I just came from speech class. Yes, I'm taking summer school. Well, anyway, I just had to give an impromptu speech on my favorite movie. I picked Star Wars, but nothing came out right. I was talking about ANH when I should have been talking about ESB(I like witty dialouge), and I didn't even mention John Williams. But I did get the points. Now you have to listen to what I wished I'd said.

I like Star Wars. I would have to say that my favorite movie is The Empire Strikes Back. Most people would say A New Hope, because they saw it in theaters as a kid and it changed their life. I never had that kind of expirience(in fact, I saw the OT backwards and the only one I saw in theaters was ROTJ), I came into Star Wars through the books of the EU. (The Young Jedi Knights book Shards of Alderaan to be exact.) But anyway, I like ESB the best. For one thing, it's the second act of a three act play, so everything is going bad for the heroes. It's the journey into the underworld of mythology. This darker tone creates some truly stunning visual contrasts and the most interesting dramatic tensions for the characters (I mean how would you feel if the bad guy just told you he was your father?). Another great thing about ESB is the dialouge. This movie contains some of the wittiest and most quoteable lines of dialouge from any of the movies I've seen. ( "Why you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder." "I don't know where you get your delusions laser-brain." Notice they're mostly Leia's lines.) And, as a musician, I have to talk about the music. John Williams is a genius, plain and simple. But some of the best musical moments in the saga take place in ESB. There's the Imperial March, which is just awsome, but I recently aquired a copy of the soudtrack, and I've found a lot of less obvious momets. There's The Asteroid Field, with all its exciting runs, and then there's the Imperial Walkers section of The Battle of Hoth. It's mechanical and percussive and just sounds like it would be great fun to play, very difficult, but fun.
So, that's my reasons for liking ESB. But one of the reasons I did give for liking Star Wars was the fan community. I really don't know what it was that took me from a sci-fi hating little girl to a fan paricipating in an online community. I mean, I watch Star Trek sometimes, and I even read the books, but I've never frequented a Star Trek website or ever wanted to go to a Star Trek convention. (While I haven't gone to a Star Wars convention yet, this year I have found myself wanting to. It sound like you guys are going to have so much fun this weekend.) I guess it's just the warmth and humor that I find exists among the fans here. And the way that Star Wars can be used as a launching point for conversations on religion, food, politics, sometimes even all three in the same blog. It's just so much fun.

Well, I guess you all have swelled heads after reading that.

Pink 3,
Over and out