I’m thankful for:

• All my girls
• Parents, sister, parents-in-law, sister-in-law, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and other relations
• Old friends, new friends, work friends, Facebook friends, friends of friends
• To live in a country that’s not perfect, but is more good than bad, and made me proud this year
• To have a job that I love to do in an honest business
• The Gentlemen's Outing and Social Club
• The 2008 Cubs
• Star Wars generally, and R2-D2 specifically
• Chinese food, wine, Chicago hot dogs, chocolate, Pizza Express breadsticks, coffee, spicy things
• iPod and Wii, two combinations of hardware and software that still make me giggle
• Tricia
• Our health, our planet, the nice things that ordinary people do, and the great things that extraordinary people do

And everything else on our turkey…

Stirring with Sister, originally uploaded by rdeetz.

Lucy has a Galactic Heroes Darth Vader that she plays with in the car. On this morning's drive to daycare, she put Darth Vader "night-night" with a variation on the song we used to put her to bed:

Goood-night, Darf Vader,
Goood-night, Darf Vader,
Goood-night, Darf Vader,
Ah'll see you in da mooor-neeng

If Anakin would have gotten more love like that, the whole thing might have turned out differently.

Also: Don't miss all the wonderful pictures over at Brainy Girl.

I was going to post this to my Star Wars blog, but I was so proud of it, I had to share. Starwars.com has a really neat thing going where you can remix the movies into your own mashup. It was a little annoying to do "video editing" on the web (especially since I have no idea what I'm doing), but it was fun.

I wanted to have more control over the music (you could only pick a single track to loop over your video), and there is a really bad cut about halfway through that I didn't bother to fix, but otherwise I think it turned out pretty good.

1. The Desert and Robot Auction - John Williams, Star Wars
2. The Little People Work - John Williams, Star Wars
3. The Princess Appears - John Williams, Star Wars
4. The Land of the Sand People - John Williams, Star Wars
5. The Return Home - John Williams, Star Wars

Roger, Lucy, and Artoo, originally uploaded by rdeetz.

Like so many others I could not resist the temptation to be photographed with a local R2-D2 mailbox.

Lucy was unconvinced, however. She insisted that the mailbox was, "not Artoo." It's hard to argue with her keen observations.

Since I'm on the subject, a while ago Nadine blogged about some of the knowledge Lucy has gleaned from "The Yoda Book". She doesn't ask for it as much anymore, probably because she thinks she has figured out all she needs to know:
Characters she can identify reliabily — Yoda, R2, C-3PO, Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Shakk Ti, Sebulba, Clone Troopers
Characters that she can identify with some prompting — TC-14, Sandpeople, Darth Sidious, Jawa, Wookies
Characters that are too scary — General Greivous
Queen Amidala's hair — "That's pretty silly"
Ponda Baba — "That's like a walrus"
Jabba the Hutt — "That's like a worm"
Sebulba — "Yucky nose"
Ewoks — "That's a teddy bear" (Hard to argue with that)

There is definite slant to the Prequels when it comes to her knowledge... This is partially because the book has more detail on Episodes I-III, but mostly because she always wants to start at the beginning and usually loses interest about halfway through. I guess she'll just need to be properly educated when she gets a little older.

P.S.—Don't forget to head over to uspsjedimaster.com to vote for your favorite Star Wars 30th Anniversary stamp! :)

I've decided to make a new home for my Star Wars-related posts:

http://redfive.mooville.com

So, if that sounds like the kind of thing you're into (and I know for some of you it is), then make a single-file line (to hide your numbers) and head on over there. If you're a mooville.com reader who mainly pops in for the pictures of Lucy and Lainey, then you can safely ignore.

You may go about your business. Move along.

Bless me, internets, for I have sinned. It has been 24 days since my last confession.

So, what's going on? Well, in a nutshell, my new gig at work has made it hard for me to carve out blogging time. That, coupled with toddler-rearing and baby-prepping and all sorts of other goodies has made me incommunicado.

As we like to say in the manager-biz, here's a "high-level summary of the deliverables since the last status report":

• We enjoyed our fourth wedding anniversary
• I've been beta-testing Windows Vista and Office 2007. There is a lot to be excited about.
• I've been prepping for Halloween at work, and silently planning my 2006 costume
• Check out crazy cool hotel
• The Amazing Race is good again.
• This could be the coolest R2-D2 figure yet. I can't wait to go hunting for this one!

I will try not to be so hermit-like.

Cubby had a great idea to design the ultimate Star Wars vacation. My mind is racing with possibilities... He got the ball rolling with:

I'm thinking you'd travel to the hotel in Tunisia where they stayed (in the town of Tataouine or something) to the hotel in Norway where they stayed down to London for a while and then out to California, first to the Redwoods and then for a tour of Skywalker Ranch and ILM.

Here's a few locations I would add:

1. Somewhere in Italy (I think) to the palace by the lake on Naboo. Stand on the same balcony where Anakin Skywalker proclaimed, "I hate sand."

2. Also in Italy, visit Mt. Etna, which provided some real-life lava footage for the duel on Mustafar. Imagine yourself lying on Mt. Etna's slopes, missing three limbs and experiencing the one-of-a-kind scent of burning flesh.

3. Soundstages in Sydney, where principal photography for much of the prequels took place. Experience the breathtaking bluescreen panoramas, and imagine that you are looking at computer-generated scenery.

Anywhere else?

So, I think a London-Norway-Italy-Tunisia-Australia-California trip, peppered with Star Wars goodness, would be pretty awesome. With Natalie Portman as celebrity host?

In the spirit of Thai... or Jedi? there is a "fun" new quiz that blends Internet geekery with Star Wars geekery. (I know! Who woulda thought?)

Web 2.0 or Star Wars?

I was a little disappointed in my score of 33, but I had to make a several random guesses, so I had a 50/50 chance of doing a lot better.

Here is my 2005 Halloween costume; I wore this to the company party. In an office-wide vote, I tied for Third Place (prize: bag of Reese's cups), so I'm pleased with that showing. I was a little disappointed that I was confused for Darth Maul on more than one occasion... I figured a software company would have a near 100% recognition rate. But, if my Halloween costume doesn't require some explanation, I haven't done my job. (It wasn't nearly as bad as the Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai debacle of 2001.)

Happy Halloween to all!

I've got to get into character for today's Halloween party! Mmm.... I like my former Jedi extra-crispy...

1. Enter Lord Vader - John Williams, Revenge of the Sith
2. Battle of the Heroes - John Williams, Revenge of the Sith
3. The Immolation Scene - John Williams, Revenge of the Sith
4. The Imperial March - John Williams, The Empire Strikes Back
5. Darth Vader's Death - John Williams, Return of the Jedi

1. A New Hope and End Credits - John Williams, Revenge of the Sith
2. Get Me Out Of Here - Billy Pilgrim, Billy Pilgrim It's a fall tradition of mine to listen to this album. I love this disc, but I hardly ever listen to it outside of September, October, and November. Maybe it's the strong association to Bloomington this album has... Bloomington means IU, and IU means school, and school means fall, and fall means Bloomington. It all comes full circle.
3. Insomniac - Billy Pilgrim, Billy Pilgrim
4. Try - Billy Pilgrim, Billy Pilgrim
5. Here We Go Again - Billy Pilgrim, Billy Pilgrim

(AP photo by Charles Krupa, via Chicago Tribune)

Not exactly Lucasfilm quality on the costume, but not bad.

Inspired by a conversation at lunch the other day, here is today's pop quiz.

Each item below is either a southeast Asian dish, or a Jedi. Place each item in the proper category. For extra credit, describe the key flavors of the dish, or identify how the Jedi was killed.

1. Tom Kha Gai
2. Qui Gon Jinn
3. Kit Fisto
4. Banh Bao
5. Saesee Tiin
6. Pud Prik King
7. Panang Nue
8. Plo Koon
9. Pad Siew
10. Ki Adi Mundi

(No peeking! You're only allowed to draw on your own knowledge, or to search your feelings.)

He's not exactly famous, but he has a special place among Star Wars fans:

Farewell to Michael Sheard

If you check out his IMDB, he played Hitler like five times. That's kinda unfortunate typecasting.

But, he'll always be as clumsy as he is stupid to me.

Note to genies, the Devil, Glinda, Palpatine, Mr. Roarke, and other readers with relevant powers: This list is not exhaustive, nor in any particular order. Additionally, while I really want all of this stuff, the level of sacrifice I am willing to make varies greatly from wish to wish. Please contact me personally before granting, so that we can reach agreeable terms. Thanks.

1. To be able to save parking spaces for later.
2. When my iPod starts to run out of battery in the middle of day, to be able to put a quarter in it and keep it playing.
3. To convince the midichlorians to wipe out teb's melanoma.
4. To understand Lucy's language when she is obviously upset (or any other time for that matter).
5. A nice long win streak. Or at least a not-looking-pathetic streak.

I basically fell out of my chair laughing at this:

Backstroke of the West

This is a summary of a Chinese bootleg of Revenge of the Sith, showing the awesome translation of the script. (I suppose some might even say the dialogue is better than Lucas' original.)

Just so you know, there is some (unintentionally) strong language in the translation.

Oh, those wacky Chinese DVD pirates.

1. First Ewok Battle / Fight with the Fighters - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy (Disc 4)
This reminds me a of a funny quote I read recently regarding Revenge of the Sith:

Revenge of the Sith! This is the final chapter! This is how it all ends! Well, it actually ends with teddy bears dancing in the forest, but this is a decent halfway point.

Clone Reeses, originally uploaded by rdeetz.

On the swamp world of Kashyyyk, a Republic Clone Scout runs into an army of Reeses Droids.

Pop quiz for today!

Describe the scene in each Star Wars movie where a lightsaber is ignited for the first time.

Then, for extra credit, rank each scene according to coolness.

Answers, and my rankings, after the jump.

Big and tall
Originally uploaded by rdeetz.

Wow.

As you know, I have unconditional love for Star Wars. Thus, I was going to enjoy this movie, almost no matter what. (After all, I enjoy The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones very much, though certainly not as much as the Original Trilogy.)

However, I had very high expectations for this movie. Perhaps even unrealistically high. I wanted this movie to "redeem" the Prequels. I have been waiting for the conclusion to the Star Wars saga, well, basically for my entire life. I have dreamt, fantasized, and theorized about the backstory of Vader and Obi-Wan since as long as I can remember. And I wanted nothing more than to see that story unfold in a spectacular, immersive, and emotional way... The way I was introduced to Star Wars as a young kid.

And I am so ecstatic to say that I have had my wish fullfilled, and my expectations exceeded.

Episode III is the most visually spectactular of any Star Wars film, and perhaps for the moment, of any film ever.

Episode III is most gut-wrenching of any Star Wars film. As everything starts to go to hell (almost literally) there are many moments where I was choked up and chilled, all at the same time.

Episdoe III is not High Art, lest anyone get the wrong idea. It's not Oscar®-worthy writing/directing/acting. And if you're not one who has been as attached to these characters for as long as I have, you might not have as strong of a reaction as I have had. But I would be surprised if you weren't at least a little bit blown away.

All in all, I had no idea how I would feel when Star Wars ended. Disappointed? Sad? Happy? Satisfied? Confused? I can say now that I certainly twinged with sadness; the anticipation of the next Star Wars movie has ended. But I could not have dreamt of a more fitting resolution: I had the wind knocked out of me, I laughed, I cried, I cheered.

I have no expectation that Lucy will enjoy these movies as much as I have. But really hope that there will be some art/entertainment—be it book, music, movie, whatever— in her life that brings her the kind of pleasure Star Wars has brought me.

Thank you, Star Wars, for good times.

Goodbye, old friend.

A

UPDATE

Check out what my longtime friend, and fellow Star Wars groupie, teb has to say. (I swear we didn't coordinate our posts.) Freaky.

You're a bona fide hottie when you can pull this off:

What a life the professional Lego™ artist must have:

Nathan Sawaya | The Art of the Brick | Han Solo in Carbonite

Pretty cool.

I've got my grubby little mitts on the Revenge of the Sith soundtrack. So, we'll be taking a break from iPod this morning and listening directly from CD. (What a novel concept!) And, there will no shuffling, thus, I can accurately predict the first 15 tracks... Note: The only spoilers in the track names are very minor, and are probably only spoilers to the uninitiated. But, if you're remaining completely chaste until May 19, you might want to avert your eyes.

All tracks composed by John Williams, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.

1. Star Wars and The Revenge of the Sith
2. Anakin's Dream
3. Battle of the Heroes
4. Anakin's Betrayal
5. General Grievous
6. Palpatine's Teachings
7. Grievous and the Droids
8. Padme's Ruminations
9. Anakin vs. Obi-Wan
10. Anakin's Dark Deeds
11. Enter Lord Vader
12. The Immolation Scene
13. Grievous Speaks To Lord Sidious
14. The Birth of the Twins and Padme's Destiny
15. A New Hope and End Credits

1. Battle of the Heroes - John Williams, Battle of the Heroes (Single) from Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

If you have iTunes, click the button to get this track.

So, what do I think of the new major theme from Revenge of the Sith? Well, it's okay. I mean, it's a fine piece of music, but it doesn't jump out at me as a powerful and distinctive theme. I think the Love Theme from Attack of the Clones and Duel of the Fates from The Phantom Menace are stronger pieces. While this track has a unique sound, it's not very "hummable".

2. Love Me Like That - Michelle Branch & Sheryl Crow, Hotel Paper
3. Less Than You Think - Wilco, A Ghost Is Born
4. Broken Gace - Pixies, Surfer Rosa
5. Charms and Feigns - Sarge, The Glass Intact

It's been a busy week for Star Wars fans, what with the release of the new Revenge of the Sith line of action figures. So, some music for the occasion:

1. Confrontation with Dooku and Finale - John Williams, Attack of the Clones
2. Main Title - John Williams, A New Hope
3. Imperial Attack - John Williams, A New Hope
4. The Little People Work - John Williams, A New Hope
5. The Princess Appears - John Williams, A New Hope

Did you see the trailer for Revenge of the Sith last night after The O.C.?

Well, I did. And, damn. AWESOME. Some quick thoughts:

1. The space battle looks like it will finally make up for the drought in space action the prequels have suffered thus far. Proto-Star Destroyers slugging it out in close quarters with other massive ships... and Jedi fighters that look suspciously like TIE Fighters. Yum.

2. A hooded, possibly evil Anakin leading a phalanx of Clonetroopers, whose new uniforms are suspiciously similar to the classic Stormtrooper armor: Yikes.

3. Yoda, getting his ass kicked: As much as it will break my heart, I'm dying to see this. If we are to believe that Palpatine/Sidious/The Emperor is the ultimate evil who goes on a long reign of terror, we will need to see him put Yoda in his place. Yahoo!

4. The Duel: Lightsaber battle while swinging from ropes over hot lava. The ultimate homage to the swashbuckling films Lucas is so fond of. Yowza.

Be sure to check out the thoughts of fellow geek Caveat Scriptor.

The trailer will be free online March 14 at starwars.com.

Let me count the ways:

Gmail User Pities Hotmail User

Oh, and if you want to be part of Team G, just let me know.

UPDATE

Here are some additional reasons:

Don't tell me... (t-shirt)

I'm going to be... (t-shirt)

With the addition of R4-G9, the Astromech collection continues to grow! R4-G9 is part of the Revenge of the Sith Sneak Preview wave of action figures. This figure features the best implementation of the third leg that I've seen. You turn the head of the droid to extend or retract the leg. And when the leg is fully up or down, the head can still spin freely. Very nice.

See the full Astromech droid line-up!

From left:

• R2-B1
• R2-D2 (Vintage Original Trilogy Collection)
• R2-D2 (with Holographic Leia)
• R2-Q5
• R2-R9
• R3-A1
• R3-D3
• R3-T7
• R4-G9
• R4-I9
• R4-M9
• R5-D4
• R1-G4

My Astromech collection also includes all of the R2-D2 figures that have been produced. For the purposes of this picture, however, I selected a couple of my favorite Artoos as to avoid drowning out all the others in a sea of blue and white.

On the fires of Mustafar, our hero Rog-De Jeromi engages the enemy in a desperate last effort to save the galaxy...

Try it yourself! It will make your day.

It looks like the Swedish military has taken to hiring the Sith... (Maybe for its black-ops unit?)

Check out this photo.

(Thanks to theforce.net for pointing this out to me.)

Still buried...

1. The Training of a Jedi Knight - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 2)
2. The Magic Tree - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 2)
3. Yoda and the Force - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 2)
4. City in the Clouds - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 2)
5. Lando's Palace - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 2) (This was the song Nadine and I were introduced at our wedding! Well, the first 50 seconds, anyway.)

Too much work! I need to tap into the Force:

1. Imperial Attack - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 1)
2. The Desert and The Robot Auction - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 1)
3. The Little People Work - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 1)
4. The Princess Appears - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 1)
5. The Return Home - John Williams, Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (Disc 1)

Much props to Cubby for pointing me towards Bad Astronomy. I haven't had much of a chance to really pour over it, but I think I will like it.

I appreciated his treatment of the Kessel Run. Star Wars fans could debate this forever, but I think he has hit the womprat on the head. (Read the official Star Wars statement on the Kessel Run.)

I just saw the Revenge of the Sith teaser trailer at starwars.com today. Only Hyperspace members can see the trailer online today; it will also be shown on MTV, Access Hollywood, and in front of Pixar's The Incredibles in theaters. TheForce.net has a rundown of all the place you can see it.

In a word—yikes! Even if the movie is a disappointment (please, I hope it's not!) Lucas knows how to make a trailer. In the interest of full disclosure, I have unconditional love for Star Wars, but I think the trailer rocks.

Vader! Anakin with Obi-Wan in a death grip! The Emperor with a lightsaber! The Wookies!

Be still my pounding heart...

Will the Cubs do it?

Will Kerry do it?

Will our baby knock my wife out?

Props to my wife for getting me Rachel Yamagata tickets! Exciting!

I just got my new R3-A2! The Astromech collection is complete!

1. Brainy Girl passed the Bar!
2. 2-year wedding anniversary!
3. Steak tonight!
4. Apple orchard tomorrow!
5. Star Wars DVDs sometime this weekend!

iPod found me five selections from the Star Wars Trilogy Original Soundtrack Anthology (all composed by John Williams, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra):

1. Losing a Hand - The Empire Strikes Back
2. Luke's First Crash - The Empire Strikes Back
3. Standing By - A New Hope
4. The Emperor Confronts Luke - Return of the Jedi
5. Rescue of the Princess - A New Hope