Questions you want answered.

I think the whole point of the last trilogy was that nobody owns the force. Both Luke and Ben realized that the force can't be bound by a set of rules imposed by a system of belief. All the old canon, which was originally an attempt to contextualize the force, led to corruption. There isn't a dark side and a light side, there is only the intent of the individual.

One of the authors of the huge library of expanded universe books had an interesting idea: his suggestion was that the more you actively used the Force, the darker you became. If you were bending it to your will, that was the process of going darkside. Letting the Force work through you when it felt the need, he suggested, was the light side.

Don't remember who it was, though. Maybe Timothy Zahn?

I've never followed the EU except for the cRPGS, but for me The Last Jedi set me up for the HUGE disappointment that Rise of Skywalker was for me. TLJ promised this more nuanced viewpoint on The Force, on heroism (see: Finn's bravado not being rewarded), etc. and then RoS completely negated anything interesting that might ever come from the Star Wars universe.

dejanzie wrote:

I've never followed the EU except for the cRPGS, but for me The Last Jedi set me up for the HUGE disappointment that Rise of Skywalker was for me. TLJ promised this more nuanced viewpoint on The Force, on heroism (see: Finn's bravado not being rewarded), etc. and then RoS completely negated anything interesting that might ever come from the Star Wars universe.

Disclosure: I love the most recent trilogy.

You’ve given me something worth thinking about. What a wonderful critique of RoS. Thank you.

Remember that the Jedi operated successfully for tens of thousands of years as "good guys," but that was when they were primarily neutral peacekeepers. They only picked a side when the aggressors were Sith. In non-sith conflicts they would only fight to get the aggressor to agree to start negotiations for a peaceful resolution instead of trying for a military victory. Until they learned the Seperatists were being secretly led by a Sith Lord, they were willing to let Naboo be taken over.

Stengah wrote:

Remember that the Jedi operated successfully for tens of thousands of years as "good guys," but that was when they were primarily neutral peacekeepers. They only picked a side when the aggressors were Sith. In non-sith conflicts they would only fight to get the aggressor to agree to start negotiations for a peaceful resolution instead of trying for a military victory. Until they learned the Seperatists were being secretly led by a Sith Lord, they were willing to let Naboo be taken over.

I hate the "thousands of year/generations/etc." trope. Nearly no technology change has happened for the majority of those centuries, but now suddenly everything changes.
/Tangential rant

lunchbox12682 wrote:
Stengah wrote:

Remember that the Jedi operated successfully for tens of thousands of years as "good guys," but that was when they were primarily neutral peacekeepers. They only picked a side when the aggressors were Sith. In non-sith conflicts they would only fight to get the aggressor to agree to start negotiations for a peaceful resolution instead of trying for a military victory. Until they learned the Seperatists were being secretly led by a Sith Lord, they were willing to let Naboo be taken over.

I hate the "thousands of year/generations/etc." trope. Nearly no technology change has happened for the majority of those centuries, but now suddenly everything changes.
/Tangential rant

IMAGE(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/a9/7e/40/a97e40b96e962d730a79ef249f3563c9.jpg)

The Fire Nation didn't attack. It was actually a gender reveal that went badly sideways.

Friends don't let Fire Nation friends do gender reveal parties.

Now that you mention it, that does seem like a pretty good fire nation costume.
Or Jet's group.

[duranduran]Until we dance into the fieeyaaah[/duranduran]

When I think about it now, "the Jedi were guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy for millenia" doesn't strike me as a good thing. No organization holds on to that much power for that long without spending significant effort to keep that power. I think about how much more good could have been done if the Jedi weren't the sole custodians of Force knowledge.

How many billions of stable sweeping children out there in the galaxy never met their full potential because the Jedi never found them? It reminds me of the Catholic gatekeeping of literacy in the middle ages. Only far worse, because Force knowledge is more powerful than literacy, and it went on for many thousands of years.

BadKen wrote:

When I think about it now, "the Jedi were guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy for millenia" doesn't strike me as a good thing. No organization holds on to that much power for that long without spending significant effort to keep that power. I think about how much more good could have been done if the Jedi weren't the sole custodians of Force knowledge.

How many billions of stable sweeping children out there in the galaxy never met their full potential because the Jedi never found them? It reminds me of the Catholic gatekeeping of literacy in the middle ages. Only far worse, because Force knowledge is more powerful than literacy, and it went on for many thousands of years.

That's not a story the Jedi are likely to tell you.

What is the least sexy way you have seen food advertised?

Brought to you by "Over 2 feet of cheese". Well that pizza tagline is awful.

Every Taco Bell advert from the past 35 years.

There was an ad for Heinz ketchup a few decades ago in Quebec, where a kid would dump what looked like a whole bottle on fries. Looked really bad.

The current series of Hormel Chili advertisements that are a lot like the dance scene from Beetlejuice. People take one bite of a chili dog and then get possessed and start dancing as the chili dog floats around the room.

Why do you hate Beetlejuice?

The Ore-Ida "Potato Pay" ads were just disturbing. Bribe your kids to eat a few peas by feeding them French fries and tater tots, yeah, that's healthy. Plus you're teaching them that everything is transactional...

Definitely not sexy.

Same goes for the kraft mac n cheese. Somehow your kid refusing to eat broccoli turns into Enya induced koombai yah wit a spoonful of mac n cheese.

Kumbaya, I think it is. I was taught (in church) that it was some kind of African patois for "Come by here". But it's actually Gullah, from Georgia, and the song was "collected" in the 1920's during a musical survey of the area.

It also doesn't mean "come by here," it means "white missionaries suck."

It's a really good example of white folk taking credit for the artistry of black people.

Like Robear said, the earliest known recording of the song (called "Come by Here" or "Come by Heah") was recorded in the 1920's in Georgia (that's the state of Georgia, not the country). It originated with the Gullah people who are descended from West Africans enslaved in the American South.

However, a white man named Reverend Martin Frey claimed ownership of the song and is still often credited as its author. He claims to have written the song in the late '30s when he was a teenager, then the song was taken to Angola by missionaries where it morphed from "Come By Here" into "Kum Bah Ya". His New York Times obituary credits him with writing the song as well as others, but archivists dug up the original recordings in the Library of Congress in 2016.

Doesn't change the fact that getting your kids to eat mac n cheese in lieu of broccoli is a good idea.

Counterpoint: Mac & cheese doesn’t make me feel like a 50-foot tall giant when I eat it.

There is a such thing as broccoli and cheese, you know.

(Just had some for dinner...it's wonderful!)

Mac and cheese is a great veggie carrier, I usually 'hide' leek in there.

edit: sneak a leek in there would have been better

Attention Merphle! Your wish has been granted.

Robear wrote:

Attention Merphle! Your wish has been granted.

LOL

I still prefer it without the macaroni, but that was funny.

Robear wrote:

Attention Merphle! Your wish has been granted.

Looks delicious, and something that my kids would never touch.