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Book: Star Wars: Bloodlines

Posted on December 31st, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Books, Star Wars.

Note: I continue with my “No Spoilers” policy.

Title: Bloodlines
.        (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, book 2)
Author: Karen Traviss
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Anna’s Rating: 3/5 (Slow start, but pulls together very well)

I can’t say that I enjoyed this installment of Legacy of the Force as much as I did the others thus far, although it did get better towards the end.  Still, I was a bit disappointed, as I greatly enjoyed the last book I’d read by Karen Traviss.

It’s helpful, I think, to understand more about Luke and Ben’s relationship, so you can appreciate the developments between them later in the series (although I still don’t understand how things got to the point they’re at - perhaps I need to suck it up and read the NJO series, as painful as it is.)

Also, I did enjoy the Boba Fett storyline, which was surprising, because I’ve never really been a Boba Fett fan.  I liked the way everything came together in the last hundred pages, which is what perhaps made the last part of the book so much better.

Now, perhaps some of the magic is lost on me because I already know what’s coming (although I still don’t know how it all ends…two books left…two books…)  But this also just wasn’t as fun of a book…it really wasn’t very quotable…although the author did well adding in slang.  Boba Fett learns to curse in Mandalorian.  Pilots are fond of saying “Watch my six,” instead of “Watch my back.”  And the secret police force has acronyms for everything, such as REBJ, or Rapid Entry By Jedi.  Also, areas of Coruscant were clearly named, and defined in terms of their distance and location from one another, so it helped gain a sense of reality there.

Anyway, what few quotes I have are here:

“I get the proverbial bad feeling about this.”
- Leia Solo, p. 46

“Just give me a blaster.  Not an office.”
- Han Solo, p. 67

“Time means lives.  Time means chaos.  We always think that time will resolve things, but it never has.”
- Thoughts of Jacen Solo, p. 219

“They all muttered ’su’cuy gar‘ like a chorus.  It was a pretty logical greeting for warriors, apparently: ‘So you’re still alive.’ ”
-Author’s narrative on Mandalorian greeting, p. 241

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Random: TMNT Eggs for Dinner

Posted on December 30th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

I was looking through my cupboard for something that could pass for dinner.  Having been back in the City for two days and having still neglected to go grocery shopping, I was struggling to eat in even bachelor style.  Thus far, breakfast had been a chocolate Christmas tree, and Stove Stop Stuffing stepped up to the plate (pun intended) for lunch.  But what about dinner?

[The sole cupboard that I lay claim over in our kitchen] 

I found a bag of pitas.  Please don’t be moldy, I thought, please don’t be moldy…  I opened the bag and pulled one out: thank the stars for preservatives - there was no mold to be seen.  I grabbed my hummus from the fridge and opened the cover: mold.  Not for the first time, I had good pita and bad hummus, but I’d learned!  I tossed the hummus and pulled another, identical but new, tub of hummus from my shelf.

[My refrigerator shelf: this pic was taken after my meal - notice how the eggs are STILL precariously balanced?  Woops…]

As I did so, the half-carton of eggs I had purchased to bake cookies with tumbled out and plummeted to the floor.  I quickly inspected the eggs: of the four remaining, only one was cracked.  And then Shredder’s voice echoed in my head: “Fools!  The three of you might have defeat me with the loss of but one!” 

[The unlucky egg…] 

I set them on the counter and grabbed a frying pan: “Now, his fate will be the same as yours!”

[…and it’s unfortunate sibling]

And so, inspired by the trials of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, dinner came to be: two eggs, pita, and hummus.

[My dinner - yay me, I cooked!!!  I used FIRE!  ROAR!]

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Movie: Logan’s Run

Posted on December 28th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Movies.

I feel that I’m geekier now than I ever was before.  To maintain and build upon that, however, one effort being made is to watch all the classic geek movies that I’ve somehow missed out on over the years.  I knew I could count on my brother to make a meaniful contribution to my Geek Movie Repetior, so we had a movie night while I was home for Christmas.

Major Geek Points: Logan’s run was one of the first sci-fi flicks to use holographic technology in the film, as well as the first to be filmed in Dolby Stereo.

In the world of 26-year-old Logan 5, al citizens are sent to be reborn (read: executed) at the age of 30 (an interesting variation on population control that China will perhaps experiment with one day.)

As a city guard, Logan 5 is sent on a mission to find the “Sanctuary” that 30-year-olds sometimes make a run for.  The computer system robs Logan 5 of the last four years of his life so people will believe he sincerely wants to run away to Sanctuary.  Terrified that he will never get his years back, he forgets his mission and ends up trying to escape the system himself.

One thing that I thought was particularly neat was the part when the ruins of Washington DC are discovered.  Seeing monuments overgrown with vines and trees and grass and such reminded me of seeing the Mayan pyramids.  It made me think: I could never imagine our monuments and modern buildings being overrun by foliage, and yet, at the height of the Mayan empire, certainly those people must have thought the same thing of their great pyramids.  Who is to say that we’ll still be around to polish the dome on the White House in 2,000 years’ time?

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USA: NYC: NY Jedi Holiday Party 2007

Posted on December 18th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Costumes, NYC, Star Wars.

 
[Jedi Anna, talking to Master Udo whilst eating Sith Apple Pie]

I guess I had two “costumes” for the Jedi holiday party - above is the first.  What I didn’t realize at first is that a lot of people didn’t recognize me dressed up for a party…perhaps because they usually see in whichever baggy t-shirt and comfy pants I have declared to be exercise clothes for the day.

[Santa Jedi and Darth Claus with the candysaber] 

Then I changed into the recently completed Santa Jedi (or Jedi Santa) costume.  Darth Claus and I spent some time recently trying to figure out what color Santa’s lightsaber would be, and through our combined brilliant, he created the Candy Cane Lightsaber (Candysaber?).  We have yet to figure out how to do the lightsaber effects on this one…expect updates.

[Chris cooing to baby Yoda]

My fellow Brooklynite Jedi, who was neither drunk nor high, spent about an hour rocking my new Yoda backpack to sleep on the subway ride home…who could ask for a cuter baby??

…makes me wonder what Yoda looked like as a baby…

5 comments.

Book: Star Wars: Betrayal

Posted on December 17th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Books, Star Wars.

So…a 9-book series…I read books 5, 6, and 7…now I’m sucked in and have to go back and read books 1 - 4 while I wait for 8 and 9 to come out…such a hassel…which I am, of course, enjoying greatly.

Title: Betrayal
.        (Star Wars: Legacy of the Force, book 1)
Author: Aaron Allston
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Anna’s Rating: 4/5 (Highly enjoyable - in the author’s words: “a feel good book”)

I was sitting in the living room recently, just starting Betrayal.  My roommate announced that I had the “good book look”.  He explained that when people read a good book, they have a certain look on their face, which I, at that moment, apparently displayed.  “It is good,” I explained.  “It’s fun - I grew up with these characters.”  Indeed, it is interesting to see how the familiar characters were developed by various authors over the past ten years while I was busy trying to educate myself and then establish myself in the world.

While ten years passed in my life, twenty or thirty years passed in the books.  In Legacy of the Force, Luke, Leia and Mara are nearly 60, and Han’s already at about 70.  The Solo kids are in their early 30’s, and Luke and Mara, who still wouldn’t admit that they liked each other back in the day, already have a 14-year-old son.

Aaron Allston is a lot of fun to read, because he’s got so many lines that not only sound right coming out of a familiar character’s mouth, but are also absolutely hilarious.  (It was while reading one of his installments that I decided quotes had to go with the reviews.)  There are quite a few good ones that I can only describe as fan service.

In an interview, Allston said this first book in the series is a “feel good book”.  In it, you see all the familiar characters, the whole Skywalker/Solo clan running around the galaxy, working together.

That’s all about to change as a storyline for another civil war is set up in the book - this time with family members on both sides.  It makes for a good story because you care about both sides, and both sides have talented people fighting each other.  Characters are forced to start asking themselves ‘When is the price too high?’  Do they care more about morals and political ideals, or do they care more about their loved ones?  Which would they sacrifice first?  Do you commit treason to save someone you love?

With most characters betraying someone or something important to them, Betrayal is a well-named novel.

QUOTES:

Testan: “He told us it was a practice weapon.”
Jacen: “It’s true from a certain point of view.  He does practice with it.”
- Jacen Solo commenting on young Ben Skywalker’s lightsaber, p. 8 (paperback)

“Oh, and the noise you hear?  Their guys are trying to kill us.”
- Ben Skywalker reporting on a mission, p. 12 (paperback)

Leia: “Not ready to become a grandmother yet?”
Mara: “I think I’d throw myself on my lightsaber first.”
- Mara Skywalker to Leia Solo, regarding teenage hormones, p. 36 (paperback)

“Don’t overplan.  The future is to be lived, not prearranged.”
- Luke Skywalker, p. 45 (paperback)

Han: “You’re just not the same tireless, selfless woman I married, are you?”
Leia: “I guess not.”
Han: “I’ve corrupted you.”
- Han Solo to Leia Solo, regarding her slowing down and taking it easy, p. 52 (paperback)

“There are times when the end justifies the means.  But when you build an argument based on a whole series of such times, you may find that you’ve constructed an entire philosophy of evil.”
- Luke Skywalker, as recalled by Ben Skywalker, p. 147 (paperback)

“You can’t plan for luck…  Plan smart and let luck land where it will.”
- Wedge Antillies, as quoted by Syal Antillies, p. 163 (paperback)

“Han shot first.”
- Leia Solo, p. 232 (paperback)

Wedge: “Maybe you’re just losing your hearing.”
Tycho: “I was deafened by the sound of your joints creaking.”
- Wedge Antillies and Tycho Celchu bantering in their old age, p. 236 (paperback)

Officer (to Luke): “Too Short.  No one would believe Luke Skywalker is that short.”
…
Mara (to Luke): “Move along, Shorty.  I’ve cleared customs.”
- Mara Skywalker making fun of Luke Skywalker, pp. 252-253 (paperback)

“A ruined hero is much more devastating than a dead one.”
-Lumiya, p. 410 (paperback)

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Happy Holidays, from Our Website to Yours

Posted on December 17th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog.

[Site Admin Anna Zhan]

Because how many people attend holiday parties in mini-kilts with a lightsaber hanging from a low-slung Jedi belt? 

I’m awesome.

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Music: Here Comes Another Bubble

Posted on December 15th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Music.

I was going to blog about this earlier (partly cause it’s an awesome song, and partly because hey have a line that says “Won’t you blog about this song?”) but then it got pulled off of YouTube and everywhere else because someone was bitter that they hadn’t gotten credited for one photo that is briefly shown.  Now, I sympathize with wanting credit for your work, but why not try asking nicely to be credited before going directly to YouTube and demanding that the material be taken down?

However, after some digging I did manage to find a copy of the video that is still up on a private blog - you can click here to enjoy the fantastic brilliance of the Richter Scales (you can listen to the song on their site, but it’s not as fun without the slideshow video that accompanies it.)

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Movie: The Last Starfighter

Posted on December 15th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Movies.

One of my friends started compiling an Anna Needs to See list of movies.  Apparently my Geekdom is lacking in certain areas, and luckily I have friends willing to work to rectify that.

Number One on the list was The Last Starfighter, which apparently was the first film to use extensive CG in it, which is overly obvious at this point, but I can see how it would have been remarkable in 1984.

Of course, I had a few gripes, as anyone should.  First, the thought that our planet will be represented by white trash from a trailer park is quite disturbing…  Next, the idea that they somehow constructed a barrier around a portion of the galaxy seems slightly unrealistic to me…  And third, I gotta say, even a Y-wing has more maneuverability than the Gunstar does.  (There’s absolutely no way that behemoth could have pulled off the Death Blossom move.)

So yea though I’ll always be an X-wing pilot, The Last Starfighter was a good flick and a welcome addition to my Geekdom (which is growing steadily stronger…)

2 comments.

Music: Crashing Through the Snow Lyrics

Posted on December 9th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Music.

One thing SantaCon is good for is bastardized Christmas carols, and being such a bitter woman myself, I do enjoy a dark and grim (yet cheerful) song.  Here’s my new favorite, direct from the SantaCon 2007 songbook:

Crashing Through the Snow
(to the tune of “Jingle Bells”) 

Crashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O’er the cliff we go
Shrieking all the way
Bell and sirens ring
Marking where we crashed
They put us in intensive care
They don’t think we’ll last
Jingle bells, funeral bells
Ringing all the way
Oh what fools we were to ride
In that one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, funeral bells
Ringing all the way
Oh what fools we were to ride
In that one horse open sleigh

3 comments.

Meaningless Rant: Things to be Grateful For

Posted on December 8th, 2007 by Anna Zhan.
Categories: Blog, Meaningless Rants.

I was very upset this afternoon.  When my students returned to our classroom after the one weekly class I teach with a different group of students, they discovered that a number of their personal items had been stolen.  I had a hard time believing it had happened, because I never would have thought to do such a thing myself.

One kid was crying; among other things, he had lost some good cards from his deck of collectible playing/trading cards.  It wasn’t my fault, as they’re technically not supposed to have them in their desks anyway, but I felt bad nonetheless.  I gave one responsible student a few dollars and told him to buy that student some new cards this weekend.

Then my students asked if they could help the kid build a new deck by donating some of their own cards to him.  By the time they were done, the student had a better deck than before, and he was smiling.  Said responsible student then approached me: “Here, Ms. Zhan, we fixed his deck, so we don’t need the money to buy new cards.”  He placed the money back in my hand and walked away.

And I felt so grateful, knowing that I had good kids who I could trust.  Although I may not enjoy teaching 5th grade, perhaps I do enjoy teaching my students.  I respect my students, and so I feel proud to serve them.

Then I came home to find I was being publicly dissed on another blog.  Instead of upsetting me, it merely caused me to reflect.  I realized how grateful I am to have such wonderful people across the country and around the world, who love and support and accept me both in spite of who I am, and, more importantly, for who I am.

I know it’s not always easy dealing with me.  It’s not easy to talk to a teacher, as we just keep talking about our students, whom most people neither know nor care about.  It’s not easy befriending a world traveler, as I keep picking up and moving, dropping out of touch and evolving into a new person based on the radical experiences I have.  It’s not easy hanging out with a linguist, as we keep switching into foreign languages, which came make some people uncomfortable.  And perhaps it’s hard to love a geek, as our obsessions tend to creep into every aspect of our lives (as any obsession should.)

And yet, in spite of myself - the traveler, the teacher, the geek - I have people who love me and support me; people who find me intriguing and amusing.

Today has been a good day - it reminded me of what I have to be grateful for.  27 fabulous ten-year-olds, and an immense international network of friends and family.  Many thanks to everyone, for loving me as I am.

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