BREAKING TONIGHT - WORLD EXCLUSIVE: The best news posted to this blog EVER!!

At approximately 10:15 PM EST tonight the phone rang. Since waking up about 6 this morning I've been working non-stop all day on finalizing Forcery and only allowed myself an hour's break to eat and goof off some. Still got a LONG night ahead of me... but my juices are really stoked now after getting the good news.

The call was from "Weird" Ed, my longtime partner in crime (and co-director, co-producer and co-star of Forcery so you'll be seeing plenty of him soon). I love Ed like a brother but for him to call at THAT late an hour is way unusual: he's either playing Xbox Live or online computer gaming or watching either The Matrix or UHF for the hunnerd zillionth time... or whatever else when he's just chillin' especially during the weekends. So for him to call THIS late meant that somethin' BIG was up. Like he had something IMPORTANT to relay...

And, he did.

It is The Knight Shift blog's greatest pleasure and joy to announce that about 9:15 PM this evening, Ed Woody (right) popped the biggest question of all to his girlfriend Olivia. No it was NOT about what kind of pizza to order from Papa John's... we're talking the OTHER biggest question of all! And Olivia did what any girl would do when the guy who loves her more than anyone or anything else in the world - and who happens to be one of the nicest, sincerest and kewl-est guys around - asks if she would be the one that he pledges to love, honor and serve for all the days of his life that God might let them have together on this Earth...

And... SHE SAID YES!!!

It's shoes and rice time, folks: we is gunna have us a weddin' soon! Ed and Olivia are getting hitched and... DARN this just warms the cockles of my heart bigtime!

No date has been set yet. But I'm already plotting out some things for Ed's bachelor party... hee-hee-hee!

~~ Congratulations Ed and Olivia ~~

God bless you both as you begin planning your new life together.

The Knight Shift is, of course, looking forward to posting actual photos of ensuing developments in this matter as they occur :-)

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Harry Knowles recreates biblical plague, film at 11...

I'm afraid to ask, but: How do you intentionally breed over 25,000 houseflies?

Leave it to Harry Knowles - the mad maestro of the Ain't It Cool News website - to come up with a stunt that combines inspired homage with insane horror. Knowles and his buddies at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas did a huge premiere for the remake of The Amityville Horror. Harry got star Ryan Reynolds and the film's producers to attend. The theater's staff made a terrific-looking facade imitating the infamous Amityville house that patrons walked through as they entered the place. Harry pulled out all the stops to make this an awesome premiere. And... everyone who attended got to see the movie for FREE!

There was just one catch...

To get into the theater, you first had to walk through a cloud of twenty-five thousand houseflies, that had been bred just for the occassion.

Harry posted the twisted details a few weeks ago: everyone coming had to enter "the fly chamber" to get their individual ticket. Yeah, get inside. With the flies. And someone said they had to STAY there until a recorded voice screamed "GET OOOOUUTTTT!!"

Reports are starting to trickle into Harry's site, including this photo of Reynolds with the flies. Sheesh... I grew up on a dairy farm and never remembered the filthy things being THAT thick. So does this mean that somewhere in America there's a facility that can handle 25,000 squirming maggots at one time? Just plain ewwwww man. If you think you can stomach it here's a Quicktime video of the fly chamber in action.

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This blog had its 10,000th visitor yesterday!!!

And I didn't get anything in the way of a nice price for whoever was the lucky guest! :-(

Whoever you were, go out and buy a candy bar and pretend you got it from me.

Thanks to everyone who has seen this lil' blog get this far.

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The idolatry of modern America

Found a VERY good article by Clyde Wilson, a professor of history at University of South Carolina. In "The Cerebral Emperor" Wilson raises a warning against the American people partaking in what could only be described as "worship of government". Here's the part that resonated particularly strongly with me on some things I've been pondering lately...

How did we get to this state of emperor worship—the need to identify with "our" president, as if he were the father of our one big happy family? It would seem that for millions of Americans now, to criticize "our president" is to commit treason against what they imagine to be a family. Well, the President is not "my president." He is a rather mediocre and troublesome man who has acheived temporary (let us hope) power through a corrupt and irrational process that required of him neither an admirable character nor proven services to the country. The President is most certainly not "my commander-in-chief." He is merely during his term of office head of the Armed Forces established by law—that is, he has the responsibility for directing their operations. He is not commander-in-chief of the United States. Constitutionally considered he is not even commander-in-chief of the federal government, which was supposed to be a government of divided powers.

Now, I defy anyone to point out the fallacy of the above paragraph. 'Cuz when you study the traditional, historical role of ANY elected officials in America, you CAN'T find it anywhere that they're supposed to be a sovereign lord or king over us. And yet, we act as if they are just that...

Not long ago I wrote that there are three kinds of people in this world: those that want to control others, those that WANT to be controlled, and those (like me) that are OUT of control. Now, why is that? I think it has to do with the things we cherish and value most during our life on this Earth. It further goes on to define how confident we are as individuals.

Some of us want freedom... I mean real freedom. We don't want there to be any guarantees of life: just an honest shot at making it on our own with whatever God has given us to work with. I like to think that we do put our confidence both in ourselves and in God.

Then there are those who want power, obviously. Ultimately these people have NO confidence in God whatsoever, so they put their confidence in the accumulation of material wealth and affluence. It's NOT enough for them to simply play with whatever cards life deals them: they want to stack the deck in their own favor... because they're afraid to let ANYTHING or ANYONE bring uncertainties to the table that they're not prepared to deal with in their own minds.

And then there are those who lack just as much confidence as the second group, but they're even more pathetic.... because they put their confidence in those who place their OWN confidence in power and control.

That's what most of the American people - and maybe most people in this world - are: they've been made too afraid to take the reins on their own. They think they cannot have the wisdom or power... so they're expected to yield their lives over to those we are supposed to believe have been blessed by God with all the wisdom, and power, and right to govern as THEY see fit.

I think it's fair to say that most Americans really are slaves: in thought if not in flesh. I mean, at least consider why it is that most of us are INCAPABLE of comprehending anything politically without it being defined by the Democrats and Republicans. Who gave them the keys to our minds?

Come to think of it, who the HELL are both major parties to believe that they have sovereignty over the American people at all?! I sure as hell didn't put them in charge of my life... did you?!

The modern American is more a slave than any ancestor of those brethren among us of African descent. I would even dare say that the slaves of antebellum America possessed more strength and freedom than most of us today have ever known: it was not their own doing that their bodies were in bondage. But their minds were their own, and their spirits strong. In every way that really matters in the eternal sense, they were free... because they chose to be free. It's like what Andy said in The Shawshank Redemption: that there's something within each of us that no one can touch or hurt, unless we let them...

Well, most of us not only let them touch us, we willingly accede our souls getting raped without lubricant. For practically every moment of our lives. And that's something that hardly any of our ancestors tolerated or encouraged.

No, it's not freedom or even a sense of control that most Americans want, but security. They don't want the nuisance of having to worry about their own lives. They don't want to have to THINK for themselves... but there's plenty enough folks more than willing to think for them. It doesn't take too much to convince the insecure gullible that the power-mad jackals are trustworthy either: so long as they claim strength in numbers and enough money to buy plenty of airtime, they can get away with any lie, no matter how big... and usually the bigger the lie the easier the masses will swallow it.

Well, like I said before: you can either be controlling, or be controlled. Or you can choose to be out of control, which isn't the easiest thing in the world, because we still have to figure out what we're going to do with everyone else and their insecurities.

Do I have some of my own? Sure do. But I ain't gonna let a government or political party tell me how to handle them.

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Does this mean Commander Ashtar is returning to Earth?!

Dear Lord... I never thought that this day would come again.

Chad, if you're reading this, I heard something about this a few weeks ago but didn't think they were SERIOUS. Apparently they were.

It's Ken and Mark.

They're ba-aaaack.

The mother of all call-in shows (well WE thought so back in the day anyway) has returned bigger badder and bolder than ever. Check out the official website for "Monday Night Live" for the 411 on the return of a local legend.

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Why the Bush-bots will loathe the new Star Wars movie

So... you a George W. Bush supporter?

'Cuz if you are, you aren't going to like Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith one bit. At all.

It comes on very good authority to this blog that the final chapter of the Star Wars saga is a MASSIVE slam against Bush.

It won't be PERSONAL, mind you. In the character and machinations of Emperor Palpatine, George Lucas is merely using a metaphor for EVERY would-be tyrant throughout human history. And knowing what I know about it now, I cannot but believe that this detail of the story was planned out long, LONG while back.

But that won't come as any comfort to Bush and his supporters.

In fact, based on what I've been given about Revenge of the Sith, this movie might incite some blatant thoughts about active rebellion against Bush and his cabal.

But if not, the parallels between Palpatine and Bush are damned downright unsettling. Anyone with two neurons and a synapsis between 'em isn't gonna fail to see the analogies that Lucas has evoked. F'rinstance (SPOILERS AHEAD)...

- something happens that Palpatine will exploit, turning it into an excuse to demand more power from the Senate and effectively making him an absolute dictator. For the most part the Senate cheers and goes along with him.

- Palpatine will gain the power to declare anyone an enemy to be destroyed, at his own pleasure.

- At one point Palpatine will claim to be above any kind of accountability.

- There's one thing in particular that I can't help but think is a dire reminder of the situation in Iraq right now. Don't know if it'll make it into the final cut of the movie or how many will see this, but I did and it's a pretty damning indictment against ANYONE who would get innocencts involved in this kind of meaningless conflict.

- The whole notion of political parties and having one party dominate just about everything takes it on the chin bigtime in Revenge of the Sith. Anyone who still adheres to that outdated belief after seeing this movie should forevermore be branded a blithering fool.

- A modified take on Bush's speech about "if you are not with us, you are with the terrorists" is used by Palpatine.

- There's some real allusion to the PATRIOT Act and it ain't pretty either.

There's more but I can't recall all of it just now. Better that way anyway: I don't wanna spoil it for anyone and I don't want to know anymore for my own part. But I can't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Revenge of the Sith could be a seed of some much-needed dissent in this country against The Way Things Are.

I wouldn't mind being a Bothan Spy in that action :-)

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The Matrix Online has me

Been meaning to write about this game for a few weeks now. It retails for $50 but through a bizarre congruence of luck and multiple gift certificates I wound up picking it up for about ten dollars the day it came out! Figured it was worth at least a looksee. And if it wasn't up to snuff well I wouldn't be out of the full wad of cash, just like I scored Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords from a guy on eBay for twelve bucks (and it's not even worth THAT much, until LucasArts FINALLY releases a patch that will fix ALL the bugs that make this game darn unplayable... but that's a rant for another post). Right now I gotta rave about The Matrix Online:

This is now my "drug of choice" so far as videogames goes. Or at least computer games: I'm also HOOKED on MechAssault II for the Xbox (don't worry Ed I'm just waiting to get REALLY good then I'm coming after your butt on Xbox Live :-). I've been playing Star Wars Galaxies for a little over a year now and I still love that game, it's AWESOME and it's gotten even better as time has gone on (and promises to get better still in the near future with the combat system upgrade and revamp for Smuggler, my chosen profession) but I haven't been able to spend as much time in Galaxies lately as I have in The Matrix Online. Fer one thing, it's HARD to resist the chance to be involved in the ongoing saga of the Matrix... and for it to COUNT as official story canon!

You see, The Matrix Online picks up after the events of The Matrix Revolutions, when Neo sacrificed himself so that Agent Smith could be destroyed before Smith destroyed the Matrix and everyone in it. In doing so Neo negotiated and won a truce from the Machines that were trying to destroy the last free humans in Zion. From now on the Machines won't attack the people of Zion. Zion won't try to destroy the Machines. Anyone that wants out of the Matrix is now free to leave. No one "side" was destroyed in the war, because Neo realized that EVERYONE deserved a chance to live, be they flesh or metal. After a century and more of war, there was finally peace.

That's where The Matrix Online comes in: when people are trying to WRECK that peace.

And this time it's not the Wachowski Brothers calling the shots on where this story goes, but you and me.

And so far it's been a heckuva fun ride!

The day the retail version hit I installed the game and immediately set about creating my persona in the Matrix. As you can see from the pics above, he looks a LOT like me :-) I named him "Cyllinus" and for his backstory said that he was once a history student who realized that there was something wrong with the subject he studied, and came to discover the truth about the world that he had always thought was real. I then gave him something of a religious quest, saying that in pursuing aspects of the Matrix he is trying to discover the true nature of God. Hey this is the Matrix saga so anyone running around in it DEMANDS a deep philosophy driving him/her/it right?

Well, in the two weeks or so since Cyllinus took his first breath of digital life, the ongoing storyline of the Matrix has erupted into all-out war on the streets of the mega city. Neo is dead but Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne and other actors from the films are providing voices for their characters during in-game cinematics) is obsessed with the Machines returning Neo's corpse. Red-eyed fake Agents are starting to swarm out of nowhere and nobody knows WHERE they're coming from or WHO is sending them: the Machines claim innocence and the Merovingian's gang swears they ain't behind it either. Some are saying Morpheus is trying to destroy the truce by acting on his own. And now the mysterious fake Agents have been enigmatically "upgraded" into the considerably more dangerous "N30 Ag3nts" (the "Neo-Agents"?!)

What this is all lending itself to, is that in two weeks time The Matrix Online has become the first massively-multiplayer online role-playing game that has given rise to full-bore philosophical disagreements among players and even outright religious jihad inside the game. You can choose to side with either Zion, the Machines or the Merovingian and his fellow Exiles but even then NOBODY is trusting anybody else, not even within one's own side. I'm playing on the Method server and wound up founding and leading a new faction - the Priory of Zion - and just today WE were accused of not serving the best interests of Zion... that we were "traitors" even. I told our accuser that he is getting perilously close to sounding like many tyrants throughout history who have said that "if you aren't with us, you are with the enemy".

Does this sound like FUN, or what?!

And the neatest thing is, right now I and my character "Cyllinus" are forever official part of the Matrix story. If any future movies are made, they are going to have to acknowledge the events of the game and what the players have done, according to no less an authority than the Wachowski Brothers themselves. Meaning that if I make Cyllinus do something particularly outrageous in the game, he stands a shot at getting portrayed in any future movies (though that's kinda doubtful since there won't be any more movies we're told).

Even so, this is a bold and refreshingly new kind of storytelling: one that hasn't been attempted this way before. And even though I'm not a "power player" it's a way kewl thing to be part of it in some small way.

Hey, if anyone plays this or winds up playing it, look me up as "Cyllinus" on the Method server: the Priory of Zion is always welcome to the prospect of a new recruit :-)

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Crunch time on "Forcery"

Right now I'm taking a break (after more than 24 hours straight of final touching-up to "Forcery", going on 3 hours sleep and not nearly enough food) while the bigger of the two 'puters here crunches some video/audio rendering. It's been mind-numbing work that requires total concentration. So much so that since yesterday Lisa is spending the next few days at my parents' home 'cuz otherwise I'm going to drive her totally bonkers. So right now it's just me and two computers and a lot of DVDs and videotape and some audio software that I'm still getting the hang of. I thought the thing was ready to go, but some complications came up and... well let's just say that come this time either tomorrow night, or early Wednesday, this monkey that's been on my back the past three-plus years (since first starting the script the night before 9-11 happened) will finally be DONE!

But right now I'm gonna take a breather, and eat and catch a small nap and use the bathroom, and maybe have some fun with the blog.

BTW, movie making is a TOUGH thing to do!!! I can't think of anything more fun that I'd love to spend the rest of my life doing though :-)

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Darth Larry beat me to it :-)

Head on over to my buddy Brian's blog and see what he's got to say about the Episode III soundtrack. Where did HE get it? He's got his sources... as do we all :-P

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DARNNIT!!!

Had a great writeup for the Episode III soundtrack then Mozilla inexplicably crashed. Ahh well... I don't mind listening and doing this again :-) 'Specially that AWESOME "Battle of the Heroes" theme.

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Awright, how the heck did the ENTIRE soundtrack for Episode III land in my e-mail box?

Not that I'm complaining, mind you!

Will have a review up shortly.

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They're raping our childhood. Again.

It's being reported at CNN that Cookie Monster will no longer be a glutton for cookies. That the googly-eyed Muppet is now set to become a health-food advocate.

Sheesh what next: Bert and Ernie come back from Boston in a "civil union"?

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"... And Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse."

That's it. This is either a sign that the End Times are upon us, or there is NO God!





Ain't It Cool News has plenty more if you're looking for a sane reason why you should poke your own eyeballs out.

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John Paul II, "the toil of the sun", and Friday's funeral

Gotta admit, this thing wigs me out a bit...

It's a pretty well-known bit of prophecy: the "papal forecast" by St. Malachy. In 1139 the Irish monk Malachy went to Rome and upon approaching the city he supposedly was struck with a vision about ALL the popes that would come from his time on to... well, the end of time. Each forthcoming pope was given a Latin description about some characteristic of the man. Whether or not its a real prophecy from the source or a later-made forgery attributed to Malachy is highly debatable. But if you click that link you'll find some things that might raise your eyebrows.

Like, f'rinstance, the description that Malachy gave for Pope #266 on the list, corresponding to one Karol Wojtyla, better known to the world as Pope John Paul II:

De labore Solis

Translated it could mean "from the toil of the sun". Or "from the eclipse of the sun".

Pope John Paul II was born on May 18th 1920, during a solar eclipse.

This coming Friday, April 7th 2005, Pope John Paul II will be buried during a solar eclipse.

From CNN.com:

Partial solar eclipse on Friday

Wednesday, April 6, 2005 Posted: 12:58 PM EDT (1658 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Sky-watchers from the South Pacific to the Americas will witness the first solar eclipse of 2005 on Friday when the moon blots out part of the sun.

It will be a partial eclipse rather than a total one, in which the Earth is cast into darkness. But it will be the last partial solar eclipse visible from the continental United States until May 20, 2012.

Solar eclipses occur when the Earth, sun and moon line up in such a way that the moon casts a shadow over Earth.

Friday's eclipse will last from a few minutes to over an hour, depending on one's location. In much of the continental United States, people will see what looks like the moon taking a bite out of the sun, with the bite bigger over the South.

In Central America and the northern portion of South America, the sun will be reduced to a narrow ring of fire.

Astronomers warned people not to stare directly at the sun without eye protection...

By the way, the description for the next pope that Malachy gave is "Gloria olivae": "the glory of the olive". And next comes "Petrus Romanus", AKA Peter of Rome, who will be the last pope and then the world ends.

Parse this as you will.

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Don't let THIS happen to YOU: Star Wars fans line up at WRONG theater!

By the way, expect an onslaught of Star Wars stories for this next month and more as we get closer to the release of Episode III. This one HAD to be posted! From Variety.com:

Inside Move: Fanatics laying it on the line

'Star Wars' fans stew in queue

By GABRIEL SNYDER

If a movie isn't playing at a theater, will its fans still line up outside? For "Star Wars" fans, the answer is a befuddling yes.

Saturday, 46 days before "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" opens on May 19, the trilogy's enthusiasts began their vigil outside Grauman's Chinese Theater.

Problem is 20th Century Fox doesn't plan to open the film at the Chinese, opting instead for the ArcLight a few blocks east.

"Star Wars" or no, the diehards are resolute about keeping their line on Hollywood Boulevard.

Underneath a make-shift awning yesterday afternoon, 11 people were in line doing what appeared to be homework, pecking at laptops and talking to members of the media.

"We've heard all this before," said Sarah Sprague, one of the designated spokesmen for the group. In 1999 and 2002, there were plenty of rumors (ultimately false) that the previous two pics weren't going to open at the Chinese.

This year the rumors seem to be true. Fox and the ArcLight haven't finalized their "Star Wars" deal, but execs on both sides say they expect "Revenge of the Sith" to play the ArcLight and not the Chinese.

A media-savvy bunch, those waiting at the Chinese hope press interest in covering (and most likely mocking) them would persuade George LucasGeorge Lucas and Fox to move the booking.

And Sprague was adamant the line isn't moving to the ArcLight. "This is still the epicenter for 'Star Wars' fans. For the big iconic pictures of the 1970s, people lining up were here. They weren't at the Cinerama Dome."

Their other reason is that it'd be more difficult to raise money for their charity Starlight Starbright if they weren't on Hollywood. However, cops won't let fans collect donations from passersby; instead, they pass out pamphlets with a Web site address.

"Even if it's not here, we'll just go see it somewhere else. We're not doing this just for the movie." Besides, she added, "What's the point of lining up at the ArcLight if someone is going to go online and get the best seat in the house?"

But wouldn't that still make more sense than spending a month outside a theater that isn't playing the movie?

"Lining up for anything, what part of that makes any sense?" she responded philosophically.

As theaters normally do, the ArcLight is likely to ask Fox that it be the only theater playing "Revenge of the Sith" in the immediate area. And even if it doesn't, Paramount confirmed it will open "The Longest Yard" at the Chinese the week after "Revenge," which means Fox won't want to book the theater for just one week. (Paramount partly owns Mann Theaters.)

The kerfuffle has inspired some soul-searching among the fans, and they have discovered that standing in a "Star Wars" line is actually more important than seeing a "Star Wars" film.

"The telling thing is -- for me, at least -- if the film is not playing at the Chinese ... I have zero desire to see it at all," a fan who calls himself Obi Geewhyen posted on the message board at Liningup.net. "I'm in it for the lineup only and don't give a darn about the conclusion of this lackluster, so-called 'Star Wars' series."

Hope springs eternal, Sprague said. After the last two "Star Wars" films, "We're all a little beaten down," she said. "But this one could be it!"

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UNC brings home another one

Okay Chad, I'm gonna do what I said I was gonna do if your alma mater won it all tonight. And you KNOW this pains me, being the Duke/NC State loyalist and all, but...

I must admit though: the Tarheels earned this one for sure. That was one of the best basketball championships I've ever seen played. UNC and Illinois both poured their hearts into this one.

You did good tonight, Chapel Hill. Hope you savor every bit of this victory :-)

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Episode III Midnight Madness After-Action Report

Stop me before I do this again.

Oh yeah, that's right: there's no way this can be done again, 'cuz this is the last movie.

Well then, might as well go out in a blaze of glory...

MIDNIGHT
MADNESS
Saturday April 2nd 2005

12:01 AM on April 2nd was the earliest that the REAL loot from Star Wars Episode III went on sale. There'd been the standard "teaser" stuff over the past few months like a coupl'a LEGO sets and some preview action figures, but this was the real deluge. Some of us had to be the first to behold a virgin, unsoiled, unblemished stack of new Star Wars merchandise and if not now then it would be never again, 'cuz this is the last Star Wars movie after all. So a few days before my good friend Brian and I started laying out our plans for Friday night. He came by the apartment about 9:30 and we headed out soon thereafter, he in his Revenge of the Sith t-shirt and me in my full Jedi garb (including lightsaber). We scoped out the scene at the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Greensboro then went to Toys R Us and decided this is where we needed to be for first strike of the evening. Y'see, Toys R Us had an exclusive Holographic Yoda action figure that was only going out to first 12 people in the door and we wanted to take a stab at that. Wal-Mart had some other exclusive but it wasn't an action figure one. Target had the "Flaming Lava Darth Vader" that we wanted to take a crack at later that morning, but we had to go for Yoda right now. We got in line about 10:30 at Toys R Us and by 11:30 here's what it looked like...

The guy in this next photo, his name's Fonso and we remembered each other instantly 'cuz both of us were the VERY FIRST to be in line at this same Toys R Us when they had Midnight Madness for Episode I six years ago! I was first to arrive then and this time he got the sacred honor. So from now on you can know that a guy named Fonso was the first to get his hands on new stuff from the last Star Wars movie...

And here is Fonso and me, together again (and Fonso is holding one of the tickets that went to the first twelve people who arrived, so that we were guaranteed to get a Yoda figure):

That's Brian on the left and the dude in the green jacket is Scott. They also hold the coveted tickets...

And just to let everyone know that I got one legitly...

Finally, Magic Hour hit and the clerks opened the doors at 12:01 on the dot. We swarmed in like Visigoths raping Rome, grabbed the nearest buggies and tore a path of destruction through the Tele-tubbies and Harry Potter stuff.

And there it was...

The action figures were the first to go. The store clerks kept a steady barrage of them coming, like so much heroin flowing into the veins of a crazed junky...

There's a reason why Brian and I went together this night. You see, his wife was out-of-state and just before leaving that morning her last words to Brian were "don't buy too many toys tonight!" That's what Lisa told me that evening too. So Brian and I were like "accountability partners" to each other: we were going to make sure that neither one of us went back home to his wife and have to explain ALL these Star Wars toys littering the living room.

But of course it being the LAST Midnight Madness, we had to go hogwild a little bit...

That's the toy Yoda doll that Brian found to be insanely cute. He's also holding the Holographic Yoda figure. Then I got to check out mine...

...but the REAL prize of the night HAD to be the "Darth Tater" Mr. Potato Head:

I think we kept the night's haul pretty modest. Some people though wanted to relish it just a little bit more...

We lasted about 30 minutes at Toys R Us then hit the road for the Wal-Mart Supercenter. Not as much hooplah there as Toys R Us had but even close to 1 AM there were some devoted parents who had brought their kids in to oggle the goods. Here's Brian again (who seems to have had a curious fixation on Yoda that evening):

We got back to my apartment about 1:30 AM and Brian went home. I don't think either one of us slept that night so we wouldn't miss Target's opening a few hours later at 8 AM. So it was that Brian and Scott and me were among the first twenty through the door that got tickets for the "Flaming Vader" figure. And I got even MORE loot from the place.

By the time Lisa woke up at quarter 'til 9, here's the sad, sordid state that she found her husband in after a night of incessant Starwargasms:

It was not a pretty picture.

The haul was more than glorious, however...

It wasn't TOO much, just enough to savor the moments. At Toys R Us I got the Holographic Yoda figure, two of the Emperor Palpatine with lightsaber figures (including one that I opened just to pose on my desk), the new Darth Vader figure and the LEGO "Darth Vader Transformation" set 'cuz the evening wouldn't be complete without at least one thing of LEGO, and the "Darth Tater" Mr. Potato Head. Didn't get anything from Wal-Mart but later that morning in addition to the Target exclusive Vader figure I bought the standard Yoda figure, the new General Grievous and Chewbacca figures, and the deluxe Emperor Palpatine/Darth Sidious figure that has the "Force lighting" effect and switching-faces feature. That also got posed on my desk so now I've a "Shrine to Sidious" going on with the original figure from The Phantom Menace

Here's a better picture of the Vader Mr. Potato Head (and new Emperor Palpatine figure):

Later that day after we saw The Ring Two we hit the other Wal-Mart and I wound up getting the Episode III novelization and the Episode III Visual Dictionary. Oh yeah and the action figure that I've come to call "Pregnant Padme".

And that was how I celebrated Midnight Madness for the last Star Wars film ever (or at least until 90-year old George Lucas decides that he wants to make six more movies after all :-)

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