There hasn’t been much going on with me lately, but I thought I might as well post something anyway.

The past two days have pretty much been made up of working and watching Star Wars DVD’s. Last night Susan and I were without the kids, and we ordered pizza and watched the Dr. Phil Prime Time Special.

In the past couple days I have noticed that several blogs I read have mentioned the new Star Wars DVD release and these bloggers have talked about what an influence SW has been in their lives. I thought I would do the same here….hey, I know, most of you could care less about SW…but like I said, there hasn’t been much else going on lately.

I didn’t see the movie when it first came out. I think it was probably late summer/early fall before I first saw it. My parents and I were living in an Eastern North Carolina town in late 1977. This town, Elizabeth City, only had one theater. It was a two screen place near the mall. I have a vague memory of my Mother telling me I was going to go see a movie on Saturday. “It’s a space movie with monsters in it.” I think she said. She dropped me off at the theater, you could do that with kids in those days and in that town, and a nine year old Chuck settled in for the show. I didn’t really know what I was to expect, but I remember vividly the 20th Century Fox logo, the drums and trumpets, then the “A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away….” message on the screen. (Pause) Then the music and the name, “STAR WARS” popped up on the screen. I sat there spell bound during the whole thing. I don’t really remember any particular thought I had other than knowing that this was unlike anything thing else I had experienced in my young life.

Over the next few weeks I would be dropped off at the theater, pay for the first showing and sit though it two or three times. I am sure my parents enjoyed this time alone on Saturdays, and now, looking back, I wonder why it took them four more years before my sister was conceived!

Another SW memory was the first time I got some of the action figures. It must have been soon after I had first seen it. We went to “Roses” a department store in the little mall we had in the town. I was only allowed to buy two of them, so I picked R2D2 and C3PO. A week or so later I had enough money saved and I bought Han Solo and Princess Leia. I remember getting in the car, showing my dad what I had bought, and him saying…”Why did you buy a doll? Didn’t they have any other “boy” action figures?” I assured him that the Leia action figure wasn’t like a Barbie, and it would be needed to complete the set. Over the next few years I collected them all, plus the ships and other play sets. With the release of the other movies I got more and more of the toys. I still have them now. I have been saving them for my kids.

Another SW memory….My Dad taking me to see The Empire Strikes Back. About half way through the movie he turns to me and tells me he is going out to the lobby to have a cigarette. He assures me that he would watch through the window in the door so he wouldn’t miss anything, (like he really cared!). He gets up, takes three steps up the aisle and falls flat on his face. His leg had gone to sleep while sitting there and it didn’t want to do what his brain was telling it. OMG, how embarrassing….he got up, told me he was okay, and I slumped down in my seat hoping no one would connect the two of us together!

My cousins (Jimmy’s 2 older sisters) and I would have some good SW times when our families would get together. Anna, the oldest of the two, had all the large size action figures. You know, the 12″ ones. I was always Han and Luke and she was Leia. We used the Barbie RV as the Millennium Falcon and we had some great adventures. Since Anna was Leia, we had to create a character for her younger sister, Kristen, to be. We took a Barbie doll, with overly frizzy hair, and named her Barbie Hairball….another female Rebel hero from some planet where having neat hair isn’t mandatory!

I have always been more attracted to the fantasy element of SW, than the science fiction. I consider Lucas on par with two other of my favorite writers, Tolkien and Robert Jordan. If you like fantasy and you have never read Jordan, you need to do it.

These are just a few of my Star Wars memories. I won’t bore you with anymore. Mr. Lucas’ fantasy series has played a major role in my life. I look forward to getting my boy into it too.

P.S. Please don’t be thinking I am some greasy haired SciFi geek, I am not. Just a guy here, like millions of others, who loves Star Wars.