An option I had not considered.

Well, if I'm going to watch the most recent three, it's not really possible, but for New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, Jedi? Never happened.

Baltimore seems to have a nice location thing going.

Baltimore has a small group of very proactive people when it comes to soliciting filmmaking. And the city gov't is happy to help them along. It's not a HUGE industry, but it is a dedicated one. And this place has character. Characters, actually. You can go sleepy southern town to gritty urban hellhole to historic rowhouse to big city downtown to on-the-water in about 10 minutes drivetime. If the traffic isn't bad.

I'm kinda loving it today, though it made me hurt. Spent about 4 hours down at the Stadium Playground shovelling multch, putting in mats under the swings, hauling plastic lumber and emptying a semitrailer. My forearms are a mess. But the playground is so damned cool. I'd say they are a day or two of heavy cleanup plus time to put in a security fence around it (by contractors, not volunteers) away from opening. It reminds me of a cross between a maze, a castle and a pirate ship (all that decking!) I honestly have never seen a playground/structure like this. At one point when I first got there I tried to exit through the front and got...lost. Couldn't find the front opening.

It's got a climbing wall, painted volcano, swings including for wee ones, a mini-theater set up (like a puppet show stage with 3 wee rows of benches,) more slides than you can shake a stick at, cool bouncy bridges....picnic tables...everything. Even a separate enclosed area for under 5s.

Once it is done, I'm borrowing some kids and taking them there.

Finished laundry and cleaned. And I really need a nap.

I'm down with the handwaviness.

And besides, I've decided the 'prequels' are unrelated fever dreams, spawned after George half recovered from some sort of brain tumor.

Hey! If HE can make up a whole universe, so can I.

eta: I am, of course, responding to the SW talk here.

The Star Wars white font is cracking me up too.

In OSWN, the Darth Vader Dark chocolate peanut M&Ms are much prettier than the Jedi Milk Chocolate plain M&Ms.

Also, Jack and Bobby had me crying all the way through. Jack's problem, Bobby's problem, Missy's problem. Missy's ogrey dad. Also, the promo - - they aren't killing off JACK already? In a car accident???? That would just not be right.

In OSWN, the Darth Vader Dark chocolate peanut M&Ms are much prettier than the Jedi Milk Chocolate plain M&Ms.

the bad guys are always prettier.

Well, the normal plain M&Ms are prettier than the special Jedi ones.

I am not watching the Fox broadcast of the Star Wars films. Coincedentally, last night I bought the DVDs of the Star Wars Trilogy.

I'm assuming Fox is not broadcasting the letterbox version?

ION:

Ten Mistakes Writers Don't See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do)

So the following is a list I'll be referring to people *before* they submit anything in writing to anybody (me, agent, publisher, your mom, your boss). From email messages and front-page news in the New York Times to published books and magazine articles, the 10 ouchies listed here crop up everywhere. They're so pernicious that even respected Internet columnists are not immune.

The list also could be called, "10 COMMON PROBLEMS THAT DISMISS YOU AS AN AMATEUR," because these mistakes are obvious to literary agents and editors, who may start wording their decline letter by page 5. What a tragedy that would be.

also,

Hooray for copyeditors! Enough About Me #8: In Which the Author Hands in His Copyedited Manuscript and Pays Tribute to the Most Unheralded Job in Publishing

Well, the normal plain M&Ms are prettier than the special Jedi ones.

That's what happens when Jedi are not allowed relationships....

Hey, folks? What piece of primary source material from the American Revolution do you think would be most useful for a class learning how to interpret historical information? I'm thinking, speeches, Acts, historical accounts -- anyone have a specific suggestion?

And I also have a question.

I have a vague idea that there's a study or a scale out there...something that measures the livability of various cities, not just in terms of economic criteria, but things like, is there a thriving arts scene? Does the city support a symphony?

Anyone have any idea what I'm talking about or where I can find it on the web?