View From the Bushes

The thing last night was not that bad. They promised a very low pressure experience and that's precisely what it was. The dinner was good, the presentation actually interesting, and my wife and I caught up with a couple we haven't seen in a couple of years. Compared to what you fear will happen when someone invites you to a "presentation," this was downright pleasant. Overall there were some interesting ideas, nothing spectacular, which conversely meant we didn't have to deal with any "too good to be true" issues. Frankly, given the free food involved and the lack of any sales pressure, I'd recommend it. But maybe I've just been so successfully brainwashed I don't even realize it.

I came across a link to a very good comparison of the three versions of the Star Wars movies (Original, Special Edition and DVD). Unlike other, similar, comparisons, this one includes pictures of each of the three versions so that you can make your own comparisons. Personally, I thought it was very even handed. In general it spared no praise for the editing which had been done on the DVD version. Of course, the two scenes it is the hardest on are also the biggest, so it probably all evened out at the end. One of the scenes it's particularly harsh with is the scene where Han talks to Jabba, which I confess I feel should have been left on the cutting room floor.

I'm leaving tomorrow to spend the weekend in Arizona for a wedding, so I may or may not get a chance to post before I leave (as in tomorrow's entry). I swung by my FLGS and picked up some D&D books for reading material while I'm gone. These new hardbacks they're coming out with, like the Complete Warrior and Races of Stone are pretty cool. I'm looking forward to getting a chance to page through them on the plane ride, though given how short the flight is from SLC to PHX, I doubt I'll have as much time as I would like.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross