The era of Disney Star Wars started hot out of the gate with The Force Awakens. The J. J. Abrams directed movie not only reached $1 Billion quicker than any movie in history, it was the first to cross $2. There was a small minority of fans who did not like it, but most loved it and the stain of the prequels was scrubbed from their minds.
Rogue One was released a year later and it did well, being outside the regular numbered anthology and bridging part of the gap between episodes III (The Revenge of the Sith) and IV (A New Hope). Even a few of the detractors of The Force Awakens liked it and there was high belief that Disney Star Wars would be good.
Then came The Last Jedi. The Rian Johnson penned and directed episode VIII divided the fan base like no other film. The shine on Disney Star Wars was forever tarnished and for many fans, the ride was completely over. The love affair that had started with good will and high hopes from J. J. Abrams and The Force Awakens was gone in a single movie. The cast felt it was well.
Channel Dad Bryon Lape reads an article about Daisy Ridley and her observance as the fans of Disney Star Wars started with Love and then vanished. Daisy Ridley astutely asks, “Where did the Love for Star Wars go?” By the time The Rise of Skywalker was released to theaters, the vast majority of fans were gone.
The last installment of the Skywalker saga costs far more than any of the other episodes and brought in less money than any of the other Disney Star Wars saga movies. It took a long time to get over $1 billion, but dropped 30% from the gross of The Last Jedi.
What was your ride with Disney Star Wars? Are you one of the few who enjoyed all of the movies (The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker)? Did you feel for Daisy Ridley and believe the ones who dislike Star Wars the most are the fans? Is there no way to get past A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of The Jedi? Where is the love for Star Wars?
The fans are not the only ones who dislike Disney Star Wars. Recently John Boyega has also thrown shade at Disney Star Wars. It is not fully certain if he is echoing some fans or trying to save his career, but there are many who agree that Disney did not use Finn as they should. Finn had the potential to be an incredible character in the Disney Star Wars Saga, but they chose to make him the butt of jokes. The Force should have awoken in Finn and be why his First Order training to did hold. His struggle for self-identity could have been a powerful journey, but J.J. Abrams chose not to do that and Rian Johnson made Finn a worse character. So much potential lost.
Perhaps George Lucas should have stopped after making the first Star Wars movie and not make more. Perhaps the Return of the Jedi in 1983 should have been the last Star Wars movie. It is hard to say, but now there are more Star Wars movies that are disliked than those that are loved.
Many people have habits that they would like to change, while they also have routines that need modification. There are also new ideas they would like to take on as habits and time after time they fail to do so. Why? Is that new habit really a habit? Is it perhaps a routine that is being confused as a habit? Put down the self-help book a moment and analyze the situation.
Author Nir Eyal takes the reader on a journey into the psychology of habits and routines. These two ideas are often confused and mishandled, leaving many people to be frustrated as they try to improve themselves and their lives. Often, it is best to start a new habit as a routine until conscious effort is no longer required in order to do it. The brain detachment and muscle memory of the routine is very important to make it a habit. Routines that will always require quite a bit of mental involvement, like paying the bills or practicing the piano, will never become habits. If one confuses these and believes such a routine can become a habit, they will continue to be frustrated and feel inadequate. Stop trying to make a routine into a habit!
Nir Eyal gives some tips on how to identify if a routine can become a habit and ways to make the transformation so it will be successful. Improve your life by learning what is a routine and what is a habit, then make the proper decisions for good success.
Have you read Charles Duhigg’s books like The Power of Habit? How would you compare Charles Duhigg advice and assessment with Nir Eyal’s observations and scientific analysis? Surely “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business” is more comprehensive and how successful are those who read these books and take the advice of Charles Duhigg?
Make a new start with the 2020 habits you really want. Start a proper new routine and create a beneficial new habit. The Power of Habit audiobook may help.
Find Nir Eyal’s complete article titled “Stop Confusing Habits for Routines: What You Need To Know” at GetPocket. https://getpocket.com/explore/item/stop-confusing-habits-for-routines-what-you-need-to-know?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Eien / Universe / Believe in Love (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Last week started out with the best of plans and intentions. The idea to read each chapter of “Working with the Law” by Raymond Holliwell over a week seemed like a very good one for truly studying the depth of each. The week began well, then Life starting to run in between the work, travel jumbled in the middle, and then illness finished out the Lack. Time to reset.
Recently I have discovered something about the song Time from the movie Inception. It has a melody that channels the mind and brings Peace. While writing today’s post, a 17 minute version is playing in the background. This is not a post to write “oh well” or “I’m a failure for not working the plan,” instead it is to show the pull of Positive energy.
Monday on the drive home from work, a small part of a sermon by Alistair Begg started a whole discussion with myself concerning his comments and the Law. Bob Proctor made the comment that God is the Creator and the Law creates and we create. Though only two days ago, I no longer remember the conclusions and particular points of the discussion (yes, recorded is needed), but the Lesson is well heard. Create with Positive Energy.
When things go wrong in Life, and they will, it is very easy to be angry or disappointed or hateful. All of these will start to create a Result and it will be negative. Though a Righteous Anger may be warranted by a circumstance, it must come from a Positive Energy flow, otherwise it will produce a tidal wave of negative.
As we Create for ourselves and others, Love must be the central ingredient. For it is Love that creates with the greatest Positive force the Universe can produce. It is Love that bears all things and it is Love that carries all things. Love carries concern and well-being. Love harnesses all other Positive aspects and energies. From Love flows all Good.
It was Love the created the Universe with a Word. It was Love the lead mankind through to the time with the Word become flesh and Love dwelt among us. It was Love that created Redemption for all.
Let Love reign throughout your experience. Let Love create within you first. Only then can Love go forth and create for others. For the Law will create through us whatever we prosper and Love is the greatest. Without Love, what will be created will bring ill and be against the underlying principle of the Law. It will become temporary and pass away. Love will build for a Lifetime.
The Law of the Hebrews was not one of endless rules. It established the required boundaries among behaviors for Yahweh’s creation and Himself. When consumed with a Power to rule, the Law became a weapon of destruction and slavery for the People. Christ spoke against this Law, declaring its practioners to be vipers and harlots. Yahweh’s House of Prayer became a dean of thieves and the people the servants of the money changers. That law produced a temporary result while Christ’s return to the Law produced eternal.
The Law is not a mere metaphysical explanation of reality. It is the Law of Yahweh manifest in today’s philosophy. Its greatest expression is Love and through Love the best Future is possible. Love starts within then pours out. Christ stated that All of the Law, not a part or portion, but ALL of the Law can be summed as “Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Mind, and Soul, and Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Without a Love for self. Without a full acceptance that we are Created by God. Without Love pushing out the negative, Love cannot pour out as Positive Creation to anyone else. To know God is to know Love, for God is Love. The Law will produce what is set before it. Let it produce Love.
“The inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the cause of action.” -Raymond Holliwell
Français : Logo de star wars crée à partir du logo de la trilogie (gris) et de la prélogie (doré). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In the summer of 1977 I turned 9 years old. A bit before that event, another one hit the country and started a frenzy. That is the year Star Wars hits the theaters and lines to see the movie were phenomenal. Though my mother did not let me see the movie then, I could not get enough of it and the toys. Some action figures I got as gifts while others, including the Land Speeder, I bought with saved allowance money.
I was hooked. I saw 8mm shorts without sound. I listened to the multi-record set that the library had many times. I even ran to the car after church to listen to a portion of the NPR Star Wars radio drama.
Three years later, The Empire Strike Back hit theaters and my mother had started to have a change of heart about seeing the movies. Empire was the first one I saw and next week we saw the re-released Star Wars movie at the Fort Belvoir (South Post) theater. I had finally realized a dream.
Being 12 at the time, it would take years before I would see Empire as the best of the three movies. I thought it too dark and didn’t understand it was the third act of a play. By the time of Jedi, I was 15 and the eyes of the 9 year old were nearing forgotten. I liked how the story ended, but the Ewoks were a bit ridiculous, even if they were cannibals.
There was all manner of buzz of a prequel movie and possible sequels. Apart from the books for the first three movies, I also read Splinter of the Mind’s Eye and the trilogies for Han Solo and Landon Calrissian. They were all a bit different than Star Wars and even felt like more general sci-fi. I was a bit of a Tolkien fan as well, so the weak pop novels were not something I kept pursuing. The EU expanded well beyond those books, but not for me.
In the mid-90’s my love for Star Wars came back around. George Lucas had the originals remastered in THX and available on video cassette. They were also released again in theaters, though with a few changes. I only went to see Empire as it was my favorite, though I knew all the changes because of websites. Other than changing Luke’s dialog to R2D2 when the swap monster spat him out, I liked what Lucas had done.
The buzz started about a prequel trilogy and the closer 1999 came, the more I wanted to see them. I waited a few weeks after the release before venturing to the movie theater. By this time I was married and living in Marion, Ohio. The local mall theater was good, but it didn’t have the advanced sound system I knew the movie deserved. Having a surround BOSE system at home, I also knew where to sit when my wife and I arrived at a theater in Delaware that had Dolby Digital.
I was soon dismayed as the teenagers running the place had no clue. All it was was loud, no surround effects and no audio immersion. The poor movie with Jar Jar Binks and a whiny Anakin Skywalker didn’t help. I also thought the movie had too many callbacks to the original trilogy. I didn’t mind so setup, but having Anakin build C3PO was too much. The suspension of disbelief was too great to have this twerp become Dark Vader.
Wait for the other movies, they said. The Phantom Menace is great, you are just too critical they said. But the whininess never stopped. Anakin never developed in to the villain of Vader. Ironically though, Darth Maul was one of the best characters of Star Wars, good or bad, and they killed him in the first movie.
Eventually, more and more people started to agree with me: the Prequels were horrible. Not only were they poor movies, Lucas changed his story so much that he had to redo the conversation in Empire between Vader and the Emperor. Yeah sure, George, we believed you planned that all along. Sure thing.
Years passed and Lucas produced more and more versions of his movies. I soon lost track and interest in what he was changing and why. All I wanted was the originals on Blu Ray, but apparently that is too much to ask. I went on to other things like the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Battlestar Galactica. Then Lucas sold his children to Disney and talk of another trilogy started.
Due to the fanboi whining about the prequels and CGI, Disney and J. J. Abrams made a big deal about using real sets and film for the new movie. The hype machine started before filming and they totally misrepresented the techniques Lucas and company had used. They completely ignored the real problem: the horrible script and acting.
After two years of complete hyperbole, The Force Awakens finally came out. The trailers promised a great movie. J. J. Abrams promised a great movie. The third official trailer even made my get very emotional and shed a few tears. Then it was on the screen and the truth became known. It was not only a J. J. Abrams hack reboot, it shredded George Lucas up one side and down the other. It was a complete hatchet job on the originals with heavy handed feminism themes thrown in the good measure.
The Internet became alight immediately. The fanbois followed in locked goose step with the paid reviewers. They said how great the movie was. They are blind. They are asleep. Max Landis finally called it stating Rey was a complete Mary Sue. He was attacked. It was merciless. But he was 100% correct.
All things being fair, the movie is about a C. The script isn’t quite as bad as the prequels and the acting is ok. Harrison Ford gives winks and nods to the audience as if he knows how bad the script is. The CGI, yes this movie is full of it, are good and the physical sets are adequate. The effects and score however are horrible. Where is John Williams musical genius? Gone. That’s where. After all, he’s a man and Mary Sue doesn’t need men.
The fans started to speak out. A little at first, but now as a torrent. As people see it more and more, they are starting to see all of the serious flaws. Over the past week I’ve had several people who had previously be energetically apologetic to the movie saw they were wrong. Sure, it will make Disney a ton a money, but the party is starting to wind down. The one movie a year is in serious jeopardy of not having people burn out. The main villain is now known as Darth Emo and J. J. has become Jar Jar. Time will tell just how damaging the backlash is.
Thank you Jar Jar Abrams. You have shown all of us that you cannot direct and your best motive is to destroy the works of others. You destroyed both Star Trek and Star Wars. Go back inside your mystery box. We don’t need you anymore.
Sean Glennon (en) under center as the Virginia Tech Hokies take on the Boston College Eagles in the 2007 ACC championship game (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
These days, American College football is big business. Conferences receive millions in TV contracts and bonuses when teams go to bowl games. Over the years, the length of the regular season has grown from 11 to 13 games. Add in a conference championship, a major bowl, and the plus 1 game, a team can easily play 16 games on their way to a National title.
Playing 16 games at the collegiate level is just plan crazy. After all, the players are supposed to be students first and athletes second. Many schools and conferences seem to have forgotten that aspect of college. It should be about education, not a money train.
More than 10 years ago in the middle years of the BCS, I was working on a project at LexisNexis. Many of my fellow developers didn’t go to football schools as I had and didn’t really know college football. I explained the BCS concepts and we started to discuss ways to make it better. Several ideas came to the forefront:
Any conference champion should have the opportunity to win
Settle it on the field. No poll monkey business.
Regular season should be no more than 11 games.
Any Conference? What?
Though it is true the major conferences tend to be tougher than the rest, that is no reason a lower conference champion shouldn’t have a chance. Both Utah and Boise State have shown the ability to be BCS busters. With the switch to a one game playoff, now it makes more sense to allow other conferences to have a chance.
Given the number of conferences, though, it can easily be argued allowing all of them to participate may make the playoffs too long. Top 8 conference winners then. Don’t win your conference, don’t get in.
Field: yes. Sports writers: no.
The college football championship originally arose when sports writers wanted to crown one. There was no mechanism to have conferences play one another and it took many years for one to come about.
Formed in 1992, the Bowl Coalition didn’t have the Big Ten or the Pac -10 conferences as they were contractually obligated to the Rose Bowl. The ACC, Big 8, and SEC each had one champion and the Coalition lasted through the 1994 season.
The next attempt at a 1 verses 2 game was the Bowl Alliance. Starting in 1995, it didn’t include the Big Ten, saw the Southwest Conference disband, and the formation of the Big 12 conference. The final season was in 1997 and saw a split champion as Nebraska won the title game and undefeated Michigan won the Rose Bowl.
The more successful program for a championship game was the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and it lasted through the 2013 season. Over those years, it saw the SEC come to dominate and the controversy over which team was the true #2 never ceased. Grumblings and groanings for a true playoff started and the initial compromise is the Plus 1 game.
Writers will not be deciding the champion again.
Too many games
The regular season has grown to be far too long. Starting earlier every few years and no longer ending on New Year’s Day, the long time traditional final bowl game day, teams play 13 games just to get to the conference championship game or a bowl. When Tennessee won the first BCS title, they played 13 games for the whole season, including an SEC championship game. Now that’s nothing.
The seasons are too long. Schools petitioned the NCAA to first expand to 12 and then 13 games in the regular season to ensure more teams were bowl eligible with 6 wins. What was once reserved for the better teams, now a team with a losing record can make a bowl game. Seems rather counter to the intention of bowls. Return to the old ways and send losing teams home.
