First things first... I know Gamboozle is not a word. But for the sake of corny alliteration, just go with me.. Thanks.

Somewhere in the last few years, gum makers around the world have utterly hoodwinked us. And I, for one, am not happy about it.

I used to buy packs of gum for like $.50 and it came with like, a ton, of sticks. But now, I pay like $1.29 and only get 12 pieces. 12 crunchy little chiclets. The same chiclets, mind you, that kids try to sell you on the streets of Tijuana for a nickel. Somehow, they switched the packaging, gave us less gum, and made us believe that a bigger, thinner package is better than a small but fat package.

While I'm on the topic...

I used to go to a grocery store that posted a signs that said something like "Unloading your own groceries helps us keep our costs down, costs that we pass on to you." Fine. I went with it. No biggie. I like saving money.

But somehow along the line, ALL stores make us unload our own groceries now.

You give them an inch...

An inch!

Be sure to check out my other blog: anoallasso.blogspot.com. It's a bit more serious but the message is good. Or so I think.

And that's what blogs are all about right?

OK...so I guess I still have some rants that need an outlet.

I have two cellular devices on me at pretty much all times. All waking times that is.

Waking and napping.

I'm now faced with a new malady. Phantom vibration. I think it is similar to phantom pain that an amputee experiences. If you don't know, that is when someone who has had a limb removed feels pain in the removed, newly non-existent limb.

I have all my devices set to vibrate. In case I am working, or listening to music, mowing the lawn (hehe, riiight) etc. But now, I find that I feel the vibration, only to check and see nothing. In fact, everything that can possible cause a vibration causes me to dig in pockets for the phone/ogo.

Of course, there is phantom vibration, where nothing causes the vibration sensation, and there is faux vibration cause by drums, bass, computer fan, what have you.

I hope to see an ad on tv to cure my phantom vibration. I'm already on meds for knee jiggling.


PS...check out anoallasso.blogspot.com

As promised, the new blog. Yes I know, bated breath and all that.

FYI.. Bate is a verb dating to the 14th century meaning to deprive or to lessen. It is a clipped form of abate. Shakespeare was the first to use bated breath in 1596 in The Merchant of Venice, I.iii.123.

Anoallasso.

Ano is biblical Greek for up, upwards, or the quarters of heaven.
Allasso is biblical Greek for change or transformation.

So...proper or not, I strung them together in classic Hollywood reimagining form (not really classic as the reimagining trend is only very recent). The upward change. Hopefully, I am changing upward.I am reaching into the quarters of heaven and pulling down something that will help me transform into something that requires less transformation the next time.

I'm hoping others will join the journey. I'm hoping to find friends in anoallasso.

click the title, the banner, or just go here...
http://anoallasso.blogspot.com

I thought for sure that I could find 5 to 10 minutes each day to write something. How hard can that be, really?

And that makes me wonder what the average lifespan of a blog is. I suppose it depends on the audience size. At some point, when your audience is the same as the radius of your voice calling out "I just updated my blog," you lose motivation. And ranting just isnt the same if there is no one to receive the rant.

I guess its time to change formats. Like all good radio stations do when their listenership drops (or maybe its because dj's get bored, i dont know).

So...new format. New blog. I'm writing a book and i'll use this as a forum to test ideas (and steal some of yours).

Be back soon with a new blog...stay tuned.

I've mentioned living in Carnation, Washington. In actuality, I am half-way between Carnation and Duvall. That's pronounced Doo-vahl and they will correct you. Duvall has a population of 5545. Not much more than a hamlet.

How many Teriyaki restaurants does a small burg need? What is the typical "Teriyaki Per Capita"?

I ask because I have a suspicion that Duvall is approaching teriyaki Mecca-ness. We have one Asian food outlet per 792 persons. Four teriyaki specific (though sushi does share top billing at one) restaurants. Toshi's Teriyaki, JJ's Teriyaki, Happy at the Bay Teriyaki #6, and in case you are wondering which to go to, why not try out Best Teriyaki and Sushi. Add to this Twin Dragon Chinese food, a Thai restaurant, and of course Safeway's own China Express.

So I ask, what is your TPC?

And how much is too much?

I'd also love to know what your favorite teriyaki joint name. Personally, I've got to hand it to eTeriyaki. No ordering online, no delivery... eToys, eBay, eTeriyaki. Why not?!?

blast.

Two points today. The first deals with the opening text crawl. Does anyone remember the opening story setting to be so... Juvenile (interesting since Sith is the only one to carry a PG-13 rating).

War! The Republic is crumbling under attacks by the ruthless Sith Lord, Count Dooku. There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere.

In a stunning move, the fiendish droid leader, General Grievous, has swept into the Republic capital and kidnapped Chancellor Palpatine, leader of the Galactic Senate.

As the Separatist Droid Army attempts to flee the besieged capital with their valuable hostage, two Jedi Knights lead a desperate mission to rescue the captive Chancellor....

War! Nice intro. That first text block is just the worst. "There are heroes on both sides"? What?!? Are there evil heroes? Or do our heroes fall on both sides of a war, some here, some there? I don't get it.

Point two. Yoda's speech. In Empire, Yoda had a curious way of speaking. It wasn't all that technically incorrect, it was just odd.

"Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."

Odd but not incorrect. My guess is that, as with all thing Empire, they are just better for having Leigh Brackett's input. My guess is that Leigh wrote the dialog for Yoda. When it came time for Lucas to write the dialog....

Yoda's speech keeps sliding downhill. From Episode I - "Around the survivors, a perimeter create." Maybe that was the first clue that not all was right. And in Sith:

"The boy you trained, gone he is, consumed by Darth Vader."

"If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find."

But again, I guess this is HIS story to ruin. Perhaps, in his years of seclusion, Yoda learned more than just how to die gracefully. Maybe he studied the MLA Handbook too.

"Not if anything to say about it I have"

blast.

Star Wars is our story. At least, it was.

Everyone in my generation knew and had seen Star Wars multiple times. It was the universal language. We could bypass the small talk and delve into the deeper matters of life. Yoda and Ben spoke the truth. The waxings of the wise old Jedi masters became mantras and entered everyday vocabulary. A wink and a nod was not needed to cite the source, we all knew.

Conversations over soda, and later beer, further galvanized our devotion to OUR story. What kind of gravitational system did the Death Star have? How did it compensate for a gravity differences as you went further towards the center? Any discrepancies were solved, filming mistakes rationalized in OUR story.

We created a flawless world given a simple story and a 6 hour celluloid outline. It was iron clad. There were no plot holes, no gaping questions. There were mysteries of course, but we were content to NOT know. We could discuss those mysteries and debate all the while looking forward to the next installment where some of our skeletons would find flesh.

Then they came. The prequels.

And we watched. And re-watched. We bought the DVD's. And we hoped for more.

What donned on me, as I was going over Sith in my mind, is that it is no longer OUR story. It is HIS story. It is George Lucas's story. I can't say "He should have done this," or "I wish he did this," because it is HIS story to tell. I will ever regard Lucas highly because he sparked my imagination. He gave me a story.

Then he took it back.

It's entirely possible that Star Wars is JUST a movie.

blast.