Greetings from my Social Media Break

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, friends!

I started my social media hiatus on Friday, December 15th, which was about ten days ago. I drove up to the University of Vermont that day to pick up my eldest daughter Hannah, making it easy to leave Facebook and Twitter behind. I'd found myself getting a little too obsessed with seeing reaction to things I'd written, mostly for As For Football, over the previous months. I therefore wanted to break the habit of checking in with the world-at-large. 

Merry Christmas from Casa Cabeza!

It had gotten a little too easy to doom-scroll my way through the day, and with that had come a lot of unfiltered bullshit. Too much of what passes for opinion comes from miserable bastards looking to outsource their own unhappiness. I've missed interacting with AFF's Firstie Club, but the cold turkey approach seemed like the best thing for the moment, and here we are.

I've read quite a bit, I've listened to a few audiobooks from my local library, and I've watched a few movies. The beauty of all of this is that I've gotten to do it in the vacuum of my own space, allowing an easier place from which to form my own opinions.

Quick Thoughts: The Mandalorian Season 3 Finale (Spoilers)

Spoiler alert: this post is totally going to have spoilers for the Mandalorian Season 3 finale.

5 Things on a Friday: Back on the Bandwagon

5 Things on a Friday returns for a special NFL Playoff/MLB Cheating edition.  Enjoy!

I don’t want national media respect anymore. I want them to have to cover the Tennessee Titans in the Super Bowl which is their worst nightmare.

— Two Tone Fanatics (@twotonefanatics) January 14, 2020

Thoughts on Solo & the Star Wars Universe

We saw Solo: A Star Wars Story over the weekend.  Everybody liked it okay.  I don’t think it was anyone’s idea of a great movie, and even my kids saw some of those closing double-crosses coming, but it was still entertaining, and that’s fine.

5 Things on a Friday: A Tough Week

Happy Friday, folks.

It’s a somber Friday for me and a lot of my friends.  We lost a classmate this week, apparently from complications arising from the flu, and that is not an easy thing.  I didn’t know Jimmy particularly well, and it feels like a real shame because he was obviously a great guy.  Many, many of the memorials from those close to him have mentioned his ready sense of humor and easy smile.  Those things can be rare commodities in the daily grind at West Point, and sometimes, they are the only things that help you stay sane.  Guys like that are often the most important people in your class.  The guys who can make you laugh amidst all that stress, those are the guys that you never forget.

Jimmy was a former Army Football defensive back, a doting father, and a successful grad in everyday life.  He was clearly in excellent physical condition as well, so his passing will have hit his family completely out of nowhere.  I hate that.  I feel it like a physical blow.  His family noted in their announcement that he had chosen to be an organ donor, so someone else will live because of Jimmy.  That is cold comfort, but it speaks to the man’s character.

Well done, Jimmy.  Be thou at peace.

5 Things on a Friday: The "Media Rights" Edition

Happy Friday, everyone!

5 Things on a Friday: #ArmyTop25

Happy Friday, folks.  And Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Stay with me today.  This may get a bit involved once we get into some of the math down below.

Star Wars: Looking Forward to Episode IX

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the days since The Last Jedi was released, it’s that looking at a new Star Wars movie with too much expectation is a fool’s errand.  Not because the movie will or won’t be great but because the franchise’s fandom maybe feels a bit too much ownership of decisions over which it has no control.  

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Maybe I’d be disappointed in the new trilogy if I hadn’t already lived through the prequels as an adult.  When they came out, though, I already had a lifetime of Star Wars fandom in the rearview.  Which is why I think the folks who’re disappointed now have maybe lost a bit of perspective.  I remember the hype leading up to The Phantom Menace.  I remember searching in vain for some hint of the spark that once animated the Galaxy Far, Far Away.  Personally, I think the anti-cheese edit goes a long way towards redeeming Phantom Menace, proving that there’s a legitimately great story in there that just happens to be stuck behind a lot of George Lucas’s self-indulgent impulses and (lack of) editing.  Attack of the Clones, however, is God-awful, and nothing I’ve ever seen can save it, not even the last two seasons of The Clone Wars, which I loved.

As it is, I’m just happy that there’s more Star Wars, that it’s fun, and that it looks on track to continue.

Quick Thoughts: The Last Jedi

Hannah, Emma, and I finally saw The Last Jedi (TLJ) on Sunday, and for all that it has been hyped up, trashed, and spoiled online, we really liked it.  I’d probably give it four stars out of five, and that’s on first viewing.  I liked The Force Awakens (TFA) much more on second viewing because I noticed a lot of little things that I hadn’t seen the first time through.  I’ll never be the same ten-year-old boy I was when I experienced The Empire Strike Back (ESB) for the first time, but I’ve still really enjoyed both installments of the new trilogy.  I like them more, for example, than I liked Rogue One.  Both movies took us into uncharted territory, but that’s doubly true of TLJ, and that’s something that we badly needed.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

My initial thoughts on the movie are below.  These include detailed spoilers.  You have been warned.

5 Things on a Friday: The Last Jedi Awakens

It’s finally here, am I right?

I mean, seriously, this is two perfect weekends in a row.  Army-Navy and now The Last Jedi.  How cool is that?

5 Things on a Friday: To Watch or Not to Watch?

The Yankees have moved on to the ALCS, I’ve fixed my running stride, and there’s a new Star Wars trailer out.  That’s not a bad week.

5 Things on a Friday: Are Non-Partisan Politics a Thing?

This week’s post comes back to politics, though I hope not in a particularly partisan way.  I’ve definitely done partisan politics on the blog, but with notable exceptions, the point of this column has always been to talk about what’s going on and why I think it’s important.  Ideally, that’s not the same as me telling you what you should think.  Of course, your mileage may vary.

Reality is that we all have opinions, and while some are clearly wrong, it’s just as clearly no use trying to explain that to anybody.  This column is therefore a study of what caught my eye in a week’s worth of new.  This comes hopefully without preaching, either to the converted or to the heathen masses.

5 Things on a Friday: A New Kind of Star Wars

It’s a lot of entertainment news this week.  I’ll do my best to keep it quick.

5 Things on a Friday: Who Is the Last Jedi?

They say that if you can’t say anything nice, don’t day anything at all.

Preview

👋😀Hello to my new followers/friends!! 👊😎THANK YOU for the kind words and support! I am inspired daily by the love shown here. #starwarsfans #starwarsfan #elihyder #forceawakens #theforceawakens #episodeviii #episode8 #starwars #starwarsviii #thelastjedi #jedi #sithlord #sith #lightsaber #daisyridley #adamdriver #rey #kyloren #kylo #starwarstoys #rogueone #starwarsrebels #darthvader #skywalker #lukeskywalker #knightsofren #marvel #lucasfilm #snoke #disney

A photo posted by Eli Hyder (@venamis) on Jan 25, 2017 at 8:08am PST

5 Things on a Friday: Let's Hope We Make It to Star Wars

It’s kind of a good news, bad news sort of day.  

Bad news: the Son of Satan will be inaugurated later today as 45th President of the United States, beginning a process that will inevitably trigger World War III, the Apocalypse, and possibly the Rapture, depending on whether you believe in those sorts of things.  Even if you don’t, now might be a good time to start reading the Book of Revelations—for near-term investment advice—or to perhaps start praying for the future of humanity.  Your choice.

5 Things on a Friday: Still Celebrating

I don’t know about you, but I’m still celebrating Army’s season.  Or maybe waiting for next season.

2016 Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl Champions! #GoArmy #HODBowl pic.twitter.com/tntnREevec

— Army WP Football (@ArmyWP_Football) December 28, 2016

As of this writing, there are 241 days until kickoff at Michie Stadium, and yeah, I think college football withdrawal is gonna be a bitch this year.

Friday Mad Science: On Star Wars & the Nature of Rebellion

The last trailer for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story dropped yesterday, and it looks impressive.  Most impressive...

5 Things on a Friday: Trouble on Rogue One

Happy Friday, everyone!

It was a short week at our house, and yet it still felt incredibly full.  How the Hell does that happen?

5 Things on a Friday: No More Politics

I finally realized over the weekend that if I keep doing politics every week, I’m not only going to drive away my readers, I’m actually going to drive myself crazy.  So no politics this week, and from here on out, I’m going to try to keep it to a dull roar.  Yes, that is a potentially significant challenge.  However, all that crap is not only pointless, it’s also tearing this country apart.  

I’m done with it.