Thoughts on Star Wars

Reportedly, spinoff films about both Han Solo and Boba Fett are in the works.  I saw some fans posting on facebook about how Disney should leave these sacred characters alone.  It seems that complaining about new Star Wars content is the order of the day amongst many diehards.

I think it's funny how several people who consider themselves hardcore Star Wars fans are also the folks that talk smack about every single new thing that comes out.  I can certainly understand reactions to some of the egregious special edition changes.  I'm totally with you.  But it seems some are never happy, no matter what is presented to them.  Are you guys really even fans?  Because it sounds like you hate Star Wars.  It might be time to put your money where your mouth is, toss all your Star Wars memorabilia in the trash, and move on with your life.  We should be happy about the things that are happening!  For fuck sake, we're getting new Star Wars content!  Lucas wasn't going to make any more films before the Disney deal happened!

And I know, I know...Disney is retconning the Expanded Universe.  Here's a tissue.  Shhh...look at me.  Let's be honest with ourselves.  The Expanded Universe was an addled, plot hole peppered, disorganized, jumbled mess.  It was comprised of ideas from countless authors, video game developers, et cetera, without a clear plan to keep everything cohesive as a whole.  Personally, I was always disinterested in the New Jedi Order content.  It seemed too scattershot; too all-over-the-place.  The Yuuzhan Vong?  I realize they were aliens from a different galaxy, but they never clicked with me as being truly Star Wars.

Now that the story is being organized and molded into a cohesive timeline by the "Lucasfilm Story Group", I think we're really going to see a much more interesting backstory, as well as future plot lines beyond Return of the Jedi.  Besides...what were they supposed to do?  Simply transpose everything that happens with the EU New Jedi Order into the third trilogy of films?  That would be a yawn-fest.  Every fan would already know what happens as soon as the tile crawl pops up.  So I think veering off the beaten path is the best thing they could've done.  Let's make things fresh again.  Let's toss that tired old confusing Expanded Universe in the filing cabinet.  Time to move on with something that ties everything (films, tv, comics, video games, novels, etc) into a more consistent continuity.

That's not to say I don't have my reservations about the new direction with the Star Wars universe.  Of course there's always that lingering, "what if?" in the back of my mind.  But considering what Disney has already done with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I have faith that they'll handle this franchise in the right way.  To be completely honest, there's too much money riding on it.  They know the rabid nature of Star Wars fans.  I think the Disney decision-makers will allow the artists free creative reign to make something great.  I decide to be an optimist.

A word about the prequel trilogy.  Look, I'll agree with the old-school fans that, by and large, the prequels are crap compared to the originals.  Episode III was better than both Episodes I and II, but not by much.  In fact, Wyatt, Scurvy D, and myself watched the saga in the "machete order" back in August.  I highly recommended this viewing order.  For one thing, it cuts out Episode I (need I say more?)  Secondly, it fits everything together in a way that really brings context to the saga as it currently stands.  After you find out that (spoiler alert heh heh) Darth Vader is Luke's father in Episode V, you then proceed to Episode II and III, seeing exactly how Anakin fell to the dark side.  While it brings a more interesting story frame-of-reference, watching it in this order also really raises insights into how badly written the scripts for the prequels were, as well as their poor execution.  You can find our podcast about the machete order below:

I hope you enjoyed our thoughts!  To bring it full circle, as long as the Lucasfilm Story Group stays on the top of their game and there's open collaboration with the script writers and creative teams for each film, I think having spinoff movies dealing with Han Solo and Boba Fett (or even Yoda) could be a good thing.  As long as the content is left in the hands of awesome creative professionals where quality control is taken into account, I can see potential.  

In my opinion, I know who needs to audition for the part of a younger Han Solo.  I've been subscribed to Anthony Ingruber's Youtube channel for years now.  Here's an older video of him doing a Han Solo impersonation:

Click HERE if you can't view the embedded video.

I'm hoping this guy tries out for the role.  He looks the part and I feel he gets the line delivery down spot on.  Of course, there's a big difference between impersonating existing film footage and delivering original lines of dialogue.  But he's already slated to portray a young Harrison Ford in the 2015 movie The Age of Adaline.  That might just get his foot in the door.

I'm sure I could babble on for ages about Star Wars.  Even the new Episode VII crossguard lightsaber, which has sparked all kinds of memes across the internet.  I think they're pretty damn funny.  I could definitely see how the saber could benefit from a more practical design.  However, there's so much yet to be seen.  I'd like to think the design was purposeful.  There's no telling until we see Episode VII.

To wrap it all up, Disney's ongoing plot points have been supposedly planned from the get-go.  And as long as that holds true, 2015 and beyond stands to be an incredible time for the resurgence of the franchise.  In that spirit, I'm choosing to forget all about midi-chlorians and instead, I'm relying on a little faith in the Force.

P.S. - They better not mention fucking midi-chlorians ever again.  Please just forget about them, guys.  The Force is a mysterious thing that doesn't need explaining.  Thanks.

'Spellsmith' (Prologue)

Just to preface things, about five or so years ago, Xplicit and I were emailing short stories back and forth just for shits and giggles.  We were coming up with the dumbest, most random stuff we could imagine.  Lots of non sequiturs and the like.  I started telling the tale of a mad sorcerer named Alabaster Spellsmith, who was teleported onto an iceberg in the middle of the ocean by his old wizardly rival.  He then embarked on a ridiculous journey of revenge.

I've always been a fan of books like Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  Fiction that takes place in vibrant, living worlds, but also incorporates a silly, clever sense of humor.  I've always found the comedy of those books to be very reminiscent of Monty Python, which is likely why I dig them so much.  Both authors were British, which makes sense.  So I guess 'Spellsmith' was kind of my unintentional homage to that.

The stories I emailed started to grow longer and more complex as it went on.  And while random weirdness was always present, it became a little more subdued and the descriptions became more elaborate as the chapters progressed.  You can check out the originals HERE.  

I always wanted to reboot this series, because I see the potential in it.  But I always considered most of the original series as too off-the-wall and erratic.  The randomness factor needed to be turned down a bit.  Granted, when I first started writing them, I had absolutely no intention of turning this into anything substantial.  So today, I was visited by inspiration and ended up writing a prologue for a reboot of this series.  It ended up being pretty meta, but I kind of like that about it.  I was trying to mold the story in a way where it makes sense that Alabaster can break the fourth wall and toss references about our Earth and pop culture.  I'm not sure where it will go from here, but it may somehow incorporate (probably altered) plot points from the originals.  If you can even consider the originals as having plot.  Anyway, here's what I have so far.

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'Spellsmith' (Prologue)

Greetings, denizen of Earth.  It is an absolute delight to know that you have received this message, whether in book form, or on your magical pocket box.  Is that what you call those things you carry?  The scrying tool you people spend most of your days staring at?  You know, you really should start paying more attention to the world around you.  Look.  That nice person over there would like to talk to you, but you keep gawking at that thing in your hand instead of socializing.  I mean, I don’t walk around carrying my scrying bowl wherever I go.  Oh dear.  I’m digressing, aren’t I?  Apologies, stranger.

I must let you know this.  What you are reading marks an incredible feat, achieved by none other than yours truly.  My name is Alabaster Spellsmith, sorcerer extraordinaire.  I am not of your world...or universe even.  You may believe that this text is a simple work of fiction.  That this is a novel, written by an imaginative (or at the very least, mentally disturbed) author.  It is not.  I have managed to cast a mind-control spell upon this hapless Earthling in order to tell you my story.  

So allow me to take a moment and apologize to the writer of my words.  I am sorry, Mr. Jameson.  But I had to take control of someone in order to send my message to Earth.  You just so happened to fit the bill.  Your mental fortitude is, shall we say, lacking.  Perhaps you should invest in bolstering it.  Like taking a meditation course...or even going back to school to further your education.  Let me put it in terms you may understand, Forrest: You botched your saving throw.  It was an epic fail.  I know it might seem like I have violated your personal space by temporarily hijacking your brain, my friend.  But you should take joy in the distinct privilege of being my narrator, for this is a monumental day in the history of inter-universal communications.  I do, however, apologize if your peers now believe you have dissociative identity disorder.  My bad.

It is immensely difficult to directly interact with alternate universes, particularly Universe Two-Twenty, the universe in which your incredible solar system and myriad galaxies float.  In fact, magic practitioners from my world believed it to be impossible.  Oh, talented magicians have long had the ability to observe alternate universes.  I, for instance, have been inspecting Earth for quite some time now.  You'd be amazed what a scrying glass, a pinch of Divination magic, and a lot of time on your hands can reveal.  But to break the Fourth Wall (the barrier between universes) and cast a spell that influences another world in this manner?  Inconceivable.  Many Maestrans have attempted fruitlessly over the millennia and all of them have failed.  Except for me.  That should clue you in to how incredibly talented (and undoubtedly humble) I am.

Let me tell you a little bit about where I’m from.  My universe, Universe Eleventy-Two, is a bit different from your universe.  And by "a bit different", I actually mean “completely out of left field.”  That is a phrase from your world, yes?  Am I using it correctly?  Anyway, perhaps you will find all of this easier to digest if I keep things somewhat simple.  Not that I think you are stupid, dear reader.  Please don’t take it that way.  

Imagine a snow globe; one of those amusing little diversions you Earthlings love so much.  In essence, my world, the world of Maestra, from the towering peaks of the Vaultavar Mountains to my humble abode on Ebonlocke Island, is literally contained inside of a tiny cosmic snow globe.  It is a single, brilliant blue marble amongst countless others, in all colors of the spectrum...each marble containing its own unique world.  These worldspheres, Maestra included, are the property of an all-powerful entity referred to as the Scribe of Time.  None of us are quite clear about the Scribe's origins; how long he has been around, what his hobbies are, what his marital status is, or if he's really even a "he" in the first place.  

What we do know is that he resides in a divine plane of existence known as the Yonder.  It is there that the Scribe of Time keeps his vast collection of shining worlds.  You can think of the Yonder as my universe's version of your "outer space", though it is fundamentally quite different.  Your "outer space" is a black void of nothingness inhabited by an endless mess of rocks and gas.  The Yonder is an infinitely huge library at the edge of reality.  Yes, an actual library.  It is here that the Scribe eternally writes out each world's history, as they occur, into the Sovereign Scripture.  Which brings us to the burning questions that have been at the heart of religious debates on Maestra for thousands of years:

Do we as individuals make our own decisions, or is it simply the Scribe making our decisions for us?

Are we nothing more than fictitious characters in the Scribe's giant celestial novel?  If so, why doesn't he write a million gold coins into my bank account?

If the Scribe is in complete control of our lives, why did he make me get drunk last week and drive my horse-drawn carriage into the pond?  What was the purpose of that?  Is he a sadist?

Yet again, I digress.  In truth, the theological discussions in Maestra are far more colorful and diverse, depending on who you're talking to.

Maestran magic users have been aware of the Yonder for quite some time, through Divination magic.  But it was the Azure Alchemists of Cerulean Terrace who first attempted to actually go there.  Emeritus Penultimo, a powerful member of the Emeriti (the Alchemists' ruling council), managed to break through the surface of Maestra's worldsphere and stepped foot into the Yonder itself.  Penultimo was able to establish a communication spell with his colleagues back home.  But there was one itty bitty problem.  Time passes unfathomably slow in the Yonder, compared to Maestra.  To the other Emeriti, his image appeared to be frozen.  To this very day, over 300 years later, poor Penultimo's enchanted apparition still stands in the heart of the Azure Conclave, his voice a constant bassy hum as he slowly finishes his first words of contact, "Umm, hello."  The Alchemists predict that he will complete his first full sentence in the next few millennia.

It's a bit depressing, really; knowing that your world is one of many mantelpieces in the collection of some sick celestial librarian.  You should feel privileged that you have such a liberated universe where you can shuttle about at will...with real stars...and real asteroids that threaten to smash into your planet.  Maestra's stars are merely the Scribe's complex illusion, the Veil, cast upon the surface of our worldsphere at the beginning of time.  In fact, if a Maestran looks very intently on a cloudless night, he or she may see the faint bookshelves of the Yonder behind the artificial star-spangled sky.  And if you're lucky, you might even see the Scribe's massive head as he peers into the sphere of Maestra like a creepy stalker.

So now you know a little more about my world.  I hope the information was satisfying...and perhaps it has made you pity us Maestrans in some paltry fashion.  But I suppose right about now, you are wondering the true reason why I have contacted you.  You are wondering if there is some great significance to all of this; like I am about to declare you the Chosen One and teleport you to Maestra for some great quest.  Well, to be honest with you, this colossal effort was simply an experiment to see if I am actually as awesome as I think I am.  Clearly, the answer is a resounding yes.  And now that I have your attention, perhaps I could tell you a little tale.  A tale about the incredible odyssey that is my life.

Photography

Yessir.  Or ma'am.  I enjoy photography...or "doin' da snappy snap" as I like to call it...  *shrug*

I only started doing it about 2 years ago.  So by and large, I'm still a novice.  However, I'm learning new techniques all the time.  Currently, I'd have to say my favorite shots to take are night photos with long exposure times.  There's something interesting about having the shutter open for 30 seconds without knowing what's going to happen.  I enjoy the experimental aspects of the process, served with a hefty side of luck.  

A bus could pass by, leaving unique streaks of light.  Or not.  An SUV could stop within the frame, lingering just long enough to create the transparent, ghostly image of a vehicle.  Or not.  And you don't exactly know what the shot will look like until the shutter snaps shut and you see your photo flicker to life on the screen.  Hell...the Raleigh "Trolley Pub" could pedal by your camera, full of a bunch of loud, drunken dumbasses, each one shouting at you to "Wooo! Take mah piiiictuuuure!"  You never know...it could produce the coolest shot you got all night.  Happened to me.  Not a single drunken dumbass in the photo.  Just the lights of the trolley.

I most recently took a number of night photos in downtown Raleigh.  You can find them in the gallery below, along with everything else I have done so far.



Hope you enjoyed that.  I'll leave you with another karaoke track.  I figured "Santa Baby" would be appropriate.  When I joined this duet, I realized (to my horror) that the lyrics weren't going to appear on my screen like usual.  So, since I didn't have the lyrics memorized, I just decided to be take the ridiculous route.  

Happy holidays!

Rambling Salutations

Hello, internet!  You can call me Forrest Jameson (aka Fo-Jay).  I'm a proud member of the hip hop group 40 Psychic Frames.  You may (or may not) have heard of us, but we've been at this music thing for a while.  Going on 12 years, to be precise (holy shit...reality check whenever I think of that).  So we have a ton of musical material out there already.  But we've been working on a new album for the past couple years and I'm pretty damn sure it's going to be the best work we've ever done.  Anthony Jackson has been killing it on the production tip and everything is just falling into place very nicely.  Anyway, I'll drop you all a line when it's ready for public ears.

So...this is my blog, huh?  *glances around*  Nice place.  Fair warning, though.  I'm notorious for starting these types of things, only to let them fall by the wayside as the newest interest catches my eye.  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, SQUIRREL!!!  *cough*  But yeah, I'm generally bad about keeping these social media-esque things up to date.  So that's my disclaimer.  There I go dropping the clairvoyance, predicting the fate of this blog.  Or am I?  Hmmm...perhaps this time things will be different?  Perhaps.

Sometimes I wonder if I have attention deficit disorder.  Because the same thing happens to me with video games.  I'm all for starting things...but finishing them?  That's the challenge for me.  Mass Effect 3, for instance.  I loved the first two games and was stoked to play the third.  And I did...for maybe two hours.  Then it sat on a shelf while I played a different game...until I finally sold all of my Xbox 360 stuff to buy a PS4.  And it's not that it was a bad game.  I just got distracted.

Hell...right now, I have GTA V, Dragon Age Inquisition, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, Far Cry 4, AND World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor.  AT THE SAME TIME!  My head's spinning, game-wise.  Maybe that's a good indication that I should spend less time playing video games and spend more time doing productive things.  

Sometimes I think of how much time I've spent with a controller in my hand instead of a writing utensil or a musical instrument.  How many more skills could I have developed or projects could I have finished?  I have a sci-fi novel that remains unfinished and I haven't worked on it solidly in over a year.  It could have been completed by now, if my priorities were different.  Same thing with getting my voice acting stuff up and running.  Maybe things should change.  Maybe this blog will help get the creative juices flowing again.  We'll see.  Oh, look!  Another squirrel!

So what will be the format of this blog?  No clue.  Well, okay...maybe I kinda have a clue.  As you can see above, there will be random stream-of-consciousness babbling.  I imagine this could also be an outlet for the creative things I do in my life, whether it's writing, music, photography, or what have you.

Anyway, I'll let you go for now.  Here.  As a goodbye present, here's a karaoke track of me singing a Johnny Cash song with some chick.  You're welcome.

Oh yeah...I love karaoke.  Catch you on the flip.  *mic drop*