[WEEKEND OPEN BAR: The one-stop ramble-about-anything weekend post at OL. Comment on the topic at hand. Tell us how drunk you are. Describe a comic you bought. This is your chance to bring the party.]

I want you to consult your medium.

And I’m not talkin’ about that gargantuan-racked Gypsy babe you met at the bus stop. Do I think it’s righteous that she wore a revealing shawl and was jambox-blastin’ an Among the Living cassette? Yes. Do I think that she actually has psychic powers? No. Unless you like waking up in another state to find that you’ve been drugged, robbed, and’re wanted on an arson charge, you’re goin’ to want to stay away from her.

Trust me, I know from experience.

Anyways, the sort of medium we’re dealin’ with today ain’t of the supernatural variety. Well, not literally (we’ll come back to that). See, the word “medium” comes from the old-tyme Ancients’ expression for “in the middle.” As such, there’re a whole mess of ways to apply the term. Yes, that’s why when you go to Dunkin Donuts, the serving size of hot dirt-water that’s larger than the small but smaller than the large is called medium!

Ta-dah!

When takin’ a stroll across the Arts & Entertainment Dance Hall, we need to look at media as the ways in which creators express themselves. In a sense, any given medium is the means by which a transfer occurs from the mind of the Creator to the mind of the Viewer. It’s actually an alarmingly simple process: an idea is in the Creator’s mind, the Creator shapes some sort of artifact, the Viewer experiences said artifact, and now the same idea is in the Viewer’s mind! Voila!

Stephen King describes the process in On Writing:

Look — here’s a table covered with a red cloth. On it is a cage the size of a small fish aquarium. In the cage is a white rabbit with a pink nose and pink-rimmed eyes. In its front paws is a carrot-stub upon which it is contentedly munching. On its back, clearly marked in blue ink, is the numeral 8.

Do we see the same thing? We’d have to get together and compare notes to make absolutely sure, but I think we do. There will be necessary variations, of course…

I sent you a table with a red cloth on it, a cage, a rabbit, and the number eight in blue ink. You got them all, especially that blue eight. We’ve engaged in an act of telepathy. No mythy-mountain shit; real telepathy.

That’s right, you degenerate broads and bastard boozers clinging to the railing of Spaceship OL — every time you read a book or listen to an album or play a video game, you’re on the receiving end of some genuine telepathy! And when you find it in your soul to create some art? When you show someone the landscape you painted or the sonnet you penned? Yeah, you’ve got it — you’re on the transmitting end of the thought-transfer!

So what’s this all gettin’ at? Well, simply put, I want every goddamn one of you to declare your medium-allegiance. At the end of the day, in which art form are you most invested? Which mode of expression sweep-picks your heartstrings? What is it about this medium that gets your blood pumpin’ and spirit swirlin’?

[What is your medium of choice?]

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Listen, everyone else is talking about this rumor. Why shouldn’t we? God dammit! Why shouldn’t we? Especially since KOTOR means so much to me. When the game dropped ten years ago (TEN YEARS?!), it taught me an important lesson. At the time, I was in the depths of a deep sadness. Star Wars had sucked for two movies in a row, and I was convinced. Convinced that the entire fucking Star Wars Thing sucked. Along came KOTOR and sliced through that blanket of statement, proving that the Universe itself was ripe. No, no. Star Wars didn’t suck. George Lucas did. So it would be particularly fitting to me if the game that proved a Universe’s Worth in the darkest of hours was given the filmic treatment. I don’t think it will, but hey. Let’s pretend.

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Well shit! Shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that Marky Hamill thinks he is going to be up in the Episode VIIIIIIIIIII (or something) house. His melty faced companion Hans Solow is going to  be in the film, so why wouldn’t he? Still though, the actor hasn’t signed any sort of agreement yet. I mean, this is all just a formality at this point. Right?

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Think you’re a hardcore Star Wars geek? Homeboy right here responds to such thoughts with a staunch “nay.” Behold the wonder of an entire living room turned into the Battle of Hoth.

Hit the jump to check out the wonder.

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Johnny Williams is all up in the Star Wars news, announcing that he would like to score the new trilogy. Don’t you almost feel as though they have to let the dude indulge in one last Forceful dalliance? Meanwhile, Michael Giacchino was prepping for his moment in the SWU when he heard the news. Abrams’ fave soundtracking bro now stands alone in a field of sadness. Don’t despair, Giacchino! Maybe J.J. pulls a power move, instead awarding you the privilege. Who knows.

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Headline sells the story. What say you?

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It’s a spectacular time to be a Star Wars fan.

George Lucas, perhaps after being visited by some benevolent omnidimensional sojourner, has sold his most beloved franchise. The moment that fans realized Lucas was finally out of the picture, we began to dream. To wonder. To flirt with the idea that the piss-taste that’s been lurking in our mouths since 2005 may very well be washed away. New Star Wars films could be treated with the respect they deserve.

So, what’ve we been promised thus far? A new trilogy. Kasdan and Kinberg. J.J. Abrams. Cameos from members of the original cast. The interest of Hollywood’s finest actors and directors and other personnel. Spin-off, stand-alone movies.

In short, we finally have a newer hope.

Yesterday’s confirmation of the stand-alone flicks was the final nail in the coffin for my cautious optimism. I am now, for the first time in years, reveling in full-on nerdlust at the thought of new Star Wars. And while I have quite a bit of faith that a new trilogy could be beyond excellent, I’ve always loved the idea of free-standing movies taking place within the galaxy that Uncle George introduced back in `77!

Join me as I take a moment to geek-out about the prospect of new Star Wars movies! I’m going to fanboy my way through some of the premises I’d like to see materialize, no doubt getting so excited that my retainer spills onto the keyboard and my Diet Shasta bubbles over. After you check out my ideas, hit up the comments section and describe what you’d like to see during our next voyages to a galaxy far, far away…

Punch it, Chewie!

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Ha! Looks like my prediction of the Star Wars going full Marvel Movie Universe wasn’t just the blatherings of a man who masturbates into a Jabba the Hutt sock. I mean, well. It was quite that, it just turns out that it is true as well.

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A man can’t even lay in bed and slowly drift asleep while fumbling through his RSS feed anymore. No, indeed not. Just as I was sloughing off the conscious coil for Sleep World, I came across this rather sizzling story. It smells like ice cream headache-inducing dialogue spread across a couple of hours. Though I have to say, if Disney wants to treat Star Wars much in the same way as Marvel treats their universe, I’d be fine with that. Stand alone movies running alongside bigger, more sprawling ensemble flicks. Give me them all, my Star Wars loins smolder at the very thought.

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I bag on J.J. Abrams a lot, but I’m pretty fucking excited about this news. Homeboy isn’t an auteur or anything, but he is visually stunning, and more than competent. In 2015, we’re getting Whedon-powered Avengers 2, and Abrams-fueled Episode VII. Praise the Makers.

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