Happy (Belated) Birthday Star Wars!

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

(Bah bom, bom, ba dada, dom dom, ba dada dom, dom, dada da dom)

May 25, 1977 - A day that will live in cinematic history. The day that a rag-tag group of freedom fighters struck back at the evil Galactic Empire and changed the tides of science fiction history forever (along with the dreams of virtually every American male). Forget Farah Fawcett, Carrie Fisher was the newest babe whose posters were hung up across America. Han Solo became what Steve Miller had claimed to be -- a space cowboy and a gangster of love. Luke Skywalker (as dorky as he was) became the man who fired the shot, the proverbial death knell, which ultimately put the Empire out of business. C3PO was the first robot that people just wanted to smack. R2D2 became everyone's idea of the perfect robotic sidekick. And Chewbacca -- well, what can you say about a 7-foot-tall crossbow carrying, bandolier wearing mix between a gorilla and a dog - he was just bad-ass.

A few weeks prior, I had just turned three, so I vaguely remember watching Episode IV: A New Hope in the theater. But it was enough to wow me for life.

Star Wars became my favorite thing to watch, talk about, collect, and immerse myself into. It still is. Over time, I collected most of the toys (which, even though worse for wear, are packed away in my parents' attic). I've bought all of the multiple formats and versions of the original triology. I bought up most of the re-issued toys back in the 90s. I've bought and read most of the books. My wife calls it clutter - I call it treasure.

I can quote the original trilogy almost in its entirety, from beginning to end.

Plain and simple, I love Star Wars. And although I'm not very fond of the new trilogy (Jar Jar in particular), I will always have a fascination for the Star Wars mythology. Star Wars is responsible for my love of Science Fiction. It's probably responsible for my fascination with space exploration as a whole.

On May 24, 1977, I don't think the cinematic world had a clue what was about to happen or what it was in for.

May the force be with you!

Remembering our fallen service members

Theodore Klingensmith is listed Panel 35W - Line 27 of the Vietnam Memorial. Teddy, as he was called, was a cousin of my mother's. He died on January 3, 1969 while serving his country in Vietnam. Teddy was killed before I was even born. I never had a chance to know him, but am proud of him.

In the more than 200 year history of our country, more than 1,004,000 servicemembers have died in the line of duty.

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all of these fallen soldiers for their sacrifice, for the courage, for their honor in defending the very freedom that so many of us take for granted.

We have men and women around the world giving their lives each day so that this nation and our way of life will not perish from the Earth. For that, I am truly grateful. We cry with the families of those fallen soldiers. We mourn their loss, but give thanks that we live in a nation that allows us to follow our dreams.

Today, on Memorial Day, I can't help but think about what this nation, what this world would be like had those soldiers not stepped up in the face of danger and stood their ground. Could we still be ruled by a European power? Could we have split into two countries? Would the Cold War still be going on? Would the terrorists have unleashed even more fury upon American cities?

Despite any differences we all may have, we are all Americans. We should all stand behind our service men and women. We have a right to question our government's policies and actions. But we should not ever show disrespect or anger toward our men and women in uniform for carrying out their orders. We've seen what kind of hurt and animosity that can cause - we saw it as our troops came home from Vietnam, after watching their comrades die in over the skies, in the rice paddies, in the prison camps of Southeast Asia. Never again should we turn our back on them.

When you sit back and watch TV, cruise down the highway in your SUV, eat out at a restaurant, or walk down your local main street just know that men and women are giving their lives so that you can do just that.

Thank you to all our servicemembers, past and present - I am proud of you all.

What just happened?

Sometimes I just go about things the wrong way.

I had a previous blog - about a month old - and I decided that I wanted to change some stuff up, rename it, etc. The two main reasons: The name of the blog was a little long - and nobody really got it. So three days later after screwing it all up, I'm wondering what just happened.

I think I lost all my former posts. Which sucks, 'cause I really liked them.

I guess I'll start over.

So... Welcome to Methodical Mayhem. I know that's more or less a contradiction, an oxymoron of sorts. Frankly, I just thought it sounded cool.