Sith? Jar-Jar? Lucas is the dumb-man's Shakespeare). Now the new series seems to be wanting to be taken seriously. When Darth Vader steps off the doctor's slab with big Frankenstein steps and screams, "Noooooooo!" I don't cry at the supreme tragedy that should be overwhelming. I guffaw at the stupidity.