Texas_Fett

I couldn't tell ya...I love the Rebels. The only redeeming qualities of the Empire are the Imperial Star Destroyer and the TIE Defender, IMHO. Oh, and that they see fit to hire cool bounty hunters with lotsa cool toys. But if I had to guess, I think it's because a good sandwich just has to have Miracle Whip (a sandwich just isn't a sandwich without the tangy zip of Miracle Whip... ). Similarly, the whole SW saga wouldn't be nearly as appealing without villians like Vader, Fett, Thrawn, Isard and Zsinj and likable bad-guys like Piett and Pellaeon. And, as we all know, any villian aspiring to ueber-coolness and having his own online fan-club, has to have either: 1) Lotsa cool gadgets; 2) Twinked-out subordinates; 3) A cool ride; 4) Evil supernatural powers and disposition; or 5) all of the above. The Empire just happens to fit the bill for #5.

"An lo, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Texas_Fett and said, 'take heart, o ye of great faith, for verily I say unto you, the MC40a WILL have a texture. Indeed, your prayers hath not fallen upon deaf ears; you shall be able to play with a new MODEL of the MC40a, and it kicketh much Imperial posterior. Go, now, and download yon model, and give thanks to Mask, for he is blessed and good. Amen.' And the peasants rejoiced." WOO YAY!! You DA MAN, Mask!!

I would just like to point out that it's not 'free' money you just got, Gleem. That was an 'interest-free loan' you gave your government and they just got around to paying back. It's money you WOULD have had over the course of the last year, had you not been taxed half to death to begin with. The same euphoria grips Americans every April when they have to file their Federal taxes for the last year. Everyone is ecstatic when they see that they're going to get a 'refund', not bothering to think that that money is THEIRS and they merely loaned it to the government involuntarily. That's why I've tried to adjust my tax deductions to the point where I don't get much of a refund...less money in their hands and more in my pocket throughout the year.

And I've got a good idea what it is, too!

That was a fun one...{sigh} those were the days...

I...cannot...believe how ramblingly off-topic discussions get with y'all! Two pages dedicated to the finer points of Dutch legal technicalities involving hashish in a thread discussing peoples' favorite SW characters...the mind boggles at the association. And that doesn't even include the page-and-a-half devoted to the previous argument! You guys REALLY need to check out the new chat feature...

I keep a Word file on my computer containing quotes I stumble across and like. Here's a sampling: "The price for living in a democracy is that stupid people can vote, say anything they want, and procreate at will." -Unknown "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." - General George Patton (1885-1945) "If a man does his best, what else is there?" - General George S. Patton (1885-1945) "A pint of sweat, saves a gallon of blood." - General George S. Patton (1885-1945) "When I take action I'm not going to fire a $2 million missile at a $10 empty tent and hit a camel in the butt." -- President of the United States, George W. Bush. "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." -Winston Churchill "Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has not heart; and any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) "In my youth I stressed freedom, and in my old age I stress order. I have made the discovery that liberty is a product of order." - Will Durant, Historian "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke (1729-1797) It's the job of a leader to make it easy to do the right thing, difficult to do the wrong thing. -Anonymous "Our Rulers will become corrupt, our people careless...They will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for their rights." -Thomas Jefferson, 1781 Question to retired Gen. Norman Schwartzkoff: "How do you fight an enemy that is ready to die for his country?" His answer: "That's easy, you accommodate him." "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." - H. G. Wells (1866-1946) "His ignorance is encyclopedic" - Abba Eban (1915-2002) "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid." - Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855) "We are not retreating - we are advancing in another Direction." - General Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955) "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) "Do, or do not. There is no 'try'." - Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back') "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." - Plato (427-347 B.C.) "I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." - Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959) "I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) "I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them." - Ian L. Fleming (1908-1964) "Black holes are where God divided by zero." - Steven Wright "We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time." - Vince Lombardi "A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." - Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953 "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) "Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names." - John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) "Vote early and vote often." - Al Capone (1899-1947) "Every day I get up and look through the Forbes list of the richest people in America. If I'm not there, I go to work." - Robert Orben *** "Attention to health is life's greatest hindrance." - Plato (427-347 B.C.) "Plato was a bore." - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) "Nietzsche was stupid and abnormal." - Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) "I'm not going to get into the ring with Tolstoy." - Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) "Hemingway was a jerk." - Harold Robbins *** "Nothing is wrong with California that a rise in the ocean level wouldn't cure." - Ross MacDonald (1915-1983) "I'm not a member of any organized political party, I'm a Democrat!" - Will Rogers (1879-1935) "The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Mark Twain (1835-1910) "The President has kept all of the promises he intended to keep." - Clinton aide George Stephanopolous speaking on Larry King Live

Building off what AdmiralFishface wrote, many of the themes in Star Wars were taken from Tolkien...who, in turn, took them from other sources. Still, there is a LOT of LotR in Star Wars. Since the subject is the movies, I voted that they (as a group) are THE best film(s) of all time. Everything about the series is a monumental breakthrough in filmmaking, from CGI Gollum (Jar-Jar who?), to filming three movies concurrently, to the intricate level of detail on the props, to the largest cavalry charge ever recorded on film. Peter Jackson's vision of Tolkien's Middle Earth is phenomenal, and while some of his 'liberties' are nerve-wracking, he actually improves upon the tale in several areas; most notable Aragorn's struggle with his heritage, the storming of Isengard, the "Passage in the Dark" (Moria), and the depictions of the Battles of Helm's Deep and Minas Tirith. Certain characters got the short shrift (Eomer, Faramir, Glorfindel, Elrond's sons, Prince Imrahil, Radagast the Brown, and Tom Bombadil to name a few of many) but PJ did a marvelous job of working in as many characters as he did without altering the story beyond recognition (although the "Xena-Arwen" was a close call!). Contrary to what AdmiralFishface wrote, I believe "The Fellowship of the Ring" to be the best of the series, from a cinematic and emotional standpoint, yet the movies cannot really be evaluated seperately. We may never see such a masterpiece ever undertaken by Hollywood again, and indeed we shouldn't. I would argue that LotR and it's related source material are much deeper than anything in the Star Wars universe, although SW certainly has the potential to surpass it. A creation myth, a detailed history spanning thousands of years, a cohesion of plot and characters, several complete and original languages...all created by the revolutionary mind of one man. These are areas that Star Wars cannot hope to compete in...yet. Star Wars has its history, its endless number of species, and even a few 'myths', but the fact is that it is simply so open...anything can happen, as numerous authors have demonstrated. But the SW Universe is not, at this time, as deeply vibrant, detailed and consistent as Middle Earth.

My opinion of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling has had it's ups and downs. I was very much against the series at first, for a variety of reasons. The main one was Rowling's borderline plaigarism of "The Legend of Rah and the Muggles" by N.K. Stouffer (copyright 1986, btw). Then there's this. And as a father I don't like the fact that Harry & Co. are rewarded for breaking/bending rules or circumventing them with witchcraft. However, I'm a big LotR fan and regularly play D&D, so I can't complain too much. I've read the first book, and am 3/4 of the way through the second one. I've seen the first two movies, and I let my son watch them with supervision and discussion of any questions he might have. I've speculated on modifying the 2nd Edition AD&D Supplement "College of Wizardry" to incorporate my ideas for wands, classes, etc. based off my readings of the books, and then run a campaign based on it. Partial spoiler below! Don't read further if you don't want a portion of "Chamber of Secrets" revealed! My big beef with the series NOW is the number of plot holes in the books. For example, in "Chamber of Secrets": HP is a 'Parceltongue', meaning he can speak with snakes. When he speaks the snake language, it sounds like a bunch of hissing to human listeners. Now, one of the main points in the story is that Harry can hear a voice which no one else can...a voice revealed later on to be the basilisk, which is a giant snake, as it moves through the plumbing. So why can't the rest of the inhabitants of Hogwarts hear the damn hissing? It makes for a good light read, but lacks the depth and cohesion of works like LotR, the Belgariad, or even any of R.A. Salvatore's work. The movies are okay, but the kid who plays Harry seems to be suffering from "William Shatner Syndrome" in the delivery of his lines.

HALO alone makes the cost of an X-Box worth it. Not to mention HALO 2.

Yes, Master Spam-tilles! Er...I mean, SPAM-master Antilles!

Was that even how they looked in the games? BTW, wasn't Mark Hamill the main character in all of the games?

My list includes: Rebellion, XWA and the Rogue Squadron series.

I'm with AA on this one, Mad.

Based solely on the OT, and since my avatar wasn't on the list (AHEM! ), I'm going to go with Wedge, although Han is a close second. Piett is another goodie. Lt. Page is another favorite of mine. Favorite book characters are TMTC, but I'd have to go with Tycho Celchu, Kell Tainer, Wes Janson, and Corran Horn. And Thrawn...can't forget Thrawn.

BTW, I'm pathetic: [1.65% of total / 1.66 posts per day] {sigh} Admiral_Antilles...I want to come with you to Alderaan and learn the ways of spamming, to bring my post-count up to a respectable level...

I'm sticking with my X-Wing vote from the other thread. Thumper hit the nail on the head. The X-Wing gets the most bang out of its buck, plus it provides a few comforts for the pilot.

Well, that's what I thought it was about. And I never even played the games. Mathew Lillard was pretty good in it, but the rest of the acting, especially Freddie Prinz Jr., was pretty bad. The ships were alright, but the starfighters...? They looked like someone took a WWII-era P-47 and glued on odds & ends to make it look like a 'futuristic' fighter. And before I'm shouted at, I have no idea if there are any mods of this series for any game.

Well yeah, that would be my first choice too, but I also like the RS series, and I think they could do a lot more with it if they stopped focusing solely on Rogue Squadron.

Take it easy, Elvis! I'll be shipping out for training at the end of either August or September, so I won't be seein' ya until December sometime. Have a great summer and fall!

Even Better: continue with the FPS w/ vehicles theme and go with a Wraith Squadron game.

Gotta agree with Thumper, AdmiralFishface and Mad78...those are some classic bits o' comedic genius. And the 'Dream Team' of Allston, Stackpole and Zahn have pretty much defined the post RotJ SW Universe for most Star Wars fans. To me, their works ARE canon. I can't believe I didn't list the 'Demolition Boy, Sir' quote. I just finished reading the dang book...

Man, it sure doesn't take much for you two to hijack/ruin a thread, does it?

Um...the Noghri are from the planet Honoghr...that doesn't start with a 'C'. Edit: Dang, sorry MAD! Didn't think you'd get jumped like that by all three of us so quickly!

Carida? Corellia? Commenor? Corfai? Craci IV? OH, you mean... I still don't see any mention of the ships I REALLY want to see in your list, Trej: Victory Star Destroyers, Dreadnaughts, Battle Horn-class Bulk Cruisers, Galleons, etc. Oh, well. Maybe they'll at least introduce the Y-Wing and Corellian Corvette. Don't thank me, thank the CUSWE!