Jack M

Be sure to check out our Welcome Center. Also try The Norm out on the hill.

I'm thinking we'll have to have a vintage boards day at the ECES, so I *trust* you'll show up with a Weapon, right??

Aisling and Bob, sittin' in a tree....

When posting in response to Bob, you must now type in all caps, so the old fart can hear you. :D Happy birthday Bob!

heh - then you haven't had anything good yet.

I agree Jim. Ridge Lytton Springs is my favorite red. Usually only spring for it on Thanksgiving. As for less aggressive whiskey, bobdea, my brother in law's favorite is Jameson's 1780. It's very nice, but it just doesn't light my fire like fine tequila. I'll try the Balvenie next time I'm in a bar I guess. How do you take it? Not that I <i>need</i> another kind of booze - rum is my backup. And let's not forget the Belgian and German beers!

I dunno, but I just can't get into scotch at all. I've tried. Tastes to me like I am drinking out of an ash tray. Fine tequila neat in a snifter is my weakness. Chamucos, El Tesoro, Patron... (insert Homer salivating) It just seems so much more flavorful to me.

It's so discouraging when we injur ourselves doing the very things that make us feel alive. But if we didn't do those things, life would be pretty boring! Get well Holly!

just an admirer. a friend sent me the link. my bmx career ended when my mom ran over my Raleigh Rampar and got me a 10 speed to replace it. nice new avatar, bordy is going to be jealous!

http://www.cbr600rr.com/temp/corey_martinez.wmv 6MB download wow.

Thanks for the tip on screenit.com - that will come in handy! I think Lucas may have felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. The rock being that he'd set the stage with 5 PG movies before this one, so I agree it would be hard to deny a child to see the last installment. Although if I had a 10 year old and I saw the movie first, we'd have to have a talk before I'd let him see it (I was moderately disturbed by the images at the end). The hard place being that the kid-friendliness of episodes 1 & 2 (& 6) was among the biggest complaints by the core SW fanbase. Or I suppose he may not have been kowtowing to the fanbase, and truly felt he needed to show Anakin in extreme agony. I can't really imagine how we could be expected to believe he becomes the pure evil man-bot otherwise.

When Star Wars came out, it was rated PG, for "parental guidance suggested". So my parents went and saw it first, before they would let me see it. Granted, I was 4, but that's what I'd call old fashioned. Sith is PG-13, just like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, where they pull people's hearts out of their chests by hand.

I just signed up for the September 28 street rider day at New Hampshire International Speedway with www.penguinracing.com Who's in??? It's the most fun you can have off snow and out of bed.

I've done both their racing school and a street-rider day. Unless you want to start an amateur racing hobby/career, definitely do the street-rider day. Simply more track time in a more relaxed environment. I'm probably going to do the one in September, probably with Bob.

Husqvarna makes all kinds of dirtbikes, but that example is a "supermotard" - basically a dirtbike with street wheels and tires. I've never ridden one, but apparantly they are very fun and inspire very illegal thoughts. There is a whole supermotard racing organization and everything. I got a chance to see one of the pros ride the track at Loudon NH, and seeing someone throw a bike sideways coming into a corner on pavement is jaw-dropping. (like this)

I certainly wanted to, but it was too late, and a weeknight. However I prefer the circa-1995 VHS version.

I'd be VERY surprised if the majority of SW fans were disappointed by this movie. Very. At this point I'd just like to state for the record that I did not dress in character to go see the movie. Nor do I collect action figures or go to conventions, or read all the books/comics/fan-sites, or speak wookie. I just love all Star Wars movies. You could accuse me of being pre-determined to love the new movies, and I wouldn't dispute you, but hey, I'm glad to be enjoying them, not hating them.

Heh, an interesting take, Ken. A very funny and well written review. I like your writing style. You have many valid points, but they just don't bother me I guess. And those things I mentioned that did bother me didn't cause me to dislike the movie in the slightest. I have a few theories about people who love to hate these movies. I think it makes them feel superior to the nine hundred million sheep/people who do love them. Also I think if you're in the movie biz, and you consider yourself an artist or a critic or some sort of expert, it must really annoy you that Lucas can break all these rules of what is good cinema and have people worship him like a god. Or maybe you're actually a superfan of the original trilogy, and nothing could measure up to the impossibly grand concept in your head of what this trilogy should have been. ???

Volkls have shortish sidecut radii, so it will carve nice turns at less aggressive speeds. Volkls are great boards in general too.

I've read episode 7, and it dealt with Han and Leia's Jedi children and the rise of a new bad guy. I suppose they could pull these off if the end of episode 9 delivers the final destruction of the empire, the restoration of the republic, and a new Jedi order. But I don't need that to happen. For now. That <i>was</i> James Earl Jones. Perhaps, but then again at the end of 3 he's just starting his training in the dark ways of the force, so I would think by 4 he'd be in his prime. Old Palpatine and Dooku were certainly no slouches with the saber. Me neither. Totally.

I loved it - that's not quite the right word for such a dark movie, but I don't know what else to say. It's rather disturbing. Vader is a real tragedy. Not that I didn't know it was coming, but I didn't know how. It's sort of weird to end a 28 year old story on such a melancholy note. I will choose to believe that the Emperor is dead at the end of episode 6, because that's just a nice tidy way to end the saga. I'd rather not see it turn into a never ending story. I think. Maybe I'll feel differently in another 20 years when Lucas Jr. makes 7,8,9. I just hope they find someone who looks as much like Mark Hammil as Ewan McGreggor looks like Sir Alec Guiness. This movie is obviously the best of these 3, and I agree with Kevin Smith's comments at the top of this thread. Bravo to George Lucas. I can't even begin to list all the things I liked about this movie, so I'll just make a few nitpicks. I've made peace with the fact that either Hayden Christiansen and Natalie Portman are crappy actors, or their abilities were stifled and retarded by lousy writing/directing. I've accepted the fact that we are just not going to get believable romantic dialog out of them, and this movie is no exception. Oh well. But they did do a decent job of escorting Christiansen's character through his transformation to the dark side. SPOILERS below... Jar Jar's appearance at the end profanes an otherwise important scene. Was that really necessary George? I guess that's his way of saying "I'm the boss". At least he didn't let the toad talk. Things that don't jive with the original series: Anakin's voice is all wrong. How are we supposed to believe that he picked up an African accent after being burned? That's not really a criticism of ep 3, just a general comment. But it's too bad he couldn't have trained his voice a little deeper for this episode. Obi Wan and Anakin are about a thousand times more handy with their lightsabers in their duel in ep 3 than 4 - understandible for the old and out of practice ep 4 Kenobi, but logic would say that ep 4 Vader would have ginsued old Ben in about half a second, judging from his mad skills in this movie. R2D2 - somewhere between ep 3 and 4 he loses his ability to LEAP out of starfighters, spray oil slicks, catch objects thrown at him, and speed along at about 25mph. Huh?? At the very end of the movie where we see Vader and the Emperor in the imperial cruiser, all of a sudden we're back to 1977 spaceship control panel technology? Clones/Stormtroopers - are we to believe that the troopers in ep 4 are a new batch of clones made from someone without the latin accent? Anakin's head - We never see him get those huge lacerations we see when it is revealed in episode 6. And in ep 6 he's got eyebrows and very little trace of the severe burning he suffers in this movie. But those things didn't make me enjoy the movie any less. I thought it kicked ass. I'm definitely going to have to see it again to absorb it all.

Seems this is such a rarity these days, so I feel compelled to share a good experience. I ordered two bottles of Chamucos tequila from www.vintagewines.biz. When the bottles arrived, they were both short by about 3-4 ounces. The cork stopper had leaked in transit, even though it was wrapped in plastic. I've been emailing with vintagewines, and have been getting great service. They are responsive and genuinely concerned about the situation. They're issuing me a 15% credit for each bottle. So if you're craving a hard-to-find wine or spirit, check out www.vintagewines.biz

holy understeer!!