BfloGirlGeek: Random Thoughts of Geekery

• Logan trailer – shut the door! And did they have to use Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt, because I could’ve handled it with NIN’s version.
• Arrival trailer – totally looking forward to seeing this movie…and Jeremy Renner… #TeamHawkeye
• Guardians II trailer – “Do you need a hug?” Ha! Ready for another great soundtrack – and Baby Groot.
• Rogue One – I’ve got my t-shirt, now I need a movie…
  
• Doctor Strange – yes, I’ll see it, I’m just not sure what to expect. This isn’t a traditional Marvel movie, and the characters are new to the movie universe, so I’m going in blind.
• Red Vengeance – if you haven’t tried the Marvel Young Adult book out yet, do it! Black Widow: Forever Red was pretty good, and Marvel fans are craving more Black Widow (movie, please?!?!). Black Widow: Red Vengeance is the latest book – I just started reading it – and next week there’s an Iron Man book joining the collection. Don’t get turned off by “Young Adult,” because we’ve all read them – you know, Hunger Games, Divergent and, of course, all the Harry Potter books.
• Ahsoka – I really want to start reading this one too – Ahsoka Tano was one of the coolest chicks in the Expanded Universe, and now she’s part of the new canon. I don’t want to get caught up with too many books at once, though, because I’m also reading Dark Disciple right now with another cool EU chick, Asajj Ventress.

BfloGirlGeek: I find my lack of excitement disturbing…

I still remember the first time I saw Star Wars: I was at the drive-in with my mom and grandma, and I wasn’t there to see Star Wars (maybe a Herbie movie…?). But I was turned around in the back of the station wagon all night watching these space ships flying around, and while I couldn’t hear what was going on, I was a visually-stimulated 4-year-old at that moment, and that continued on for – yikes! –nearly 40 years now.

credit: imgur

Star Wars was special growing up: three movies in seven years, labeled Episodes IV, V and VI; obviously, I, II and III were inevitable, and – while they left something to be desired at times – they resparked the interest of the old fans and brought about a legion of new fans. Sequels, in the form of movies, weren’t really needed – the Expanded Universe (comics, cartoons, books and more) expanded on the stories quite well, giving fans a look back and a look ahead.

Then came Disney.

20+ years of writing and visualization in the Expanded Universe went out the window at Disney’s command – and there were some great stories in there (I really wanted to see Mara Jade in live action). Then they announced there would be six movies released in about five years, beginning with Episode 7 in December 2015. Six movies in 28 years versus six movies in five years = no longer “special.”

I really want to be excited for this, and part of me is – I want to see what this alternate Star Wars universe looks like compared to the old Expanded Universe. But that’s what it feels like right now – Star Wars meets Sliders (I loved that show): same world, similar characters, alternate universe. I feel like I’m going to see it just to get it over with.

I hope I’m wrong and it’s awesome – reviews have been literally out of this world amazing – but, to use a popular line from the original trilogy, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

November 2014 in review

November, somewhat thankfully, was rather uneventful – which was good, because I needed to start holiday stuff! November and December are vacation-heavy months for me at work because 1) it’s easier for me to schedule time off when I’m not on the road and 2) I need time for baking and decorating.

One thing that did happen in the area in November was “Winter Storm Knife” (huh?!?!), a/k/a “Snowvember” (that’s more Buffalo-sounding!). While the folks 15 minutes away from me in Lancaster had five or six feet of snow (in less than two days!), the Amherst area got five or six inches. Yes – inches. Lake effect snow is just wacky!

Buffalo, of course, takes it all in stride – neighbors help neighbors, strangers help strangers, and we make the best of what we have:

In between cookies and decorating, I did get to see the new Hunger Games movie, Mockingjay Pt. 1. To the filmmakers: You ended it THERE?!?! REALLY?!?! That’s just cruel. (Granted, I read the books and know what happens, but still…)

I also checked out the new Star Wars trailer when it was released because, you know, I had to. I’m still not sure about the Disney-takes-over-Star Wars thing, and I’m even less sure about them throwing 20+ years of awesome SW Extended Universe books out the window – it’s like Star Wars meets Sliders in a parallel galaxy far, far away. I do have two kudos though: Sith saber = cool and soccer ball droid = cute (I hope it’s as feisty as it looks!).