reAnakin

I didn’t think Lucas could do worse than having Greedo shoot first, but he did: Sebastian Shaw was replaced by prequel actor Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker’s Jedi spirit at the end of Return of the Jedi.

The rationalization I’ve been hearing is that a Jedi spirit is his “pure” manifestation, and that Anakin is being shown as he was before he became Darth Vader. But I’d argue that Vader managed to redeem himself by killing the Emperor and saving Luke, and even young Anakin in Attack of the Clones was beginning to show the angry, authoritarian tendencies which would later lead him to the Dark Side.

(Hmmm. It just occurred to me: now I know where Luke Skywalker inherited his whiny “going to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters!” voice.)

Holiday Weekend Recap

I had an excellent extended holiday weekend, thanks to the warm and welcoming hospitality of Amy’s family. Activities were as follows:

  • Thursday: Thanksgiving service at Amy’s church, followed by turkey, stuffing, and pie at Amy’s grandma’s place somewhere in the hills of New Jersey. Also tried playing Halo 2 on the X-Box with Amy’s younger brother.
  • Friday: “Black Friday” excursion to South Street Seaport to sightsee and meet up with Riffola from Metafilter, then a daring plunge into the mad shopping crowd at the midtown Old Navy to get baby clothes for my nephew, capped off that night with watching the new DVD edition of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
  • Saturday: The Incredibles at a nearby theater. Excellent movie. Later, Amy learned how to use a wiki.
  • Sunday: Morning worship at Amy’s church, then a get-together with the young adults at her church for lasagna, Imaginiff, pool and air hockey. That night, after watching an episode of Enterprise, I headed home on a packed train.

Photos here. I hope those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving also had a pleasant holiday. Now, back to work.

Oh, and you Flickr users, be sure to caption me and Riffola.

Church Cornucopia

Church Cornucopia

Pumpkins and flowers at the chancel for thanksgiving.

North by Rail

North by Rail

On the train. Got a window seat, surrounded by loud cellphone talkers. 2.5 hour trip.

Off to Another NJ Thanksgiving

Same as last year, I’m about to get on a train heading north to New Jersey, to spend Thanksgiving and the long weekend with Amy and her folks; wonderful people, all of them.

I’ve set up Flickr to post mobile photos to here, so stay tuned for snapshots. (Too bad they still don’t set categories on submission, else the integration of mobile weblogging would go a lot smoother.)

See you around the turkey.

Red Hat

Red Hat

Vermeer’s Girl With a Red Hat at the National Gallery, thankfully returned to the Dutch Cabinet Galleries on the main floor.

Tenacious Squirrel

This squirrel had staked out a spot on the sidewalk on constitution ave and wouldn’t move for anyone. Brave little squirrel!