Star Wars Blu-Ray Viewing Order Poll Results and Impressions September 18, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment.Tags: Star Wars
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The Blu-Ray edition of the Star Wars saga has been released.
Amazon.com did not fail me. They discs arrived Friday afternoon.
Much Star Wars viewing has occurred at our house since.
First, I want to post the results of the poll I put up. 117 votes on the issue.
Results - Click For Full Size
Release order, or IV, V, VI, I, II, III was the winner eventually, though none of the choices got a clear majority. In fact, at one point, there was a four way tie between the top four choices, and episode order (I to VI) was winning for a while.
The “Other” responses were as follows:
- Don’t support the barbarian
- 4,5,6 and then 3
- Ep 2, Clone Wars seasons, Ep 4, Ep 5, extras
- VI, V, IV, III, II, I
- don’t buy it, “IT’S A TRAP!”
- 4, 5, 1, 2, 3, 6
- Wouldn’t watch it if you paid me
- This order: IV, V, I, II, III, VI
- 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3 [isn't that release order?]
- Watch everything but Episode I. It added nothing useful
- Watch discovery channel
- continue hatred of Ewoks and burn those discs…
- 4,5,1,2,3,6
At our house, I was just about ready to watch in release order, starting with IV (I had it in the PS3 and ready to go), when I decided to ask my daughter how we should watch the series. If I was planning to dominate our one TV for 14 hours over the weekend, I figured I needed to do a little coalition building. She wanted episode order. And so that was how we went, episodes I-VI in that order.
My daughter actually likes episode I a lot, while the original three, VI, V, and VI do not thrill her. Kids!
We got through all six episodes, starting on Friday night. Actually, I got through all six, though my wife sat through four and a half, including all of VI, V, and VI. My daughter watched about two and a half.
Observations on watching the whole series in one go
All of the episodes looked very, very good on the new TV and in Blu-Ray. Episodes I-III were especially detailed, which is to be expected I suppose. The battle scene at the opening of episode III looked amazing.
I finally hooked up the digital optical cable from the PS3 to the sound system, so the sound was excellent… once I figured out I had to take off the tiny plastic caps on the tips of the cable. Seriously, it ought to mention that on the box. I had to Google to figure out why the cable wouldn’t fit initially and eventually I found the answer.
The one downside of the sound, on our system, was that, while very clear, the sound track and the effects tended to come through much louder than dialog. That doesn’t bother me much… I watched episode III by myself and the house resonated with the explosions in the opening battle… but some people in our house kept asking for the sound to be turned up or down depending on what was going on.
The packaging is good. The discs come in a small book that holds all 9 in about the space that two normal DVD or Blu-ray cases would take. While there is very little written material included with the set, except for a small booklet that lists what is on each disc, the page in which each disc is stored has unique, episode specific artwork. The page holding the booklet has one of those “everybody who was anybody” drawings. You can play the “can you name them all?” game with it.
a blatant copyright violation by me
There are some odd continuity issues between episodes III and V. Obi-wan refers to Yoda as his teacher, when it was Qui-gon in the prequels. Also, Obi-wan doesn’t seem to know about Leia when he speaks with Yoda, though he was there when they were born and split up to be sent into hiding.
In another change up to everybody’s favorite controversial scene, Han and Greedo now shoot almost simultaneously. It was certainly too quick for Han to have seen Greedo shoot first. Not sure if that makes things much better, but maybe a little.
Nobody’s acting was really as bad as I remembered it. Even Hayden Christensen. His acting is wooden and over-wrought, but he is playing a young, insecure, angry Jedi, so I can give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he follows the Stanislavski school of method acting.
Jango Fett might be the sharpest looking bounty hunter in the whole series. And he was supposed to be rich as well, having been well paid for the whole clone thing. But what happened with Boba Fett? Did the empire impound his father’s fortune? Did he squander it? Because compared to his father, he looks like he picked up his outfit from a bounty hunter thrift store.
I had forgotten how Ewan McGregor’s hairstyle changes in each episode. He goes from a Jedi recruit cut, to a Glam-rock Jedi, to an “as close as we could get him to Alec Guinness” cut over episodes I-III.
In episode III, when Palpatine declares the empire, he calls it “The First Galactic Empire.” Doesn’t that imply it is going to fail at some point and be replaced? Is he a realist? If he had been a programmer, would he have called it the Zero-th Galactic Empire?
And while we’re on episode III, Anakin tells Mace Windu that Palpatine is a sith lord around noon, then goes off and has an emotional, cross town scene with Padme when it is clearly night. Then, after that, Windu shows up to take the Emperor into custody, with Anakin showing up a couple of minutes after that fight starts. What the heck was Master Windu doing all afternoon? Getting a warrant for Palpatine’s arrest?
The Skywalker family tree is still silly.
What does Anakin do on father’s day?
Darth Vader saying, “Noooo!” in episode VI was a mistake, if only because it was dubbed in at a much higher sound level than the rest of the dialog in the movie.
The fact that ewoks now blink in the movie thanks to CGI did not move me any closer to liking them.
Something that has bugged me since I saw episode VI in the theater nearly thirty years ago: Does it seem like the emperor would have been a lot more likely to get things to go his way if he would have just shut the hell up rather than goading Luke all the time? I realize that arrogance was his weakness (so said Luke), but it seemed like every word out of his mouth was designed to get Luke to do the opposite of what he wanted.
Finally, what is it with round windows in the Star Wars universe?
Anyway, it all looked very good on our TV. I am happy with the purchase.
World of Warcraft Magazine – Dead After Five Issues September 16, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in Blizzard, entertainment, World of Warcraft.Tags: Future US, World of Warcraft Magazine
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Just in my mailbox this afternoon:
Dear Subscriber,
The World of Warcraft Official Magazine is ending its run, and the current issue, #5, will be the last one.
This has been a difficult decision to come to. Although both Blizzard Entertainment and Future US are very proud of the magazines that we have created together, we have each decided to focus our efforts on other areas.
We really appreciate your support for the magazine and would like to offer you a premium based on your remaining subscription term, or, if you prefer, a full refund of your remaining balance instead. To redeem your premium or request a refund, please visit www.worldofwarcraftthemagazine.com by September 30, 2011.
On the website, you’ll need to input the following code to access your options:
[Code removed... mine, not yours!]
(Please be aware this code is non-transferable and can only be used once.)
Again, we would like to thank you for your continued support and hope you enjoy reading issue 5 as much as we enjoyed making it.
With thanks,
Future US and Blizzard Entertainment
Well, I wonder what brought that on?
2 weeks notice to think on their offer on my remaining subscription. Here is what they are giving out:
Worth $95 They Say
Or I can, if I follow the very tiny fine print at the bottom of the page, just get my money back, which should be about $60.
Accepting your special offer eliminates the possibility of getting a refund.
Some WoW pets and another magazine, or cash… that will no doubt take forever to arrive?
The SOE Authenticator September 16, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, EverQuest II, Sony Online Entertainment.Tags: Account Security, Blizzard Authenticator, Complaining about SOE again, SOE Authenticator
8 comments
Another tale for the Sony Online Entertainment files.
There is a general rule for online shopping, which is that you should never do it after dark.
The theory is that, at the end of the day, you are tired and more susceptible to making poor or impulsive purchasing decisions. But if you wait until the morning, you will have given yourself enough time to talk yourself out of any bad ideas.
Given my own past after-dark purchasing record, I am afraid I must agree. I have, as one example, a pile of songs on my iPod that I bought of iTunes at 10pm at night in a fit of nostalgia. Then I don’t ever really listen to them again. I keep them on the iPod as a reminder. I have a special play list for that.
Still, that is apparently not reminder enough.
So there I was, at about 9pm on Monday night, tinkering around in EverQuest II. I wanted another peek before my account lapsed.
And while I was there, I decided that maybe I should put an authenticator on my SOE account, just as another layer of protection. I am the guild leader in two guilds. Getting hacked could impact us… should anybody log on and notice.
Fortunately, given the after dark rule, SOE seemed quite disinclined to sell me one.
The Station Store is still down. There is nothing on the SOE main page about the authenticator. There is no search function to find things.
Eventually I had to leave the SOE site, go to Google, and search on “SOE Authenticator” there.
That actually lead me to the page on their site dedicated to the authenticator.
Easy to Use!
I hate to say it, but typical SOE shooting themselves in the foot, making available something they want their users to have, then hiding it.
So there was the big green “Buy Now” button, so I clicked it.
The site went through the motions of letting me enter my information to buy the authenticator.
Then, on the last step, the site crapped out. It gave me an error. It said I should try back later.
Fine. Whatever. I probably didn’t need the thing really. It was an after dark online purchase and all.
But then I got home from work last night to fine a little box had arrived for me from 8928 Tennan Ct., San Diego.
So the site worked well enough to get me an authenticator. On the other hand, I checked the activity on my credit card and they haven’t bothered to charge me yet. Now, there can be some delay in showing up on my online statement, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was yet another error in the process.
Nor was there any order confirmation email sent to me. SOE always follows up with one of those. I have a directory where I store them away. But none with this purchase. So who knows where the process broke.
Still, I have the authenticator. It came with a little flyer describing how to use it.
Congratulations! You actually got one!
And I was able to add the to my account. And it even works.
I had visions of yet more errors on their site.
I see this a lot when accessing my account...
Their whole setup doesn’t seem like it has been put back together right since the big security breach. I realize that was a big deal, but SOE has been back up since May, and items that were broken back then mostly remain broken today.
Functionally, the authenticator works pretty much like the Blizzard authenticator, with one exception.
When you press the button to get your code, the damn thing pauses for 2 seconds to spell out SOE on the display (Well, S [] E in any case) before showing you the code. Essentially, they put a splash screen on my authenticaor. Bleh.
And, just for one final kick in the teeth, once I added the authenticator to the account, I had to go read the FAQ to figure out how to use it. This should be the easy part. And if it wasn’t, it should have been on the flyer in the box.
Blizzard, they put up a special field to type in your authenticator code. It echoes back the numbers you type, since they change every time, so you can verify the code.
SOE, on the other hand, didn’t want to have to change the UI across all their games I guess, so they found another solution.
Where do I enter the authenticator code (PIN) after successfully ADDING the SOE Authenticator to my Station Account?
During your normal login procedure you will enter your Station password plus your unique, one-time authenticator code (PIN) in the same field. Please note you will be required to enter both your Station password and your unique, one-time authenticator code (PIN) in that order. Each time you log in to your Station Account you will be required to enter your current Station password plus your unique, one-time authenticator code (PIN). Log in using both and rest assured knowing your Station Account is now even more secure from malicious attacks and possible threats.
And even that was kind of a “huh?” paragraph. Who wrote that? Technically, just saying “enter your password plus… code” describes the Blizz process as well.
But they also sent along an email confirmation (see, I told you they always do that) with a picture for those of us who get hung up on any possible ambiguity.
Yes, type in your password, press the button on your authenticator, wait for the splash screen to go away, then type in the six digit string at the end of your password, which like the password, echoes back dots. (Don’t type the plus.) Essentially, your password becomes your old password plus the six digit code the authenticator.
It seems to work. I am able to log onto my account on the web site as well as into multiple SOE games with it, so their “no UI change” design approach was a success.
The whole thing though, from ordering to use, just doesn’t feel as smooth as the Blizzard implementation.
But if that isn’t SOE’s usual song, I don’t know what is.
You Know That Is Tomorrow, Right? September 15, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, Humor.Tags: amazon.com, Anxiety, Star Wars
14 comments
So, in addition to the big important question, I have Amazon.com messing with me again. The state of my order today, September 15th.
Shouldn’t that be on the way already?
But no, cancellation is still listed as an available action. So it is still somewhere in a warehouse, presumably.
We shall see how good Amazon is I suppose.
And not to bag on Luke even further, but “Mark Hamill, et al?” Alec Guinness had already won an Oscar and had been knighted while Hamill was still in grade school. By Grabthar’s hammer, by the suns of Warvan, this shall not stand!
Zoroark Download Event Coming to Toys R Us! September 15, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in DS, entertainment, Nintendo, Pokemon.Tags: Download Event, Pokemon Black, Pokemon Download Event, Pokemon White, Zoroark
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It has been somewhat quiet on the Pokemon front, with Pokemon Black and White being limited to WiFi downloads since the launch back in March and only the 2011 Pokemon World Championship Series in the news since.
However, Nintendo has a Pokemon movie going to DVD, and that is just the thing to get them to cough up a download event with a special Pokemon.
The movie in question is Zoroark: Master of Illusions, and so naturally Zoroark is the Pokemon available at the download event.
From September 18th through September 25th you will be able to download a special level 50 version of Zoroark at Toys R Us. Find the details here.
Previously, the only way to get Zoroark was to have downloaded and transferred the three shiny legendary Pokemon from the Pokemon Black and White pre-release events. If you missed that, you now have another opportunity to get Zoroark.
In addition, Pokemon.com is running a number of additional promotions to go along with the release of the movie to DVD, including a Win With Zoroark Sweepstakes that runs through the end of September. The prizes include copies of the movie, but the grand prize is a Nintendo 3DS and a full suite of Pokemon Black and White games and accessories.
The download event is for Pokemon Black and White only. All of the details are available at Pokemon.com.
Alternative to a Police Chase… September 14, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, Need for Speed World.Tags: Bumper Cars, Demolition Derby, Police Chases
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The police chase is a big part of Need for Speed World.
But some times I don’t want to drive all over the map trying to get away.
Some times I am just in the game to do the daily gem hunt (omg, daily quests are everywhere now, aren’t they?), collect my reward, and call it a night.
And then I hit a police car.
You can hit or run over anything in town and the police will just look the other way. Hit one of their cars though and you are public enemy #1.
Heck, if the police hit YOUR car, they are after you like a shot. I have somebody else smack a police car, send it flying onto my car, and suddenly I am the bad guy.
And once I have hit that police car, the chase is on.
I can take a pass, just sit there and let them bust me. The cost is pretty low. But it is kind of counter to my instincts and the point of the game. I am, after all, a “wanted street racer” if the police dispatcher is to be believed. Sitting idle is totally out of character.
The other night I was half a block from the last gem in the hunt on a quiet side street when I side-swiped a police car coming around the corner.
His light bar lit up and he and another cruiser began their turns to pursue me.
I looked around and noticed that the three of us were pretty much alone and I wondered if I could just turn this into a demolition derby and take them out of action by smashing them up.
The short answer is “yes.”
Smash Up Victory
You can disable a police car if you damage it enough. Once the light bar on the roof stops flashing, that car is out of the chase and can no longer bust you.
So it is a matter of getting some good hits on a given police car to put it out of action.
The trick is that the more damage you do, the higher the priority the pursuit gets, the more cars that get assigned to the chase, which means more cars to smash up.
As you can see in the upper right hand corner, I had to put 8 cars out of action to get to clear of the chase and get to the cool down. I started with 2 and 7 more showed up on scene over time. The 9th car was actually not disabled, but was sitting on its roof a half a block away and unable to continue.
Meanwhile there was a roadblock set up about a quarter mile down the road, just around the bend shown, that was well within sight of this traffic carnage. The great tradition of the oblivious NPC ignoring the fact that you are making chutney out of their comrades withing line of sight lives on!
All of this depends on some very situational variables. I have only pulled this off a couple of times. More often, police cars show up on the scene faster than I can knock them out and I end up buried in them. Once my little Ford ended up essentially surfing on a wave of police cars. Until I was busted.
I have learned that a good, 60 mph broadside hit, a T-bone if you will, is an effective one-hit knock out if you can manage it.
And it helps that MY car never seems to suffer any performance degrading damage at all. At least if I avoid driving over those spike strips. Those are a killer.
The Great Star Wars Saga Viewing Order Question September 13, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment.Tags: Blu-Ray, George Lucas, Great Philosophical Questions, Howard the Duck, Star Wars
26 comments
The Star Wars saga, remastered (again) and pressed onto Blu-Ray, is coming out this Friday, September 16th.
Must have!
Naturally, I have it on pre-order and Amazon.com promises that I will have it on Friday. So you can guess what is part of the plan for this coming weekend.
Yes, I know George Lucas couldn’t resist pissing on our memories yet again. The man who said, “People who alter or destroy works of art and our cultural heritage for profit or as an exercise of power are barbarians” cannot help but play the barbarian repeatedly himself. Maybe I missed a footnote with an auteur exception somewhere.
But I am a sucker. This is the Blu-Ray version. And who knows how much he’ll change the next time around. Howard the Duck will probably end up as one of the bounty hunters in the next version. (As somebody wryly asked, why doesn’t he mess with that movie? It sure as hell needs more tinkering than Star Wars does.)
Plus look at all the extras it has! The first six discs are the movies, then there are three more discs of additional material.
Disc Seven – NEW! Star Wars Archives: Episodes I-III
- Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more
Disc Eight – NEW! Star Wars Archives: Episodes IV-VI
- Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more
Disc Nine – The Star Wars Documentaries
- NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
- NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
- NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) – The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
- The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) – Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
- The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
- Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams.
- Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
- Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) – Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.
Extras! Extras! Extras!
Though I have to wonder, with George Lucas at the helm, what constitutes a deleted scene these days? Han shooting first?
Whatever. It is a coming to our house this weekend.
Which leads me to the first real question (since there was no question about me buying it).
In which order should this new set be viewed? I have a few thoughts on the subject, each with a different driving emotion.
Logic – Pure logic says that episode order is correct. But then you hit that episode IV drop in production values and acting skill. I’m sorry, but there is a reason that Harrison Ford had a huge post-Star Wars movie career while Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher did not. Plus that order pretty much ruins any surprises in the second half of the series, not to mention the distinct possibility of Jar-Jar binks provoking violent reactions.
Nostalgia – Nostalgia says that the release order is really the way see the series. That is the way you would show it to somebody who had never seen the films before. Episodes III pretty much spoils episodes IV and V after all. But I am always somebody who likes to get the hard part out of the way first, so maybe it is better to bite the midichlorian bullet first. Besides which, I hate Ewoks so much, I might throw something at the TV, ending the showing half way through.
Practicality – Practicality says that watching episodes IV and V is enough and then we should start in on the extras, thus avoiding both Jar-Jar and Ewoks. Except that is something of a waste. I bought all six movies. Plus I like episode II and have to salute anybody having the balls to take on making episode III. How do you make a movie even watchable when everybody knows both where it starts and how the whole thing has to end. We all went into episode III with a huge mental checklist of exactly what had to happen. It was an impossible task. Plus I must admit I cheered when Darth Vader took his first rasping breath in his new suit.
Fluff!!! - Given three discs of extras, I could probably spend my time just immersed in that without watching any of the movies.
So I figure it is time for a poll.
Feel free to suggest your own ordering or selection or to take issue with any or all of my above assertions in the comments. Grousing about George Lucas, Darth Maul, Jar-Jar Binks, Ewoks, midichlorians, or any other aspect of the series is also welcome.
You’re among friends and we all have to get through this together.
World of Battleships Web Site Now Live! September 13, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in entertainment, World of Battleships, World of Warplanes.Tags: Wargaming.net
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Wargaming.net, makers of World of Tanks and World of Warplanes, now has an official web site up for the third title in their “world” trilogy, World of Battleships.
Battleships!
As with the World of Warplanes site, there isn’t much there yet. There is some artwork.
Fire!
I am not sure how representative of the actual game the art is.
Airplanes... hrmm...
And there is a brief overview of the game.
The players have three main classes of ships at their disposal:
- Aircraft carriers that provide both naval and air support
- Battleships and heavy cruisers able to scarify the enemy with their looks alone
- Light destroyers with speed and agility as their strongest points
All the machines have their unique combination of firepower, speed, armor, and endurance. A pack of nimble destroyers will tire out their opponents, huge battleships can batter down any target with a couple of main caliber salvos, aircraft carriers are capable of covering the allies from air or routing an aircraft cell towards the enemy.
I guess that covers some of the questions I asked. Or maybe not. Carriers just add to the range question. And I wonder how carrier aircraft will be handled?
And then there are the trailers they posted earlier in the year, during Gamescom.
So a little bit of information, but a lot of questions are still unanswered.
Heroic Results of the First Five Year Plan! September 12, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in blog thing, entertainment.Tags: Anniversary, FeedBurner, Google, Google Reader, Meaningless Milestones, WordPress.com
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- Pig iron: 6.2 million tons (up from 3.3 million)
- Steel: 5.9 million tons (up from 4.0 million)
- Coal: 64.3 million tons (up from 35.4 million)
- Oil: 21.4 million tons (up from 11.7 million)
- Electricity: 13.4 billion kWh (up from 5.0 billion)
Industrial Production Gains of the First Five Year Plan
So here I am, five years after the first post went up on the site.
Unlike most posts here, I am going to hide most of this one behind a “more…” link, only because I expect it will get long and tedious with meaningless stats and self-referential nonsense. If that interests you, great! If it does not, I will spare you (and the front page of the blog) all that clutter.
So click on the link and I will waste a few minutes of your life hauling out some vague statistics about what has gone on over the last year as well as the lifetime of the blog, as I did with the first, second, third, and fourth anniversaries… plus I hacked up some Soviet era propaganda posters, so the whole thing carries on with the theme set out in the title. They aren’t very good, but they kept me busy and amused for a little bit.
9/11 – The More Things Change… September 11, 2011
Posted by Wilhelm Arcturus in General.Tags: Reflections
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My daughter will turn 10 before the end of the year.
For her, what happened 10 years ago today is just part of the reality of her world. There is no before and after, there is just the way things are. Onerous security check points and having to remove your shoes at the airport, or getting pulled aside for a full pat-down and luggage inspection because it is a slow period at the check point and the TSA people find it easier to meet their quota of such checks when they are not busy, that is just part of her world.
There has been a war going on in Afghanistan forever as far as she knows and there was another one in Iraq, which I guess we won in the end. It is the Middle-east and just because something looks one way on a given day doesn’t make it the long-term reality. And the Afghan conflict is the just pointy end of a whole global war on terrorism that has bred an anxiety that we might be victims at any time.
And I think about this and wonder how strange that is as essentially a starting point for ones own personal reality.
How different from my own.
And yet how similar.
Because when I was nearly 10, planes were being hijacked in the Middle-east. Security checkpoints were being put into airports to keep people from getting on to planes with weapons. Granted, things were less serious. I remember coming back from a trade show about 15 years ago and one of my co-workers realizing he still had a 4″ folding knife in his pocket while we were at the check point. The agent looked at the knife, unfolded it, and held it up so his supervisor. The supervisor looked at it and shrugged. The agent folded it, handed it back, and away we went, better armed that any of the 9/11 hijackers.
And there had been a war going on in Vietnam forever for as far as I knew. It was there on the evening news every night. But that was just the pointy end of the stick in relation to the whole cold war, a war that we seemed to be losing. Countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle-east seemed to be falling in line with the Soviet Union while NATO quibbled over details as the French tried to distance themselves from the whole thing.
And over this hung the specter of nuclear war, sudden instant death that might fall on us with at most a 30 minute warning.
It wasn’t until I was in college that I was able to make sense of much of what was going on when I was 10. There I was able to see how hollow the advance of the Soviet Union in the third world really was. Turns out a lot of people will mouth your philosophy if it legitimizes their dictatorship and gets them some guns.
And there was plenty of stupidity to go around in the west as well. There were plenty of examples demonstrating that merely being against something, like Communism, was not a viable political philosophy. Being an enemy of our “enemy” should not necessarily make you a friend, as any number of our past friends should indicate. The same goes for some of our current “friends.”
But all that was only easy to spot after the fact. Hindsight is a much more exact science than seeing into the future. At that moment in time in the past, as with any given moment of time now, the government felt the need to be “doing” something and most people accepted that something needed to be done. But did we do the right things?
The judgement of history takes time. And for something like 9/11, a polarizing event like Pearl Harbor, history almost has to wait until all of those affected… which is almost every one of us… have passed on before a real assessment can be made. Those of us with an emotional point of view to defend cannot write an objective history.
So I wonder how the history of this time will be written, though I will no doubt be long gone before the whole thing can be seen in a broader context.
And I wonder what the children of my daughter’s generation, those to be born 10-30 years from now, will see as normal facts of life as they are growing up.
