Entries from September 2004 ↓

Remember back in November, when I posted a list of rumored changes that were to appear on the DVD release of the Orignal Star Wars Trilogy? Well, it’s out now, and I’ve watched all three movies; so let’s go through the list together, shall we?

Episode IV: A New Hope

01. The Imperial March has been added to Darth Vader’s first appearance on Princess Leia’s ship. - Nope

02. When Obi-Wan is talking to Luke about his father, Anakin’s Theme plays in the background and then it turns into the Imperial March as he talks about Vader. - Nope

03. The lightsaber effects have been redone and the frame jumps of lightsabers being turned on has been removed. Yes, and they look much better.

04. There’s a new scene which has been shot during the filming of Episode III in which the Emperor dissolves the Senate Nope

05. In the Cantina, the Duros (green aliens guys) have been replaced with Neimoidians and some aliens from the prequels have been added. Nope

06. The bleeding arm on the floor in the Cantina has been replaced with a non-bleeding arm because it’s now canon that lightsabers cauterize wounds. Nope

07. The original shooting scene between Han and Greedo has been restored. Not really. Greedo still shoots first, but at least this time, Han doesn’t count to 10 Mississippi before shooting back.

08. Jabba the Hutt has been given a makeover and Han no longer steps on his tail. Yes and no. Jabba looks more like he did in Episode I, but Han still steps on his tail.

09. In place of R2 wobbling down the stairs to the Falcon’s hangar, a CG R2 navigating the stairs like he does in Attack of the Clones was added. Nope

10. The white boxes around space ships have been removed and new CG shots have been added. Nope. You can still see the black boxes around the space ships.

11. The scene of the Falcon being chased by the two Star Destroyers was modified. The Falcon now does spinning moves, avoiding the Star Destroyers’ fire. Nope

12. When the Death Star destroys Alderaan there’s a new scene of Yoda’s reaction to the disturbance in the Force that is created by all those deaths. It then cuts to Obi-Wan reacting to it as well. Nope

13. The Dianoga (trash compactor monster) has gotten a CG makeover, and were are now able to see more of the creature. Nope

14. The Death Star’s paneling and computers have been slightly altered to show similar displays to those in the prequels. Only in as much as the language displayed is now Aurebesh, and not Basic (aka English.)

15. The words “Tractor Beam” with Aurebesh lettering. See above.

16. More stormtroopers have been added to the Death Star. Nope

17. Some Storm Troopers will wear clone like armor. Nope

18. The Obi-Wan/Vader duel has been spruced up. It is much more epic and there is much more movement. A modified version of Duel of the Fates is being considered for the scene. Nope

19. The Death Star plans that are taken from R2 have been updated. When the Rebels are reviewing the Death Star plans they look similar to the plans we see in Attack of the Clones. Nope

20. The Death Star battle is much more epic with more Tie Fighters and more Rebels being blown to bits. We get to see old Naboo starfighters being used by the Rebels. Nope

21. There’s a new scene (shot during Episode III) in which Darth Vader goes to Coruscant and lands his ship in the same building Count Dooku does at the end of Attack of the Clones. This time, the building is all fixed up and it is now Palpatine’s palace. Vader meets with Palpatine to ask for forgiveness for his failure and to inform him of a new potential who is strong in the Force. Nope

22. Chewbacca now gets a medal. Nope

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

01. The taun-tauns are now CG. Nope

02. The battle of Hoth is much more epic. We see the Imperial ships land on Hoth and release AT-ATs. The AT-ATs have been sped up a bit. There’s a ground battle between the Rebel soldiers and stormtroopers featuring new ships and vehicles. Nope

03. Temuera Morrison’s (Jango Fett) voice is being recorded for the older stormtroopers. Nope

04. The white boxes around space ships have been removed. Nope

05. The slug monster is CG. Nope

06. Ian McDiarmid has refilmed scenes as the Emperor. The conversations between Vader and Palpatine are now longer and feature a few connections to the prequels. Yes and no. McDiarmid has done the scenes, but they are exactly the same as before.

07. Yoda’s face is now animated in CG allowing more expression of emotions, yet his movements remain the same. Also, two deleted scenes featuring Yoda instructing Luke have been restored. Nope

08. A new scene was shot in which the stormtroopers, after they capture Han, Leia and Chewie, bring Vader the box containing C-3PO in pieces. Vader orders the stormtroopers to bring the broken droid to Chewbacca’s cell so that he can fix him. Nope

09. The lightsaber effects have been redone in certain parts. See comment from Episode IV.

10. Luke’s fall from Cloud City has been reshot against bluescreen using a stuntman. Not that I could tell. Which means it could very well have happened, but I can’t really see why.

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

01. Jabba the Hutt is now a combination of the puppet and CG. Nope

02. The Rancor is CG and looks as disgusting as ever. Nope

03. Yoda is CG. Yoda disappears leaving his clothes behind like Obi-Wan now. Nope

04. Saber effects were spruced up. See comments for Episode IV.

05. The plan is to insert the love theme Across the Stars when Luke is talking with Leia about their mother. Nope

06. Temuera Morrison’s, like before, is now the voice for some stormtroopers. Nope

07. In the battle of Endor there more Ewoks and they are more vicious. Nope

08. White boxes around ships removed. See comment from Episode IV.

09. The black blotches around Palpatine’s face are gone. I guess I never noticed.

10. Some of the lightsaber effects have been redone. The shadows that the lightsabers made on the floor are gone. Nope

11. During Anakin’s death scene a sad rendition of the Imperial March plays, which slowly evolves into Anakin’s Theme. Nope

12. Anakin’s spirit is now played by Hayden Christenson with make-up to make him look his age. He looks on proudly at his son Luke with the spirit of Padme by his side. Yes and no. Hayden’s there, but no Natalie.

Ashley Cole’s 14th minute strike was enough to give Arsenal the win at Man Citeh this morning.

That’s really the only positive thing I can say about this match. Well, I suppose I could mention that Jens Lehmann played well. He didn’t get rattled by the Man City players who were attempting to wind him up, and that counts for something. Also, Sol Campbell made a most welcome return, and had a solid game.

I think the story of this match was the lack of finishing. Henry, Reyes, and Ljungberg all had chances - Freddie’s coming within seconds of the opening kickoff. All of them went begging. Dennis didn’t play particularly well today. Vieira had a solid match, and seems to be slowly regaining his sea legs.

Lets hope that the offense shows up on Wednesday in Norway against Rosenborg.

Check out the newest U2 song, “Vertigo” here:

Vertigo

I love it!!!!!!! It sounds like new U2 meets early U2 via 1997 U2, so basically, it sounds like U2!

(If you’re a U2 fan, that last sentence made sense.)

“Vertigo”

Unos, dos, tres, catorce
Turn it up loud, captain

Lights go down
It’s dark, the jungle is
Your head can’t rule your heart
I’m feeling so much stronger
Than I thought
Your eyes are wide
And though your soul
It can’t be bought
Your mind can wander

Hello, hello
Hola
I’m at a place called Vertigo
Dond’ esta
It’s everything I wish I didn’t know
Except you give me something I can feel
Feel

The night is full of holes
These bullets rip the sky
Of ink with gold
They twinkle
As the boys play rock and roll
They know that they can’t dance
At least they know

I can sell the beats
I’m asking for the check
Girl with crimson nails
Has Jesus ’round her neck
Swinging to the music
Swinging to the music

Hello, hello
Hola
I’m at a place called Vertigo
Dond’ esta
It’s everything I wish I didn’t know
But you give me something I can feel
Feel

Shot dead
Shots fall
Show me, yeah

All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want
And no one gets hurt

Hello, hello
Hola
We’re at a place called Vertigo
Dond’ esta
Lights go down and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how
How to kneel
Kneel

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Doris has crossed the Mississippi (barely) and is settling into her new home in Minneapolis. Since I couldn’t make the trip, and dad ended up catching pnuemonia just a few days before having to leave, Uncle Joe and Aunt Daisy stepped in to join Doris on her cross-country treck. Uncle Joe sent some photos of the move, which I’ve posted here to share. I’ve sent the password to those on the family mailing list. Enjoy them here.

This past Sunday, KA and I had lunch with her parents at the Delaware Saengerbund where they were celebrating Oktoberfest. We drank some great beer and ate some fantastic bratwursts. I had Black Forest cake for dessert and KA had the plum tart. Everything was quite tasty. The music and dancing was authentic, as the band had been imported from Austria. Check out pictures here: Oktoberfest

Who knows what the playoffs hold in store for us? What we do know is that talk of the Yankees demise was a bit premature. After a very disappointing blown save by Mariano Rivera on Friday night gave the Red Sox a 3-2 come from behind win, Boston was only 2 1/2 games behind the Yanks in the standings. However, led by Derek Jeter, this year’s Yankees showed their mettle by winning the next two games at Yankee Stadium by a combined score of 25-5. The wins pretty much render meaningless next weekend’s series at Fenway Park. The Red Sox have 14 games left, the Yankees 13. Boston trails the Yankees by four games in the loss column. If the Yankees were to go merely 7-6 the rest of the way, the Sox would have to go 12-2 just to tie them. The magic number stands at 10.