Keyan Farlander

As an expression of my leadership potential, I took the initiative: http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=224040 Goodbye, X-Wing forum! You were my first Internet home

Congrats on 4000 posts! Happy New Year, everyone!

I thought the score was good, but not in the sense of having memorable main themes for the new characters, and I would say the editing of the movie didn't leave much room for that kind of composing. Is this it? Is this the end? I love you, X-Wing forum

Well, I'm still learning, so I want to save any long trips for when I'm a bit better. Maybe a trip to Vermont or Maine, though!

I too would like some snow around here, or at least cold enough temperatures so that they can make snow. I decided to go all-in on skiing this year, and thus far I have not been able to ski...

Wait, The Force Awakens is rated PG-13? Um...why?

This is my favorite Scotch so far (well, it's between this and the Glenfarclas 21 year old). You are in for a treat with this one!

Nice! Is this the first time you've had Glenlivet 18? I've only had the 12. I got a bottle of Talisker 10 year old for Christmas. I'm enjoying it a lot. Peppery!

Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) I doubt Snoke is Darth Plagueis. I think they will stay as far away from prequel stuff as possible. Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) Is that what that was? I thought it was Coruscant. Actually, I had no idea what was what in this movie. There is a Republic, but the Resistance isn't part of it? But destroying the Republic capital affected the Resistance? And who is the dominant force in the galaxy, the Republic or the First Order? I don't really know what the score is. Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) Yeah, and when the Falcon crashed on the Death Star thing at the end, I though it was gone for good. And then they just flew it out of there. Tough ship.

Merry Christmas, all!

I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens tonight. Pretty good. Not as good as the OT, but better than at least Episodes II and III. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega did a really good job, and I liked the new characters. Harrison Ford was good too, and he had a lot more to do than I was expecting, so that was a nice surprise. It was maybe a little too derivative of the originals in places, a little too jokey at times, and there were some J.J. Abrams-isms that didn't serve the movie well. For example, the emotion is very raw and explicit. Sometimes subtle and understated works better, like when Luke learns his uncle and aunt are dead in the original film. Another example - characters being the best and knowing how to do things with literally no training. One more example - abuse of light speed/warp speed. I liked the bar scene, the locations, and the score was really good. In a way, it is missing a certain "Star Wars" touch, being out of the hands of George Lucas. The prequels kind of had that, for all their flaws, which made them feel at least related to the OT. This film doesn't have that, and so it feels a bit disconnected, but, technically speaking, it is a better directed movie. It's nice to see dialog taking place in something other than shot-reverse shot. It was maybe a little too fast-paced. There was little time to breath, which I think is important for pacing. But that does seem to be the current style. Spoilers: Show spoiler (hidden content - requires Javascript to show) Han and Leia's scenes together were some of the quieter and better parts of the movie. Kasdan's doing? Han's death was pretty well handled, but I'm sad we won't get to see a reunion between him and Luke. Maybe that's for the best, so it doesn't steal the thunder of the new characters. I was expecting more Luke in the movie, but it looks like next time will be his time to shine. I'm looking forward to that.

I don't think Johnnie Walker Blue is cheap even compared to some single malts older than 20 years. I have a bottle of Glenfarclas 25 year old that I paid only $160 for. (Though Glenfarclas is very fairly priced.) I've been saving that one for a while now - maybe I'll open it up for New Year's. Plus, Johnnie Walker Blue has no age statement, so we don't really know for sure how old the malts in it are. There is definitely some older whisky in it, but how much I'm not sure. I'm trying it again tonight, and it is better. There is an almost chemical aspect to it that seems much reduced tonight. I still wouldn't say it's something special, though.

OK, some more Scotch whisky talk. All the holiday sales are on, so I stopped by a liquor store while I was out running errands today. I was looking for something specific they had on sale, but they were out. I noticed they had Johnnie Walker Blue on sale, and I'd never had it before, so I figured I'd give it a try. If you're a Scotch lover, you have to try it at least once in your life, right? Yeah... I have to say, I'm disappointed with this. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad. It's good. But it's not special. And for the price and the reputation it has, I was expecting something a little bit special. I mean, I get it - it's a blend, and it's meant to be accessible, so it's not fair comparing it to the single malts I usually prefer. But I think Johnnie Walker Black is a good blend. Basic, yes, but it has character and consistency. I wouldn't turn down a glass of Johnnie Walker Black. And Johnnie Walker Green is very good. Granted, it's a blended malt (no grain whisky), so it's a bit of a different thing, but it's less than half the price of Johnnie Walker Blue, and I think it's better. Too bad it's discontinued (it came back this year, but it's not sticking around). The Blue is like a Black that has been smoothed out even more. There are clearly some older whiskies in there, but instead of adding a lot of complexity, it just makes it seem weak and contrived. It's bottled at 40% ABV, which I think is totally unacceptable for something at this price with supposedly a lot of old whisky in it. 3% or 6% more might do this a lot of good. From what I can find, it used to be bottled at 43%, so that seems like a serious downgrade. To be fair, this is a first impression, and I've had whiskies before that didn't impress me much that I later came to love. Sometimes it takes some time, and sometimes it has to do with how you are feeling, what you ate earlier, and things like that. So I'll spend some more time with this one, but...not a great first impression.

Man, I'm not reading any of this stuff. I'm seeing the movie tomorrow, and I don't know a single thing about it, except that J.J. Abrams made it (lame), the original cast members are back (great), and what I have seen in the trailers (meh). I don't even know what the characters' names are. I haven't looked at any reviews, I don't know what people think, I don't know anything. I think it will be fun to go into a Star Wars movie knowing nothing and not having any expectations. I followed the news pretty closely when the prequels came out, although I avoided learning major plot details or what exactly would happen. This time I'm going in cold. Not that I did that on purpose - I'm just old, and I cannot love things or look forward to them the way I did when I was young, so I just didn't look for any news. But now that I'm a day away from seeing it, I figure I'll just continue the blackout and see how it goes. This is Red 5...I'm going in.

LOL